The association between multi-inflammatory index and long-term mortality in post-myocardial infarction patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and various inflammatory markers have been associated with patient outcomes. The multi-inflammatory index (MII) has emerged as a potential prognostic indicator, but its relationship with AMI mortality remains unclear.

Methods: We analyzed 8,414 patients with successfully revascularized AMI.

Role of bariatric surgery in patients with advanced heart failure.

Background: Although bariatric surgery (BaS) is an important treatment option to treat obesity in general, the safety and efficacy of BaS in patients with advanced heart failure (HF) are not well known.

Objectives: To describe the trajectory of patients with advanced HF who underwent BaS and cardiac replacement therapy.

Setting: Single-tertiary academic hospital.

Impact of obesity on long term post heart transplantation outcomes.

Background: Obesity is an ongoing pandemic, and the rising trend of body mass index (BMI) in heart transplant (HTx) recipients is well known. However, the long term post-HTx outcomes of obese patients are not clearly documented.

Aims: We aimed to investigate long term post-transplant outcomes in obese patients.

Prognostic Value of Ambulatory Status at Transplant in Older Heart Transplant Recipients: Implications for Organ Allocation Policy.

Background: Shortage of organ donors in the Republic of Korea has become a major problem. To address this, it has been questioned whether heart transplant (HTx) allocation should be modified to reduce priority of older patients. We aimed to evaluate post-HTx outcomes according to recipient age and specific pre-HTx conditions using a nationwide prospective cohort.

Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Death in Patients With Mildly Reduced Ejection Fraction After Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Multicenter, Prospective Registry Study.

Background: The prognostic implication of mildly reduced ejection fraction (mrEF) after acute myocardial infarction has not been clearly demonstrated. We investigated the long-term risk of cardiovascular death and its predictors in patients with mrEF following acute myocardial infarction.

Methods And Results: A total of 18 668 patients who presented with acute myocardial infarction were included in 2 prospective, multicenter registries.

Predictors and Long-Term Clinical Impact of Heart Failure With Improved Ejection Fraction After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Little is known about the characteristics and long-term clinical outcomes of patients with heart failure with improved ejection fraction (HFimpEF) after acute myocardial infarction.

Methods And Results: From a multicenter, consecutive cohort of patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, patients with an initial echocardiogram with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and at least 1 follow-up echocardiogram after 14 days and within 2 years of the initial event were considered for analyses. HFimpEF was defined as an initial left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and serial left ventricular ejection fraction >40% with an increase of ≥10% from baseline at follow-up.

Temporal Trends, Risk Factors, and Clinical Outcomes of De Novo Lymphoproliferative Disorders After Heart Transplantation.

Background: Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. However, previous studies of PTLD after HTx are limited to single-center analyses or extrapolated from all solid organ transplantations.

Objectives: The authors analyzed the temporal trends, risk factors, and clinical outcome of de novo PTLD specifically after HTx.

Predictors for early cardiac death after discharge from successfully treated acute myocardial infarction.

Background: The use of a cardioverter defibrillator for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death is not recommended within 40 days after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We investigated the predictors for early cardiac death among patients who were admitted for AMI and successfully discharged.

Methods: Consecutive patients with AMI were enrolled in a multicenter prospective registry.

Three year post heart transplant outcomes of desensitized durable mechanical circulatory support patients.

Background: The risks and benefits of desensitization therapy (DST) in highly sensitized mechanical circulatory support (MCS) patients are not well known. We investigated 3 year post-transplant outcomes of desensitized durable MCS patients.

Methods: Among 689 consecutively enrolled heart transplantation recipients between 2010 and 2016, we categorized them into Group A (desensitized MCS patients, n = 21), Group B (desensitized non-MCS patients, n = 28) and Group C (all nondesensitized patients, n = 640).

Clinical benefit of long-term use of dual antiplatelet therapy for acute myocardial infarction patients with the PEGASUS-TIMI 54 criteria.

Background: We evaluated the effectiveness of extended dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) usage after 2nd-generation drug elution stent implantation in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) survivors with high ischemic risk characteristics who had no major bleeding for 24 months under at least 1 year of DAPT maintenance.

Materials And Methods: The primary ischemic and bleeding endpoints were the risk of mortality and the risk of BARC 3 or 5 (major) bleeding. We investigated the event rates for 2-5 years after the index procedure.

High Uric Acid Levels in Acute Myocardial Infarction Provide Better Long-Term Prognosis Predictive Power When Combined with Traditional Risk Factors.

The current study aimed to investigate the association between serum UA levels and the mortality rate of AMI patients. We analyzed 5888 patients with successfully revascularized AMI (mean age: 64.0 ± 12.

Characteristics and outcomes of heart transplant recipients with a pretransplant history of malignancy.

We aimed to investigate the characteristics and outcomes of HTx recipients with a history of pretransplant malignancy (PTM). Among 1062 HTx recipients between 1997 and 2013, 73 (7.1%) patients had PTMs (77 cancer cases).

