The role of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) in the management of the hypertensive patient with metabolic syndrome: a position paper from the Korean society of hypertension.

Obesity is the one of the most important components of metabolic syndrome. Because obesity related hypertension accounts for two thirds of essential hypertension, managing obesity and metabolic syndrome is a crucial task in the management of hypertension. However, the current non-pharmacological therapies have limitations for achieving or maintaining ideal body weight.

Elevated On-Treatment Diastolic Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Outcomes in the Presence of Achieved Systolic Blood Pressure Targets.

Background And Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between cardiovascular events and 2 different levels of elevated on-treatment diastolic blood pressures (DBP) in the presence of achieved systolic blood pressure targets (SBP).

Methods: A nation-wide population-based cohort study comprised 237,592 patients with hypertension treated. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke.

Real-World Three-Year Clinical Outcomes of Biolimus-Eluting Stents versus Other Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients: Data from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR).

Introduction: Biolimus-eluting stents (BES) are known to be superior to bare-metal stents. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BES compared to other drug-eluting stents (DES) based on big data from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR).

Methods: The study analyzed a total of 9,759 acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with DES.

Early Differentiation of Stress Cardiomyopathy from Acute Anterior Wall Myocardial Using Changing Cardiac Enzyme Patterns.

Background: Most patients with acute anterior wall ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) or stress cardiomyopathy (SCMP) show elevations in cardiac enzymes that peak within 24 hours. The changing pattern of cardiac enzymes can be an early clue to the differentiation of anterior STEMI and SCMP.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis (matching cases and respective control subjects) performed at a single center.

Office Blood Pressure Range and Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Hypertension: A Nationwide Cohort Study in South Korea.

Background It is unclear what office blood pressure (BP) is the optimal treatment target range in patients with hypertension. Methods and Results Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, we extracted the data on 479 359 patients with hypertension with available BP measurements and no history of cardiovascular events from 2002 to 2011. The study end point was major cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke.

Disparities in Mortality and Cardiovascular Events by Income and Blood Pressure Levels Among Patients With Hypertension in South Korea.

Background Socioeconomic status is associated with differences in risk factors of cardiovascular disease and increased risks of cardiovascular disease and mortality. However, it is unclear whether an association exists between cardiovascular disease and income, a common measure of socioeconomic status, among patients with hypertension. Methods and Results This population-based longitudinal study comprised 479 359 patients aged ≥19 years diagnosed with essential hypertension.

Antihypertensive Drugs and the Risk of Cancer: A Nationwide Cohort Study.

We sought to assess the association between common antihypertensive drugs and the risk of incident cancer in treated hypertensive patients. Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, the risk of cancer incidence was analyzed in patients with hypertension who were initially free of cancer and used the following antihypertensive drug classes: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs); angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs); beta blockers (BBs); calcium channel blockers (CCBs); and diuretics. During a median follow-up of 8.

Smartphone / smartwatch-based cuffless blood pressure measurement : a position paper from the Korean Society of Hypertension.

Smartphone technology has spread rapidly around the globe. According to a report released by the Korea Information Society Development Institute, about 95% of Koreans aged more than 30 years old owned smartphones. Recently, blood pressure (BP) measurement using a photoplethysmography-based smartphone algorithm paired with the smartwatch is continuously evolving.

Effect of angiotensin receptor blockers on the development of cancer: A nationwide cohort study in korea.

The potential cancer risk associated with long-term exposure to angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) is still unclear. We assessed the risk of incident cancer among hypertensive patients who were treated with ARBs compared with patients exposed to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), which are known to have a neutral effect on cancer development. Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, we analyzed the data of patients diagnosed with essential hypertension from January 2005 to December 2012 who were aged ≥40 years, initially free of cancer, and were prescribed either ACEI or ARB (n = 293,962).

Office blood pressure threshold of 130/80 mmHg better predicts uncontrolled out-of-office blood pressure in apparent treatment-resistant hypertension.

The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of office blood pressure (BP) threshold of 140/90 and 130/80 mmHg for correctly identifying uncontrolled out-of-office BP in apparent treatment-resistant hypertension (aTRH). We analyzed 468 subjects from a prospectively enrolled cohort of patients with resistant hypertension in South Korea (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03540992).

Consensus Statement on Coronary Intervention during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic: from the Korean Society of Interventional Cardiology (KSIC).

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by the novel virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. The first case developed in December, 2019 in Wuhan, China; several months later, COVID-19 has become pandemic, and there is no end in sight. This disaster is also causing serious health problems in the area of cardiovascular intervention.

Blood pressure levels and cardiovascular risk according to age in patients with diabetes mellitus: a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Background: Little is known about age-specific target blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study was to determine the BP level at the lowest cardiovascular risk of hypertensive patients with DM according to age.

Methods: Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, we analyzed patients without cardiovascular disease diagnosed with both hypertension and DM from January 2002 to December 2011.

Consensus statement on coronary intervention during the coronavirus disease 19 pandemic: from the Korean Society of Interventional Cardiology.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by the novel virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case developed in December, 2019 in Wuhan, China; several months later, COVID-19 has become pandemic, and there is no end in sight. This disaster is also causing serious health problems in the area of cardiovascular intervention.

Is the use of RAS inhibitors safe in the current era of COVID-19 pandemic?

