Fifteen-Year Nationwide Trend in Antiplatelet Treatment among Drug-Eluting Stent Recipients in Korea: Many Patients Receive Very Prolonged Dual-Antiplatelet Treatment, and Newer Drugs Are Replacing the Older Ones.

Drug-eluting stent (DES) recipients require 6-12 months of dual antiplatelet treatment (DAPT) and long-term aspirin mono-antiplatelet treatment (MAPT). Given the diversity of contemporary antiplatelet agents, antiplatelet treatment (APT) selection is becoming more complicated. We evaluated 15-year APT trends based on nationwide prescription data of 79,654 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using DESs from 2002 to 2018 in Korea.

Favorable Vasomotor Function after Drug-Coated Balloon-Only Angioplasty of De Novo Native Coronary Artery Lesions.

Balloon-injured coronary segments are known to harbor abnormal vasomotion. We evaluated whether de novo coronary lesions treated using drug-coated balloon (DCB) are prone to vasospasm and how they respond to ergonovine and nitrate. Among 132 DCB angioplasty recipients followed, 89 patients underwent ergonovine provocation test at 6-9 months follow-up.

Clinical and central hemodynamic characteristics of early adulthood isolated diastolic hypertension: a comparison with isolated systolic hypertension.

Objectives: Knowledge on early adulthood isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) is limited. We compared the clinical and central hemodynamic characteristics of early adulthood IDH, isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) and normotension.

Methods: A total of 509 untreated young adults (18-35 years) who underwent ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM; ABPM cohort), 148 who underwent both ABPM and applanation tonometry (ABPM-tonometry cohort) and 26 newly recruited normotensives were analyzed.

Efficacy and safety of co-administered telmisartan/amlodipine and rosuvastatin in subjects with hypertension and dyslipidemia.

Single risk factors, such as hypertension and dyslipidemia, can combine to exacerbate the development and severity of cardiovascular disease. Treatment goals may be more effectively achieved if multiple disease factors are targeted with combination treatment. We enrolled 202 patients who were randomly divided into the following three groups: telmisartan/amlodipine 80/5 mg + rosuvastatin 20 mg, telmisartan 80 mg + rosuvastatin 20 mg, and telmisartan/amlodipine 80/5 mg.

A randomized, double-blind clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a fixed-dose combination of amlodipine/rosuvastatin in patients with dyslipidemia and hypertension.

This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group phase III clinical trial aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of a rosuvastatin + amlodipine combination compared with that of rosuvastatin or amlodipine monotherapy in hypertensive patients with dyslipidemia. A total of 106 patients of 15 institutions in Korea were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: rosuvastatin 20 mg + amlodipine 10 mg, amlodipine 10 mg, or rosuvastatin 20 mg. After 8 weeks of treatment, the mean ± SD of change in mean sitting systolic blood pressure (msSBP) was -22.

Central hemodynamic characteristics of young adults with isolated systolic hypertension: an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring-based study of real-world clinical patients.

The central hemodynamic characteristics of young adults with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) remain controversial, particularly regarding the extent of pulse pressure amplification (PPamp) compared with that of normotensives (NTs). Given the lack of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)-based data, this study evaluated 509 untreated young adults (18-35 years) who had undergone ABPM during the last decade, 109 who had undergone both ABPM and SphygmoCor analysis, and 26 newly recruited NTs. The agreement rate between office BP- and ABPM-based subtype classification was alarmingly low (50.

Efficacy and Safety of a Fixed-Dose Combination of Candesartan and Rosuvastatin on Blood Pressure and Cholesterol in Patients With Hypertension and Hypercholesterolemia: A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel Phase III Clinical Study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the blood pressure-lowering and cholesterol-lowering effects of a fixed-dose combination therapy using candesartan (CND)/rosuvastatin (RSV) compared with CND or RSV monotherapy in patients with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia.

Methods: This study was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. A total of 394 patients were screened.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Telmisartan/Amlodipine and Rosuvastatin Coadministration in Hypertensive Patients with Hyperlipidemia: A Phase III, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind Study.

Purpose: Dyslipidemia and hypertension increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Combination therapy improves patient compliance. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and tolerability of the combination therapies telmisartan/amlodipine + rosuvastatin, telmisartan/amlodipine, and telmisartan + rosuvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.

Irreversible effects of long-term chronic smoking on arterial stiffness: An analysis focusing on ex-smokers among otherwise healthy middle-aged men.

: Smoking is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor closely related to arterial stiffness (AS). However, data are lacking regarding the chronic effects of smoking on AS, especially in ex-smoker (ES) who faces remnant cardiovascular risk when compared to never-smokers (NS).: Among 1722 health screening participants, we retrospectively evaluated 652 healthy men with different smoking history [240 current smoker (CS) vs.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Telmisartan/Amlodipine + Hydrochlorothiazide Versus Telmisartan/Amlodipine Combination Therapy for Essential Hypertension Uncontrolled With Telmisartan/Amlodipine: The Phase III, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind TAHYTI Study.