Independent Clinical Impacts of Procedural Complexity on Ischemic and Bleeding Events in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: Long-Term Clinical Study.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between a complex percutaneous coronary intervention (C-PCI) and long-term clinical outcomes in the AMI cohort. A total of 10,329 patients were categorized into the C-PCI and non-C-PCI groups. The primary ischemic endpoint was a composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis and revascularization).

Prognostic Impact of the HFA-PEFF Score in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction and an Intermediate to High HFA-PEFF Score.

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the HFA-PEFF score in predicting the long-term risks in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and an HFA-PEFF score ≥ 2. The subjects were divided according to their HFA-PEFF score into intermediate (2−3 points) and high (4−6 points) score groups. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality.

Case report: atrial septostomy as a bridge to lung transplantation in a patient with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Introduction: Advances in critical care management have led to the recent increase in the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to lung transplantation (LT). Patients with respiratory failure requiring venovenous ECMO usually experience progressive right ventricular (RV) failure. Diagnosis and treatment of RV failure during ECMO are essential for improving the prognosis of patients.

Long-Term Maintenance of Sinus Rhythm Is Associated with Favorable Echocardiographic Remodeling and Improved Clinical Outcomes after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Periprocedural atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with poor prognosis after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We evaluated the impact of long-term sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance on post-TAVR outcomes. We enrolled 278 patients treated with TAVR including 87 patients with periprocedural AF.

AIMP3 induces laminopathy and senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells by reducing lamin A expression and leads to vascular aging in vivo.

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-interacting multifunctional protein 3 (AIMP3), a tumor suppressor, mediates a progeroid phenotype in mice by downregulating lamin A. We investigated whether AIMP3 induces laminopathy and senescence of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) and is associated with vascular aging in mice and humans in line with decreased lamin A expression. Cellular senescence was evaluated after transfecting HASMCs with AIMP3.

Anti-inflammatory effect of statin is continuously working throughout use: a prospective three time point F-FDG PET/CT imaging study.

No data exist whether statins have robust anti-inflammatory effects of atherosclerotic plaques primarily during the early treatment period or continuously throughout use. This prospective three time point F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) study of the carotid artery assessed anti-inflammatory effects of statin during the early treatment period (initiation to 3 months) and late treatment period (3 months to 1 year) and their correlation with lipid and inflammatory profile changes during a year of therapy. Nine statin-naïve stable angina patients with inflammatory carotid plaques received 20 mg/day atorvastatin after undergoing initial F-FDG PET/CT scanning of carotid arteries and ascending thoracic aorta, and then completed serial F-FDG PET/CT imaging at 3 and 12 months whose data were analyzed.

Effect of moderate-intensity statin therapy on plaque inflammation in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A prospective interventional study evaluated by 18F-FDG PET/CT of the carotid artery.

Background: Asian patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are frequently prescribed moderate- -intensity statin in real practice, even during the early stage of ACS. Under assessment herein was the effect of moderate-intensity statin therapy on the resolution of plaque inflammation during the first month after ACS, a period with highest recurrent ischemic events, using dual time point 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT).

Methods: This prospective study included statin-naïve patients with ACS and non-calcified carotid plaques (≥ 3 mm on ultrasound images).

Differential Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease on Coronary Calcification and Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Individuals with or without Diabetes: Analysis from a Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography Registry.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the combined effects of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes on the extent and developmental pattern of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: A total of 3,017 self-referred asymptomatic individuals without known CAD who underwent 64-channel dual-source coronary computed tomography angiography between 2006 and 2010 were enrolled. The patients were divided into six groups based on their diabetes status (nondiabetic or diabetic) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (eGFR > 90 mL/min/1.

Renin-angiotensin system blockade reduces cardiovascular events in nonheart failure, stable patients with prior coronary intervention.

Background: The effects of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade on the clinical outcome in patients with stable coronary artery disease (SCAD) are conflicting. We evaluated the long-term effects of RAS blockers (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker) on the clinical outcomes in patients with SCAD without heart failure (HF) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent using a large-scale, multicenter, prospective cohort registry.

Methods: A total of 5722 patients with SCAD were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the use of RAS blockers after PCI: RAS blocker group included 4070 patients and no RAS blocker group included 1652 patients.

Relationship between airflow obstruction and coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals: evaluation by coronary CT angiography.

Airflow obstruction is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the causal mechanisms linking airflow obstruction with higher incidence of cardiovascular events remain elusive. We evaluated the relationship between airflow obstruction, a key feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and prevalence, extent, and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in a large cohort of asymptomatic subjects.

Computed Tomography Angiography Images of Coronary Artery Stenosis Provide a Better Prediction of Risk Than Traditional Risk Factors in Asymptomatic Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: A Long-term Study of Clinical Outcomes.

Objective: We investigated the efficacy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in predicting the long-term risks in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes and compared it with traditional risk factors.

Research Design And Methods: We analyzed 933 patients with asymptomatic type 2 diabetes who underwent CCTA. Stenosis was considered obstructive (≥50%) in each coronary artery segment using CCTA.