Determinants and effects of microvascular obstruction on serial change in left ventricular diastolic function after reperfused acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Although left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is more related to functional capacity after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the determinants of LV diastolic functional change after reperfused AMI remain unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effects of microvascular obstruction (MVO) on mid-term changes in LV diastolic function after reperfused AMI.

Methods: In a cohort of 72 AMI patients who underwent successful revascularization, echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging were repeated at 9-month intervals.

Everolimus-Eluting Stents or Bypass Surgery for Multivessel Disease in Diabetics: The BEST Extended Follow-Up Study.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is associated with more complex coronary artery diseases. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a preferred revascularization strategy over percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in diabetics with multivessel coronary artery disease (MVD).

Objectives: This study sought to examine the different prognostic effects of revascularization strategies according to the diabetes status from the randomized BEST (Randomized Comparison of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery and Everolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation in the Treatment of Patients With Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease) trial.

Arterial Stiffness is Associated with False-Positive ST-Segment Depression in Supine Bicycle Exercise Stress Echocardiography.

Background: Although exercise stress electrocardiography (ECG) is a popular tool for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD), the induced ST-depression without coronary artery stenosis (FST) remains a challenge for accurate diagnosis. Exercise-induced ST depression is related to poor prognosis even in non-obstructive disease; however, its determinants have not been fully defined. We sought to investigate whether ventriculo-vascular interactional indexes such as arterial stiffness index, exercise hemodynamic parameters and echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) functional parameters were related to FST.

Estimation of viscoelasticity of a carotid artery from ultrasound cine images and brachial pressure waveforms: Viscous parameters as a new index of detecting low plaque burden.

Viscoelasticity may be an important physical index for diagnosing vascular diseases, but wall viscosity has received less attention than elasticity due to difficulties in measurement in clinical scenarios. In this study, viscoelastic parameters were estimated from the pressure diameter relationship using carotid artery ultrasound images and brachial artery pressure waveforms of the patients. Carotid artery diameter waveforms were obtained by analyzing wall motion in ultrasound cine images, and carotid pressure waveforms were estimated from brachial waveforms using a transfer function.

Everolimus-Eluting Stents or Bypass Surgery for Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease: Extended Follow-Up Outcomes of Multicenter Randomized Controlled BEST Trial.

Background: Long-term comparative outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with everolimus-eluting stents and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are limited in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease.

Methods: This prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial was conducted in 27 international heart centers and was designed to randomly assign 1776 patients with angiographic multivessel coronary artery disease to receive PCI with everolimus-eluting stents or CABG. After inclusion of 880 patients (438 in the PCI group and 442 in the CABG group) between July 2008 and September 2013, the study was terminated early because of slow enrollment.

The association between cardiac involvement and long-term clinical outcomes in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Aims: Despite advances in contemporary cardiopulmonary therapies, cardiomyopathy remains the leading cause of death in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Also, the long-term clinical outcomes of patients with DMD and cardiomyopathy is unknown. This study investigated long-term clinical outcomes and their associated factors in patients with late-stage DMD.

Prognostic Impact of Chronic Vasodilator Therapy in Patients With Vasospastic Angina.

Background Chronic vasodilator therapy with long-acting nitrate is frequently used to treat vasospastic angina. However, the clinical benefits of this approach are controversial. We investigated the prognostic impact of vasodilator therapy in patients with vasospastic angina from the multicenter, prospective VA-KOREA (Vasospastic Angina in KOREA) registry.

Effect of a fixed-dose combination of Telmisartan/S-amlodipine on circadian blood pressure compared with Telmisartan monotherapy: TENUVA-BP study.

Background: This study evaluated the circadian efficacy of a telmisartan 40 mg/S-amlodipine 2.5 mg fixed-dose combination (Telmisartan40/S-Amlodipine2.5) compared to telmisartan 80 mg (Telmisartan80) in patients with essential hypertension who did not respond to 2-4 weeks' treatment with telmisartan 40 mg.

Impact of aortic atheroma and distensibility on diastolic function and prognosis in patients with ischemic stroke.

Background: Patients with ischemic stroke are vulnerable to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) because these conditions share common risk factors. Although evaluation of the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and proximal descending thoracic aorta is an essential step to determine the source of the causative embolism, the relationship between the degree of aortic atheroma and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function has not been extensively investigated.

Methods: We analyzed the transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography in ischemic stroke patients.

Long-term outcomes after renal denervation in an Asian population: results from the Global SYMPLICITY Registry in South Korea (GSR Korea).

The objective of this work was to investigate the long-term safety and efficacy of renal denervation in Korean patients from the Global SYMPLICITY Registry (GSR). GSR Korea is a substudy of GSR with additional inclusion and exclusion criteria compared to GSR, including inclusion criteria of office systolic blood pressure ≥160 mmHg, or ≥150 mmHg for type 2 diabetes patients, while receiving 3 or more antihypertensive medications without changes for 2 weeks prior to enrollment. Renal denervation was performed using a Symplicity Flex catheter for ablation in the main renal arteries.

