Current status of the use of validated home blood pressure monitoring devices among Korean patients with hypertension.

The implementation of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring (HBPM) has improved the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Current clinical guidelines advocate the use of validated HBPM devices. However, few studies have examined the current use of validated HBPM devices.

Predictive value of homologous recombination-related gene mutations in survival outcomes of first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy for gastric cancer.

Background: Homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene mutations contribute to genomic instability. However, their clinical value in immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based treatments in gastric cancer remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the efficacy of nivolumab plus chemotherapy according to the HRR mutation status in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Resistant Hypertension Treated With Extravascular Renal Denervation.

Resistant hypertension is defined as uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) even with 3 or more antihypertensive drugs. Catheter-based intravascular renal denervation has shown only modest benefits, prompting the development of extravascular renal denervation (eRDN), the HyperQure RDN System. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported experience of eRDN performed in 2 patients with severe resistant hypertension.

Tie2 activator 4E2 ameliorates diabetic nephropathy and synergizes with dapagliflozin in a mouse model.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN), a primary cause of end-stage renal disease, stems from hyperglycemia-induced vascular dysfunction and aberrant angiogenesis. Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, such as dapagliflozin, improve glycemic control and provide renal protection yet fall short of fully halting DN progression. This study explores 4E2, a Tie2 receptor activator that mimics angiopoietin-1 to stabilize the vascular endothelium, as a novel DN therapy-both independently and in combination with dapagliflozin.

Effectiveness of single-pill combination olmesartan/amlodipine/hydrochlorothiazide therapy in patients with apparent resistant hypertension.

This pioneering study investigated the real-life effectiveness of single-pill combination (SPC) antihypertensive therapy in patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular risk factors. After treatment with olmesartan medoxomil/amlodipine besylate/hydrochlorothiazide for 24 weeks, adults with apparent resistant hypertension had significantly reduced systolic BP and approximately 80% achieved target BP. SPC therapy may improve adherence in patients with pseudo-resistant hypertension and is a potentially effective treatment for resistant hypertension.

Seasonal and Diurnal Ammonia Emissions from Swine-Finishing Barn with Ground Channel Ventilation.

This study evaluated the impact of a ground channel ventilation system on seasonal ammonia emissions in a swine-finishing barn over three distinct seasons: summer, late autumn, and winter. The ground channel system tempered inlet air, cooling it during summer and warming it during colder seasons, maintaining stable room temperatures despite external fluctuations. During summer, the ground channel reduced the incoming air temperature from 26.

Correction: Posttreatment pulse rate reduction and not baseline pulse rate as an indicator of blood pressure response to nebivolol: a subanalysis from the real-world BENEFIT-KOREA study.

[This corrects the article e8 in vol. 31, PMID: 40083595.].

Correction: The role of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in enhancing medication adherence among patients with newly diagnosed hypertension: an analysis of the National Health Insurance cohort database.

[This corrects the article 6 in vol. 30, PMID: 38424656.].

Impact of Clinic Blood Pressure Target on the Prevalence and Predictors of Masked Uncontrolled Hypertension and White-Coat Uncontrolled Hypertension.

Background: Identifying masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) and white-coat uncontrolled hypertension (WUCH) without ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring is challenging. Recent literature advocates intensive blood pressure (BP) control, but standard guidelines still suggest a clinic BP threshold of ≥ 149/90 mmHg to diagnose hypertension. This study explored the impact of different clinic BP targets on the prevalence and predictors of MUCH and WUCH.

Experience conducting COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and the Philippines: lessons for future epidemics and potential pandemics.

Problem: Once COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, there was a need to monitor real-world vaccine effectiveness to accumulate evidence to inform policy and risk communication. This was especially true in Japan and the Philippines, given historical issues that affected vaccine confidence.

Context: Neither country had public health surveillance that could be enhanced to evaluate vaccine effectiveness or readily available national vaccination databases.

Spironolactone vs Amiloride for Resistant Hypertension: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Amiloride has been proposed as an alternative to spironolactone for treating resistant hypertension. However, no randomized clinical trials have compared the efficacy of spironolactone and amiloride in patients with resistant hypertension.

Objective: To determine whether amiloride is noninferior to spironolactone in reducing home-measured systolic blood pressure (SBP) in patients with resistant hypertension.

Impact of Post-PCI Lipid Core Burden Index on Angiographic and Clinical Outcomes: Insights From NIRS-IVUS.

Background: The impact of lipid core burden index (LCBI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the stented segment assessed by intracoronary near-infrared spectroscopy on the outcomes remains unclear.

Methods: In this prospective observational study, we aimed to assess the impact of post-PCI LCBI on late lumen loss and clinical outcomes. Post-PCI intracoronary near-infrared spectroscopy imaging was performed in the stented segment after PCI.

Predictive value of EBV-positivity in patients with gastric cancer treated with first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy.

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positivity is a potential predictive biomarker for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in gastric cancer patients, but its value in first-line ICI-based chemotherapy remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of EBV positivity in patients treated with first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy.

