Age and Health Status Benefits Following Initiation of Atrial Fibrillation-Specific Treatments.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is managed with various strategies, including rate and rhythm control, to improve patients' health status. Although its incidence increases with age, how age affects health status improvements following AF treatment remains unknown.

Methods: Using data from a multicenter registry for outpatients with newly recognized AF, baseline and 1-year health status was assessed with the Atrial Fibrillation Effect on Quality-of-life quesTionnaire (AFEQT).

Risk-Stratified Prognostic Implications of Contrast-Associated Acute Kidney Injury After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Background: The clinical importance of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI), the most common complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is debated.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between CA-AKI and long-term outcomes, overall and across the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) AKI risk categories.

Methods: We analyzed patients undergoing PCI between September 2008 and October 2021 from a Japanese registry aligned with the NCDR and categorized them by the NCDR AKI risk score tertiles (low-risk [<4.

Residual pulmonary hypertension and clinical outcomes in acute decompensated heart failure patients stratified by left ventricular ejection fraction.

Aims: The precise outcomes for patients with residual pulmonary hypertension (PH) following the optimized treatment of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic association of PH, categorized according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), in hospitalized ADHF patients.

Methods And Results: The WET-HF registry is a multicentre, prospective cohort ADHF registry.

Revised definition of pulmonary hypertension subtypes enhances prognostic stratification in hospitalized heart failure patients.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of heart failure (HF) that has two subtypes: isolated postcapillary PH (IpcPH) and combined postcapillary and precapillary PH (CpcPH). The definitions of these subtypes were revised in 2022, but the prognostic impacts of this change in hospitalized patients with HF remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how the current definitions of PH subtypes affect patient prognosis.

Association of Tricuspid Regurgitation With Mortality in Heart Failure With Left-Sided Heart Disease.

Background: Left-sided heart disease is the leading etiology of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in heart failure (HF); however, the association between different HF phenotypes and the adverse effects of TR remains unclear.

Objectives: The authors aimed to elucidate the association between TR and outcomes across the subtypes of left-sided heart disease in patients hospitalized for HF.

Methods: We analyzed data from the multicenter West Tokyo Heart Failure registry between January 2006 and December 2021.

Prediction of left ventricular reverse remodeling in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction using cardiopulmonary exercise testing.

Background: With advances in the treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), the prediction of left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR) has become increasingly important. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a non-invasive test recommended for prognostic risk assessment in HFrEF; however, it is not known whether it predicts LVRR. We aimed to investigate whether the parameters obtained from CPET are useful in predicting LVRR in HFrEF.

Effect of basic activities of daily living independence on home discharge and long-term outcomes in patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) experience impairments in functional status, primarily affecting basic activities of daily living (ADL). We investigated the independent effect of functional status for ADL on patient-centered outcomes (i.e.

Prognostic value of heart rate and oxygen pulse response in heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction over 40.

Backgrounds: Heart rate (HR) and stroke volume (SV)-the components of cardiac output-have a complementary relationship. Poor HR increase during exercise is associated with poor exercise tolerance in heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but its prognostic impact remains unclear. Furthermore, whether the compensation for poor HR increase with SV during exercise is associated with prognosis remains unknown.

Trajectories of Frailty and Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Insights From the Shizuoka Kokuho Database.

Background: The increasing prevalence of frailty has gained considerable attention due to its profound influence on clinical outcomes. However, our understanding of the progression of frailty and long-term clinical outcomes in older individuals with atrial fibrillation remains scarce.

Methods: Using data from 2012 to 2018 from a comprehensive claims database incorporating primary and hospital care records in Shizuoka, Japan, we selected patients aged ≥65 years with atrial fibrillation who initiated oral anticoagulant therapy.

Discontinuation of Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation Patients: Impact of Treatment Strategy and on Patients' Health Status.

Aims: The discontinuation of oral anticoagulants (OACs) remains as a significant concern in the management of atrial fibrillation (AF). The discontinuation rate may vary depending on management strategy, and physicians may also discontinue OACs due to concerns about patient satisfaction with their care. We aimed to assess the incidence of OAC discontinuation and its relationship to patients' health in an outpatient AF registry.

Treatment patterns and trajectories in patients after acute heart failure hospitalization.