Purpose: This 8-week study in Korea aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a telmisartan/amlodipine + hydrochlorothiazide (TAH) combination versus telmisartan/amlodipine (TA) combination in patients with essential hypertension that did not respond appropriately to 4-week treatment with TA.

Methods: All patients who met the inclusion criteria received TA (40/5 mg) during a 4-week run-in period (period 1). Patients who met the criteria for essential hypertension (mean sitting systolic blood pressure [MSSBP], ≥140 and <200 mm Hg, or ≥130 and<200 mm Hg in those with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease) after period 1 were randomly assigned to receive TA 40/5 mg + hydrochlorothiazide 12.

Inferior vena cava collapsibility index, renal dysfunction, and adverse outcomes in patients with broad spectrum cardiovascular disease.

Aims: The clinical implication of the inferior vena cava collapsibility index (IVCCI) has not been well evaluated in patients with various cardiovascular diseases.

Method And Results: The relationships between clinical characteristics and echocardiographic indicators of the systemic intravascular volume status [IVCCI; the ratio of the early transmitral and early myocardial diastolic velocities (E/Em)] were evaluated at baseline, and the clinical status during follow-up was compared across the IVCCI levels. Among 1166 patients (mean age=63.

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of the Lercanidipine/Valsartan Combination in Korean Patients With Essential Hypertension Not Adequately Controlled With Lercanidipine Monotherapy: A Randomized, Multicenter, Parallel Design, Phase III Clinical Trial.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the lercanidipine/valsartan combination compared with lercanidipine monotherapy in patients with hypertension.

Methods: Part 1 of this study was the randomized, multicenter, double-blind, parallel group, Phase III, 8-week clinical trial to compare superiority of lercanidipine 10 mg/valsartan 80 mg (L10/V80) and lercanidipine 10 mg/valsartan 160 mg (L10/V160) combinations with lercanidipine 10 mg (L10) monotherapy. At screening, hypertensive patients, whose diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was >90 mm Hg after 4 weeks with L10, were randomized to 3 groups of L10, L10/V80, and L10/V160.

Patterns of decrease in multidirectional myocardial deformations in patients with fluctuating left ventricular ejection fraction.

Few studies have examined the variations in longitudinal/circumferential/radial strain (LS/CS/RS) and strain rate (LSr/CSr/RSr) in individual hearts when the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) has changed. We hypothesized the relationships of strain/strain rate and LVEF are not linear, but vary with multiple inflection points (IPs) in individual hearts.Twenty-five patients with fluctuating LVEF (ΔLVEF > 10%) who had 2-D speckle tracking echocardiography available for analysis were enrolled.

Primary cardiac lymphoma presenting as an atypical type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is a very rare malignancy although cardiac involvement with the disseminated disease is not uncommon. We present a case of a 43-year-old man with PCL that initially presented as marked thickening of all cardiac walls and was mistakenly diagnosed as an atypical type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The diagnosis of PCL was made with a delay of 9 months after the initial presentation, when atypical lymphocytes staining positive for CD79a and CD20 were demonstrated in the rapidly growing mediastinal and neck mass.

Discordant impairment of multidirectional myocardial deformation in rats with Doxorubicin induced cardiomyopathy.

Background: In doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy (DIC), the sequence of decrease in multidirectional myocardial deformation has not been clearly elucidated.

Objectives: We investigated the sequence of myocardial deformations in rat DIC, using two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE).

Methods: Twenty rats were treated with doxorubicin (1.

Cardioprotective effects of rosuvastatin and carvedilol on delayed cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin in rats.

Context: Doxorubicin is widely used anti-neoplastic drug but has serious cardiotoxicity. Long-term cardioprotective effects of statin and carvedilol against delayed cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin was not well elucidated.

Objective: To evaluate long-term cardioprotective effects of co-administered rosuvastatin and carvedilol against chronic doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy (DIC) in rats.

Simultaneous and spontaneous multivessel coronary artery dissection presenting as congestive heart failure.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of myocardial ischemia. Multivessel SCAD is much rarer than single vessel involvement and acute coronary syndrome is the most frequent clinical presentation of a patient with SCAD. The patient in this report had SCAD in both the left anterior descending and right coronary arteries at the same time.

Association between C-reactive protein and QTc interval in middle-aged men and women.

Background: Both of prolonged QT interval and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are known to be risk factors of cardiovascular disease. To our knowledge, few studies have reported the direct relationship between CRP levels and the QT interval in middle-aged population. The objective of the present study was to examine the association of CRP level with QT interval.