Methods: This single-center study included advanced gastric cancer patients treated with first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy (n = 293).

Association of systolic blood pressure target and variability with long-term clinical outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: The combined impact of achieving target systolic blood pressure (SBP) and blood pressure variability (BPV) on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of SBP target achievement and BPV on the risk of cardiovascular events in patients undergoing PCI.

Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent PCI between 2012 and 2016 were included.

A Phase III Randomized, Double-Blind, Active-Controlled, Multicenter Study on the Efficacy and Safety of Ezetimibe/Atorvastatin/Amlodipine Combination in Patients With Comorbid Primary Hypercholesterolemia and Essential Hypertension.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of triple combination of ezetimibe (Eze)/atorvastatin (Ato) 10/40 mg + amlodipine (Aml) 10 mg therapy for lowering the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and blood pressure compared with either Eze/Ato 10/40 mg or Aml 10 mg therapies in patients with comorbid primary hypercholesterolemia and essential hypertension.

Methods: This was a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, active-controlled, Phase III clinical trial. Participants underwent a wash-out period (2 weeks for nonfibrate medications, 6 weeks for fibrates) followed by 4 weeks of therapeutic lifestyle changes.

Posttreatment pulse rate reduction and not baseline pulse rate as an indicator of blood pressure response to nebivolol: a subanalysis from the real-world BENEFIT-KOREA study.

Background: This subanalysis of BENEFIT-KOREA cohort assessed the impact of baseline pulse rate (PR) and posttreatment PR reduction on the blood pressure (BP)-lowering efficacy of nebivolol in patients with hypertension.

Methods: South Korean patients with hypertension were enrolled in the BENEFIT-KOREA study; 3,011 patients received nebivolol as monotherapy/add-on therapy. Time-averaged BP, calculated by sum of the product of BPs at weeks 12 and 24 corrected for number of participants at these timepoints, was evaluated with/without adjustment for baseline BP.

Sociobehavioural factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against medically attended, symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Philippines: a prospective case-control study (FASCINATE-P study).

Objective: We examined sociobehavioural factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and estimated COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Philippines. Such studies are limited in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Asia and the Pacific.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted in two hospitals in Manila, Philippines, from March 2022 to June 2023.

Factors associated with COVID-19 in-hospital death and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization in the Philippines during pre-omicron and omicron period: A case-control study (MOTIVATE-P study).

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies are limited in low- and middle-income countries. A case-control study was conducted among COVID-19 and other pneumonia patients admitted to a hospital in the Philippines during the pre-Omicron and Omicron periods. To elucidate factors associated with in-hospital death, 1782 COVID-19 patients were assessed.

Discrepancies between home blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in apparent treatment-resistant hypertension: analysis from the Korean resistant hypertension cohort.

This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of out-of-office blood pressure (BP) measurements in patients with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension (aRH) enrolled from 15 tertiary care centers in South Korea. aRH was defined as having uncontrolled office BP ≥ 130/80 mmHg despite receiving three classes of antihypertensive medication or any level of BP despite receiving ≥4 classes of antihypertensive medication. Patients with complete data for office BP, 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), and home BP measurements at baseline were included.

Survival outcomes of patients with gastric cancer treated with first-line nivolumab plus chemotherapy based on claudin 18.2 expression.

Background: Claudin 18.2 has emerged as a viable therapeutic target in gastric cancer; however, its clinical relevance in the context of immune checkpoint inhibitor-based chemotherapy is not known. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of nivolumab plus chemotherapy according to claudin 18.

Fluorescence-guided tumor visualization of colorectal cancer using tumor-initiating probe yellow in preclinical models.

Fluorescence-guided surgery has emerged as an innovative technique with promising applications in the treatment of various tumors, including colon cancer. Tumor-initiating probe yellow (TiY) has been discovered for identifying tumorigenic cells by unbiased phenotypic screening with thousands of diversity-oriented fluorescence library (DOFL) compounds in a patient-derived lung cancer cell model. This study demonstrated the clinical feasibility of TiY for tumor-specific fluorescence imaging in the tissues of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Role of dietary potassium and salt substitution in the prevention and management of hypertension.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to be the leading cause of deaths and disability worldwide and the major contributor is hypertension. Despite all the improvements in detecting hypertension together with technological advances and affordable, efficacious and relatively free of adverse effects anti-hypertensive agents, we continue to struggle to prevent the onset of hypertension and to control blood pressure (BP) to acceptable targets. The poor control of hypertension is commonly due to non-adherence to medications.

A comprehensive analysis of fruit, vegetable, and legume consumption and the risk of hypertension: results from the KoGES_CAVAS cohort.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the association between total consumption of fruits (F), vegetables (V), and legumes (L) and their subgroups and hypertension risk in adults aged ≥ 40 years in the Cardiovascular Disease Association Study (CAVAS).

Methods: We analyzed data from 10,325 normotensive participants using cumulative average dietary consumption from repeated food frequency questionnaires during the follow-up. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were estimated with a modified Poisson regression model and a robust error estimator to evaluate the association between hypertension risk and total consumption of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, as well as their 17 subgroups.