Aims: The trajectories of systolic function after admission for acute heart failure (HF) and their effect on clinical outcomes have not been fully elucidated. We aimed to assess changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between the index and 1 year after discharge and to examine their prognostic implications.

Methods And Results: We extracted data from a prospective multicentre registry of patients hospitalized for acute HF and identified 1636 patients with LVEF data at admission and 1 year after discharge.

Long-term outcomes of periprocedural coronary dissection and perforation for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in a Japanese multicenter registry.

Long-term outcomes of iatrogenic coronary dissection and perforation in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains under-investigated. We analyzed 8,721 consecutive patients discharged after PCI between 2008 and 2019 from Keio Cardiovascular (KiCS) PCI multicenter prospective registry in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Significant coronary dissection was defined as persistent contrast medium extravasation or spiral or persistent filling defects with complete distal and impaired flow.

Standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A report from multicenter percutaneous coronary intervention registry.

Background: High mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) without standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors [SMuRFs (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and dyslipidemia)] has been reported.

Phenotyping of Elderly Patients With Heart Failure Focused on Noncardiac Conditions: A Latent Class Analysis From a Multicenter Registry of Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure.

Background The burden of noncardiovascular conditions is becoming increasingly prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to identify novel phenogroups incorporating noncardiovascular conditions to facilitate understanding and risk stratification in elderly patients with HF. Methods and Results Data from a total of 1881 (61.

Time Trend in Incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention from 2009 to 2017 (from the Japanese Multicenter Registry).

The advances in the integrated management of patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have reduced subsequent cardiovascular events. Nonetheless, sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major concern. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the time trend in SCD incidence after PCI and to identify the clinical factors contributing to SCD.

Phase I Study to Assess the Safety and Immunogenicity of an Intradermal COVID-19 DNA Vaccine Administered Using a Pyro-Drive Jet Injector in Healthy Adults.

We conducted a nonrandomized, open-label phase I study to assess the safety and immunogenicity of an intradermal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) DNA vaccine (AG0302-COVID-19) administered using a pyro-drive jet injector at Osaka University Hospital between Yanagida November 2020 and December 2021. Twenty healthy volunteers, male or female, were enrolled in the low-dose (0.2 mg) or high-dose (0.

Rate versus rhythm control in patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation: Effects of the treatment timing on health status outcomes.

Background: Recent randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that applying rhythm control during the early stage of atrial fibrillation (AF) may lead to improved clinical outcomes. However, the effects of this modality on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) have not been fully investigated. We aimed to assess the association between the AF stage, determined by the time between AF diagnosis and referral to the cardiology clinic, and HRQoL outcomes.

Preclinical study of a DNA vaccine targeting SARS-CoV-2.

To fight against the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the development of an effective and safe vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is required. As potential pandemic vaccines, DNA/RNA vaccines, viral vector vaccines and protein-based vaccines have been rapidly developed to prevent pandemic spread worldwide. In this study, we designed plasmid DNA vaccine targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein (S protein) as pandemic vaccine, and the humoral, cellular, and functional immune responses were characterized to support proceeding to initial human clinical trials.

Absence of first-pass isolation is associated with poor pulmonary vein isolation durability and atrial fibrillation ablation outcomes.

Background: Pulmonary vein (PV) reconnection is the main cause of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence. This study aimed to examine the effect of first-pass PV isolation (PVI) on PV reconnection frequency during the procedure and on AF ablation outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study included 446 patients with drug-refractory AF (370 men, aged 64 ± 10 years) who underwent initial PVI using an open-irrigated contact force catheter between January 2015 and October 2016.

Prevention of Acute Lung Injury by a Novel CD14-Inhibitory Receptor Activator of the NF-κB Ligand Peptide in Mice.

Although CD14 has been implicated in the initiation of multiple TLR-mediated inflammatory responses to sepsis and sepsis-related acute lung injury (ALI), an inhibitor of CD14, except for neutralizing Abs, has not been developed. A partial peptide, microglial healing peptide 1 with N-terminal acetylation and C-terminal amidation (MHP1-AcN), derived from the receptor activator of the NF-кB ligand, was recently found to inhibit multiple TLR signaling in the macrophages. Therefore, we hypothesized that the inhibitory effect of MHP1-AcN might be through the inhibition of CD14, a common coreceptor for multiple TLRs.