BACKGROUND: A considerable number of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) experience left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR). LV global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) offers sensitive and reproducible measurement of myocardial dysfunction. The authors sought to evaluate whether LV GLS at the time of diagnosis may predict LVRR in DCM patients with sinus rhythm and investigate its prognostic role in long-term follow-up in this population. METHODS: We enrolled 160 DCM patients with sinus rhythm who had been initially diagnosed, evaluated, and followed at our institute. We analyzed their medical records and echocardiographic data. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up duration of 37.3 ± 21.7 months, LVRR occurred in 28% of patients (n = 45). The initial LV ejection fraction (LVEF) of patients who recovered LV function was 26.1 ± 7.9%, which was not significantly different from the value of 27.1 ± 7.4% (p = 0.49) in those who did not recover. There was a moderate and highly significant correlation between baseline LV GLS (−%) and follow-up LVEF (r = 0.717; p < 0.001). Using multivariate Cox analysis, LV GLS (hazard ratio: 1.474, 95% confidence interval: 1.170-1.856; p = 0.001) was an independent predictor of LVRR. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that LV GLS was an independent predictor for LVRR and the optimal cutoff point of LV GLS for LVRR was −10% in DCM patients with sinus rhythm. There was a significant correlation between baseline LV GLS and follow-up LVEF.

Aims Several studies have been reported using right ventricular (RV) strain as a method for evaluating RV function in patients with various cardiovascular diseases; however, the clinical relevance of RV strain in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients with sinus rhythm is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between RV strain and adverse events in DCM patients with sinus rhythm. Methods and results We enrolled 143 DCM patients with sinus rhythm who had been first diagnosed, evaluated, and followed at Sanggye Paik Hospital between March 2013 and August 2017. We performed echocardiography and measured RV strain values using the apical four-chamber view. The mean age was 64.6 years. During the median follow-up period of 40.0 months, adverse cardiovascular events developed in 21 patients (14.7%). By Cox proportional hazards multivariate analysis, only RV free wall longitudinal strain (RV-FWLS) independently predicted the primary outcome. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the optimal RV-FWLS cut-off value to identify patients with an event was −16.5% (area under the curve = 0.703, P = 0.003). When we divided the subjects into two groups based on the RV-FWLS of −16.5%, patients with RV-FWLS <−16.5% showed more favourable clinical outcomes than that in those with RV-FWLS ≥−16.5% (log-rank test, P < 0.001). Conclusion RV-FWLS was associated with a significant prognostic impact in DCM patients with sinus rhythm.

We found elevated baseline cystatin C level to be an independent risk factor for CIN and a predictor of all-cause mortality and major adverse events in patients with PAD undergoing endovascular therapy.

Background The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical impact of prediabetes on the development of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a Korean adult population, using data from the Korea Genome and Epidemiology Study. Methods This prospective cohort study included 7728 Korean adults without baseline CKD and type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes was defined by impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and HbA1 C level. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . We assessed the predictive value of prediabetes for the incidence of CKD, and investigated the incidence of cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease and stroke. Results Over a median follow-up period of 8.7 years, 871 of 7728 (11.3%) subjects developed incident CKD. Patients with prediabetes, as defined by IGT or HbA1 C , developed incident CKD more frequently than the non-prediabetic group did. The risk of CKD development at follow-up was analyzed according to different prediabetes definitions. Compared with the non-prediabetic group, the IGT- (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.135, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.182–1.310, P = 0.043) and HbA1 C -defined prediabetic groups (HR = 1.391, 95% CI = 1.213–1.595, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with incident CKD after adjusting for traditional CKD risk factors; however, IFG was not associated with incident CKD. Conclusion IGT- or HbA1 C -defined prediabetes is an independent predictor of incident CKD. The measurement of these parameters might enable early detection of CKD risk, allowing physicians to initiate preventive measures and improve patient outcomes.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which is associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, is increasing worldwide. Although there have been advances in diabetes treatments that reduce microvascular complications (nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy), many clinical studies have found that conventional oral hypoglycemic agents and glucose control alone failed to reduce cardiovascular disease. Thus, incretin-based therapies including glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RAs) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2Is) represent a new area of research, and may serve as novel therapeutics for treating hyperglycemia and modifying other cardiovascular risk factors. Recently, it has been confirmed that several drugs in these classes, including canagliflozin, empagliflozin, semaglutide, and liraglutide, are safe and possess cardioprotective effects. We review the most recent cardiovascular outcome trials on GLP-1RAs and SGLT-2Is, and discuss their implications for treating patients with T2DM in terms of protective effects against cardiovascular disease.

