Health Inequities in Cancer Incidence According to Economic Status and Regions Are Still Existed Even under Universal Health Coverage System in Korea: A Nationwide Population Based Study Using the National Health Insurance Database.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the level of health equity in relation to cancer incidence.

Materials And Methods: We used the National Health Insurance claims data of the National Health Insurance Service between 2005 and 2022 and annual health insurance and medical aid beneficiaries between 2011 and 2021 to investigate the disparities of cancer incidence. We calculated age-sex standardized cancer incidence rates by cancer and year according to the type of insurance and the trend over time using the annual percentage change.

Comparison of neoatherosclerosis and a clinical outcomes between bioabsorbable versus durable polymer drug-eluting stent: Verification by optical coherence tomography analysis.

Background: Neoatherosclerosis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is known to be related with increased risk of late restenosis and stent thrombosis. Neoatherosclerosis and relevant clinical outcomes between bioabsorbable polymer DES (BP-DES) and second-generation durable polymer DES (DP-DES) were evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT) analysis.

Methods: A total of 311 patients (319 lesions) undergoing OCT analysis after DES implantation were enrolled and divided into two groups according to stent type (BP-DES [150 patients, 153 lesions] and DP-DES [161 patients, 166 lesions]).

Preliminary Results of Teleconsultations Temporarily Allowed during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea has temporarily expanded coverage of teleconsultation to ensure access to essential health services. As a preliminary study, we investigated service utilization patterns and the characteristics of doctors and patients involved in these temporary teleconsultation services.

Materials And Methods: Using national health insurance claims data from February 23, 2020 to June 30, 2020 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, 228269875 cases were identified.

Identification of plaque ruptures using a novel discriminative model comprising biomarkers in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Soluble lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) are inflammatory biomarkers involved in plaque destabilization resulting in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of a combination of biomarkers to discriminate plaque ruptures in the setting of ACS. Eighty-five ACS patients with optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the culprit plaque were included and categorized into two groups: ACS with plaque rupture (Rupture group, n = 42) or without plaque rupture (Non-rupture group, n = 43) verified by OCT.

Uncertainty modulates value-driven attentional capture.

The majority of previous studies on the value modulation of attention have shown that the magnitude of value-driven attentional bias correlates with the strength of reward association. However, relatively little is known about how uncertainty affects value-based attentional bias. We investigated whether attentional capture by previously rewarded stimuli is modulated by the uncertainty of the learned value without the influence of the strength of reward association.

Attentional Orienting by Non-informative Cue Is Shaped via Reinforcement Learning.

It has been demonstrated that a reward-associated stimulus feature captures attention involuntarily. The present study tested whether spatial attentional orienting is biased via reinforcement learning. Participants were to identify a target stimulus presented in one of two placeholders, preceded by a non-informative arrow cue at the center of the display.

Multiple attentional control settings at distinct locations without the confounding of repetition priming.

An attentional control setting (ACS), which is based on the task goal, induces involuntary attentional capture by a stimulus possessing a target-defining feature. It is unclear whether ACSs are maintained for multiple targets defined as conjunctions of a color and location. In the present study we examined the possibility of local ACSs for dual targets defined as combinations of color and location, using different paradigms: visual search in Experiment 1, and spatial cueing in Experiment 2.

Comparison of Ticagrelor Versus Prasugrel for Inflammation, Vascular Function, and Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Diabetic Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome Requiring Coronary Stenting: A Prospective, Randomized, Crossover Trial.

Objectives: This study compared adenosine-associated pleiotropic effects of the 2 P2Y receptor antagonists on vascular function, systemic inflammation, and circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs).

Background: Both ticagrelor and prasugrel have potent antiplatelet effects. However, only ticagrelor inhibits cellular uptake of adenosine.

Different Relationship Between Physical Activity, Arterial Stiffness, and Metabolic Status in Obese Subjects.

Background: Although the relationship between physical activity and arterial stiffness has been shown in healthy persons, it remains controversial in obese persons.

Methods: From January 2014 to September 2014, we evaluated 795 obese subjects from 25 public health centers in Seoul, Korea. We compared physical activity and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) between obese subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS) (MO) and obese subjects without MetS (NMO).

The Relationship between Pulse Wave Velocity and Coronary Artery Stenosis and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: a retrospective observational study.

Background: Arterial stiffness has been suggested as a valuable predictor of coronary artery stenosis (CAS). However, little data are available on aortic stiffness and CAS in patients who have previously undergone percutaneous coronary artery intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of arterial stiffness to CAS in patients with a history of PCI and those without a history of PCI.

Visceral Fat Area and Serum Adiponectin Level Predict the Development of Metabolic Syndrome in a Community-Based Asymptomatic Population.

Background: Although it has been demonstrated that visceral adipose tissue content and serum levels of adiponectin are associated with metabolic syndrome, their predictive potential for the development of metabolic syndrome remains to be elucidated.

Methods: We studied 1,130 participants of the Seoul Metabolic Syndrome cohort. A total of 337 subjects without metabolic syndrome underwent the follow-up evaluation and finally analyzed.

INNOVATION Study (Impact of Immediate Stent Implantation Versus Deferred Stent Implantation on Infarct Size and Microvascular Perfusion in Patients With ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction).

Background: The aim of this study was to assess whether deferred stenting (DS) reduces infarct size and microvascular obstruction (MVO) compared with immediate stenting (IS) in primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction.

Methods And Results: From February 2013 to August 2015, 114 patients (mean age: 69 years) were randomized into the following 2 groups: DS with an intention to stent 3 to 7 days later or IS after primary reperfusion in 2 centers. The primary and secondary end points were infarct size and the incidence of MVO, respectively, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at 30 days after primary reperfusion.

Impact of low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level on 2-year clinical outcomes after acute myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: It is still unclear whether low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) affects cardiovascular outcomes after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), especially in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Methods: A total of 984 AMI patients with diabetes mellitus from the DIabetic Acute Myocardial InfarctiON Disease (DIAMOND) Korean multicenter registry were divided into two groups based on HDL-C level on admission: normal HDL-C group (HDL-C ≥ 40 mg/dL, n = 519) and low HDL-C group (HDL-C < 40 mg/dL, n = 465). The primary endpoint was 2-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), and target vessel revascularization (TVR).

Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity is Associated with Composite Carotid and Coronary Atherosclerosis in a Middle-Aged Asymptomatic Population.

Aim: Although arterial stiffness has been associated with the development of atherosclerosis, the role of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) for diagnosing composite coronary and carotid atherosclerosis has not been completely elucidated.

Method: We enrolled 773 asymptomatic individuals who were referred from 25 public health centers in Seoul and who underwent carotid ultrasonography and coronary computed tomography. Non-invasive hemodynamic parameters, including baPWV, were also measured.