Effect of sarcomere and mitochondria-related mutations on myocardial fibrosis in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Myocardial fibrosis is an important prognostic factor in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the contribution from a wide spectrum of genetic mutations has not been well defined. We sought to investigate effect of sarcomere and mitochondria-related mutations on myocardial fibrosis in HCM.

Coronary calcification is associated with elevated serum lipoprotein (a) levels in asymptomatic men over the age of 45 years: A cross-sectional study of the Korean national health checkup data.

Lipoprotein a (Lp (a)) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) are markers of coronary artery and cardiovascular diseases. However, the association between Lp (a) and CAC in asymptomatic individuals remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the influence of Lp (a) on CAC in asymptomatic individuals.

Ticagrelor Monotherapy Versus Ticagrelor With Aspirin in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess whether the effects of ticagrelor monotherapy after 3-month dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) are consistent among patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and unstable angina treated with drug-eluting stents.

Background: Ticagrelor monotherapy after short-term DAPT has not been investigated in patients with STEMI.

Methods: This was a pre-specified, stratified, subgroup analysis of the STEMI cohort from the TICO (Ticagrelor Monotherapy After 3 Months in the Patients Treated With New Generation Sirolimus Stent for Acute Coronary Syndrome) trial, which constituted 36% of the total population.

Effect of Renal and Left Ventricular Function on Serial Pulmonary Arterial Pressure Changes after Device Closure of Atrial Septal Defect.

Background: The age of candidates for device closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) has been increasing. Thus, concerns exist about dyspnea aggravation or atrial fibrillation development after device closure due to augmentation of left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) preload. This study aimed to examine patterns and determinants of serial pulmonary arterial pressure and left ventricular filling pressure changes after device closure of ASD.

Preventive Effect of Pretreatment with Pitavastatin on Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Patients with Renal Dysfunction Undergoing Coronary Procedure: PRINCIPLE-II Randomized Clinical Trial.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pitavastatin pretreatment on contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) after a coronary procedure. This was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial. All consecutive 70 patients with CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.

Outcomes and Associated Factors of Discrepant Coronary and Carotid Atherosclerosis.

Some patients exhibit discrepancies in carotid and coronary artery atherosclerosis. This study aimed to define the characteristics and prognosis of these discrepant patients and determine the best strategy to detect pan-vascular atherosclerosis. A database of 5,022 consecutively registered patients who underwent both coronary angiography and carotid ultrasonography, along with clinical and blood laboratory tests, echocardiography, and pulse wave velocity (PWV), was analyzed.

Frequent Premature Atrial Contractions as a Poor Prognostic Factor in Cryptogenic Stroke Patients with Concomitant Non-Sustained Atrial Tachycardia.

In cryptogenic stroke patients, early detection of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) and recurrent stroke is required to prevent poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, we investigated the predictors of new-onset AF and recurrent stroke in cryptogenic stroke patients without previously diagnosed AF. In total, 390 patients who were diagnosed with stroke and non-sustained atrial tachycardia (NSAT) on 24-hour Holter monitoring were followed up to assess new-onset AF and recurrent stroke.

Burden of premature ventricular contractions beyond nonsustained ventricular tachycardia is related to the myocardial extracellular space expansion in patients with hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy.

Background: Although nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) is a risk factor for sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy (HCM), the impact of premature ventricular contraction (PVC) burden, in the absence of NSVT, is not well-known.

Hypothesis: PVC burden may be associated with myocardial fibrosis and genetic mutations in patients with HCM.

Methods: Of the 212 patients prospectively enrolled to the HCM registry of genetics, 84 were evaluated with both cardiac magnetic resonance, 24-hour Holter monitoring and genetic analysis.

Impact of PRECISE-DAPT and DAPT Scores on Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Duration After 2nd Generation Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation.

Purpose: Determining the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is an important clinical issue. We evaluated the effects of ischemia (by DAPT score) and bleeding (by PRECISE-DAPT score), as well as the impact of DAPT duration, on clinical outcomes.

Methods: From pooled analysis of four randomized clinical trials, 5131 patients undergoing second-generation DES implantation were randomized to short-duration (n = 2575; ≤ 6 months) or standard-duration (n = 2556; ≥ 12 months) DAPT groups.

Differential contributions of sarcomere and mitochondria-related multigene variants to the endophenotype of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a multigenic disease that occurs due to various genetic modifiers. We investigated phenotype-based clinical and genetic characteristics of HCM patients using comprehensive genetic tests and rare variant association analysis.

Methods: A comprehensive HCM-specific panel, consisting of 82 nuclear DNAs (nDNAs: 33 sarcomere-associated genes, 5 phenocopy genes, and 44 nuclear genes linked to mitochondrial cardiomyopathy) and 37 mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs), was analyzed.