Results :The total number of new cancer cases was higher in 1998~2002 than in 1993~1997 by 20.6% for men and 18.4% for women, respectively. The age-standardized rate (ASR) of total cancer per 100,000 increased 1% (from 295.4 to 298.3) for men and 5.1% (from 181.5 to 190.7) for women, between the two periods. The commonest cancer sites during 1998-2002 for men were stomach, liver, bronchus/lung, colorectum, bladder and prostate, and the commonest cancer sites for women were breast, stomach, colorectum, cervix uteri, thyroid and bronchus/lung. Compared with the ASRs in 1993, the ASRs in 2002 increased for colorectum (58.4% for men, 27.1% for women), prostate (81.5%), breast (58.3% for women), thyroid (141% for women), and bronchus/lung (15.4% for women). The ASRs for stomach (-18.7% for men, -20.7% for women) and uterine cervix cancer (-39.7%) had decreased.Conclusions : The cancer incidence is increasing in Seoul, Korea, especially for the colorectum and prostate for men, and for the breast, colorectum, bronchus/lung and thyroid for women. J Prev Med Public Health 2008;41(2):92-99

Background and Objectives: Whether beta blockers favorably impact the clinical outcome in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains in debate. We investigated the impact of beta blocker on major clinical outcomes during 2 years after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with AMI. Methods: All patients with the first AMI treated with PCI for the period of 2005 to 2014 from the Korean National Health Insurance Service claims database were enrolled. We defined the regular user as medication possession ratio (MPR) ≥80% and non-user as MPR=0%. We compared the occurrence of all cause death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke according to adherence of beta-blockers. A 1:1 propensity score-matching was conducted to adjust for between-group differences. Results: We identified a total 81,752 patients with met eligible criteria. At discharge, 63,885 (78%) patients were prescribed beta blockers. For 2 years follow up period, regular users were 53,991 (66%) patients, non-users were 10,991 (13%). In the propensity score matched population, regular use of beta blocker was associated with a 36% reduced risk of composite adverse events (all death, MI or stroke) (hazard ratio [HR], 0.636; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.555-0.728; p<0.001). Compared to no use of beta blocker, regular use significantly reduced all death (HR, 0.736; 95% CI, 0.668-0.812; p<0.001), MI (HR, 0.729; 95% CI, 0.611-0.803; p<0.001) and stroke (HR, 0.717; 95% CI, 0.650-0.791; p<0.001). Conclusions: Prescription of beta blocker in patients with AMI after PCI was sequentially increased. Continuous regular use of beta blocker for 2 years after AMI reduced major adverse events compared to no use of beta blocker.

Purpose The prevalence and clinical outcomes of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CAS) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have not been thoroughly studied. We examined the prevalence and predictors of asymptomatic CAS detected by carotid angiography and determined the impact of concomitant CAS on prognosis in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) due to CAD. Materials and Methods Between January 2013 and July 2015, 395 patients who underwent carotid digital subtraction angiography to screen for CAS during CAG were analyzed. The presence of CAS was defined as angiographically significant stenosis (≥50%). Major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) rates were compared between patients with and without CAS. MACCEs included a composite of cardiac death, cerebrovascular death, acute myocardial infarction, and stroke. Results Of the 395 patients, 101 (25.5%) patients had significant CAS. The independent predictors of CAS were age, male sex, hypertension, diabetes, and multi-vessel disease. In patients with CAD, the presence of CAS was as an independent predictor for MACCEs after adjusting for confounding factors (hazard ratio 2.47, 95% confidence interval 1.16–5.24, p =0.018). Conclusion Asymptomatic CAS was documented in up to 25% of patients with CAD. The presence of CAS in patients with CAD was associated with a higher rate of MACCEs. Therefore, detection of CAS by carotid angiography during CAG may be important for risk stratification for CAD patients, particularly those with multi-vessel disease.