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.

Quantitative Coronary Angiography vs Intravascular Ultrasonography to Guide Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Although intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) guidance promotes favorable outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), many catheterization laboratories worldwide lack access.

Objective: To investigate whether systematic implementation of quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) to assist angiography-guided PCI could be an alternative strategy to IVUS guidance during stent implantation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This randomized, open-label, noninferiority clinical trial enrolled adults (aged ≥18 years) with chronic or acute coronary syndrome and angiographically confirmed native coronary artery stenosis requiring PCI.

Guiding Intervention for Complex Coronary Lesions by Optical Coherence Tomography or Intravascular Ultrasound.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) have shown comparable outcomes in guiding percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, their comparative effectiveness in complex coronary artery lesions remains unclear.

Objectives: This study compared the effectiveness and safety of OCT-guided vs IVUS-guided PCI for complex coronary artery lesions.

Optical Coherence Tomography-Guided or Intravascular Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: The OCTIVUS Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Intravascular imaging-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed superior clinical outcomes compared with angiography-guided PCI. However, the comparative effectiveness of OCT-guided and IVUS-guided PCI regarding clinical outcomes is unknown.

Methods: In this prospective, multicenter, open-label, pragmatic trial, we randomly assigned 2008 patients with significant coronary artery lesions undergoing PCI in a 1:1 ratio to undergo either an OCT-guided or IVUS-guided PCI.

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.

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.

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.

Quantitative coronary angiography versus intravascular ultrasound guidance for drug-eluting stent implantation (GUIDE-DES): study protocol for a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Introduction: Angiography remains the gold standard for guiding percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, it is prone to suboptimal stent results due to the visual estimation of coronary measurements. Although the benefit of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI is becoming increasingly recognised, IVUS is not affordable for many catheterisation laboratories.

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.

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.

Contribution of sarcomere gene mutations to left atrial function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Left atrial (LA) enlargement and dysfunction are related to clinical course in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We aimed to investigate genetic contribution to LA structural and functional remodeling.

Methods: Two hundred twelve patients were consecutively enrolled, and echocardiography and extensive genetic analysis were performed.

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.

Comparison of optical coherence tomography-guided versus intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention: Rationale and design of a randomized, controlled OCTIVUS trial.

Background: The clinical value of intracoronary imaging for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) guidance is well acknowledged. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are the most commonly used intravascular imaging to guide and optimize PCI in day-to-day practice. However, the comparative effectiveness of IVUS-guided versus OCT-guided PCI with respect to clinical end points remains unknown.

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.

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.

Ezetimibe and Rosuvastatin Combination Treatment Can Reduce the Dose of Rosuvastatin Without Compromising Its Lipid-lowering Efficacy.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to compare the lipid-lowering efficacy of the combination of ezetimibe and low- or intermediate-intensity statin therapy versus that of high-intensity statin monotherapy.

Methods: This study is a post hoc analysis of an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, Phase III trial. Patients who had hypercholesterolemia and required lipid-lowering treatment were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 treatment groups: rosuvastatin 5 mg (R5, n = 68), rosuvastatin 10 mg (R10, n = 67), rosuvastatin 20 mg (R20, n = 69), and ezetimibe 10 mg combined with rosuvastatin 5 mg (R5 + E10, n = 67), rosuvastatin 10 mg (R10 + E10, n = 68), and rosuvastatin 20 mg (R20 + E10, n = 68) daily.

Genetic relevance and determinants of mitral leaflet size in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Whether mitral leaflet elongation is a primary phenotype of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is controversial. We investigated the genetic relevance and determinants of mitral leaflet size by performing extensive gene analyses in patients with HCM.

Methods: Anterior mitral leaflet (AML) lengths were measured in HCM patients (n = 211) and age- and sex-matched controls (n = 30) using echocardiography with hemodynamic and chamber geometric assessments.

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.

Diagnostic accuracy of low-radiation coronary computed tomography angiography with low tube voltage and knowledge-based model reconstruction.

We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with a low-radiation protocol and iterative model reconstruction (IMR), in comparison with invasive coronary angiography (ICA). Sixty-one patients (45 males; mean age, 61.9 ± 9.