Antihypertensive drugs are one of the most widely used pharmacologic agent in the world and it is predominantly used in the elderly subjects. Pneumonia is the most common cause of death in the extremely old subject. During infection and its complication such as sepsis, hypotension could be exacerbated by antihypertensive drugs because homeostasis mechanisms such as sodium balance, renin angiotensin aldosterone system and/or sympathetic nervous system can be mitigated by antihypertensive drug therapy.

Impact of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor versus Angiotensin Receptor Blocker on Incidence of New-Onset Diabetes Mellitus in Asians.

Purpose: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) are associated with a decreased incidence of new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM). The aim of this study was to compare the protective effect of ACEI versus ARBs on NODM in an Asian population.

Materials And Methods: We investigated a total of 2817 patients who did not have diabetes mellitus from January 2004 to September 2009.

Transient apical wall thickening in patients with stress cardiomyopathy: Prevalence, profile, and impact on clinical course.

Background: Transient apical wall thickening (TAWT), mimicking apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy during recovery from stress cardiomyopathy (SCM), has recently been reported. However, the clinical significance of this phenomenon has not yet been assessed. We aimed to explore the prevalence, profiles, and impact on the clinical course of TAWT in patients with SCM.

Impact of low dose atorvastatin on development of new-onset diabetes mellitus in Asian population: Three-year clinical outcomes.

Background: High dose atorvastatin is known to be associated with new onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) in patients with high risk for developing diabetes mellitus (DM). However, low dose atorvastatin is more commonly used as compared with high dose atorvastatin. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of low dose atorvastatin (LDA, 10mg or 20mg) on the development of NODM up to three years in Asian patients.

Impact of coronary artery anatomy on clinical course and prognosis in apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: analysis of coronary angiography and computed tomography.

Background And Objectives: Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCM) is an uncommon variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with a relatively benign course. However, the prognostic factors of AHCM-particularly those associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and its anatomical subtypes-are not well known.

Subjects And Methods: We enrolled 98 consecutive patients with AHCM who underwent coronary angiography or coronary computed tomography scanning at two general hospitals in Korea from January 2002 to March 2012.

Neointimal response to second-generation drug-eluting stents in diabetic patients with de-novo coronary lesions: intravascular ultrasound study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of neointimal response after the implantation of a second-generation drug-eluting stent, zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES-ER, Endeavor Resolute) or everolimus-eluting stent (EES, Xience V), using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in diabetic patients.

Materials And Methods: In all, 154 diabetic patients with de-novo coronary lesions were randomized to be implanted with a ZES-ER or EES, and the angiographic follow-up at 9 months combined with a complete IVUS study was available for 96 patients with 101 lesions.

Results: Baseline demographic and lesion parameters were similar in both groups at index percutaneous coronary intervention.

Association of inflammation, myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodelling in patients with mild aortic stenosis as assessed by biomarkers and echocardiography.

1. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships among inflammation, myocardial fibrosis and cardiac remodelling in patients with mild aortic stenosis (AS), as assessed by biomarkers and echocardiography. 2.

The impact of high sensitivity C-reactive protein level on coronary artery spasm as assessed by intracoronary acetylcholine provocation test.

Purpose: High sensitive C-reactive protein (hs CRP) is well known as a strong risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of elevated hs CRP on coronary artery spasm (CAS) as assessed by intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) provocation test.

Materials And Methods: A total of 1729 consecutive patients without significant CVD who underwent coronary angiography and intracoronary ACh test between November 2004 and August 2010 were analyzed.

Ruptured right sinus of valsalva aneurysm to the right atrium mimicking acute myocardial infarction.

We present a rare case involving a ruptured sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SVA) and acute myocardial infarction in a 39-year-old male patient. Coronary angiography showed normal findings; however, the patient showed remarkably elevated levels of cardiac enzymes and decreased left ventricular function with apical akinesia on transthoracic echocardiography. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed shunt flow from the SVA to the right atrium without significant aortic regurgitation.

Diverse left ventricular morphology and predictors of short-term outcome in patients with stress-induced cardiomyopathy.

Background: There is paucity of data with regard to the clinical spectrum according to left ventricle (LV) morphological variation in stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SCMP) patients, and still there is controversy in terms of prognosis since some people believe that the published in-hospital mortality data of patients with SCMP are underestimated. Therefore, we sought to investigate the morphological features of LV and in-hospital outcome of patients with SCMP and explored predictors of short-term prognosis.

Methods: This was a multicenter, observational study of 208 SCMP patients.

Impact of low-dose aspirin on coronary artery spasm as assessed by intracoronary acetylcholine provocation test in Korean patients.

High-dose aspirin has been reported to aggravate coronary artery spasm (CAS). However, it is unknown whether low-dose aspirin (LDA; 100 mg) has deleterious impact on CAS. We assessed the impact of LDA on CAS induced by intracoronary acetylcholine (ACh) provocation test.

Effect of an oral astaxanthin prodrug (CDX-085) on lipoprotein levels and progression of atherosclerosis in LDLR(-/-) and ApoE(-/-) mice.

Unlabelled: Oxidative stress and inflammation are key promoters of atherosclerosis and myocardial damage. When orally administered, the novel astaxanthin prodrug CDX-085 delivers high levels of the xanthophyll antioxidant astaxanthin that protects LDL from oxidation and reduces primary thrombosis. In this study, we analyzed whether delivery of astaxanthin from administration of the CDX-085 prodrug reduces plasma lipoprotein levels and the progression of atherosclerosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor negative (LDLR(-/-)) and apolipoprotein E deficient (ApoE(-/-)) mice.