clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT00851526.

6This 8-week, randomized, double-blind, controlled study compared efficacy and tolerability of telmisartan ⁄ amlodipine (T ⁄ A) single-pill combination (SPC) vs the respective monotherapies in 858 patients with severe hypertension (systolic ⁄ diastolic blood pressure [SBP ⁄ DBP] !180 ⁄ 95 mm Hg). At 8 weeks, T ⁄ A provided significantly greater reductions from baseline in seated trough cuff SBP ⁄ DBP ()47.5 mm Hg ⁄ )18.7 mm Hg) vs T (P<.0001) or A (P=.0002) monotherapy; superior reductions were also evident at 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Blood pressure (BP) goal and response rates were consistently higher with T ⁄ A vs T or A. T ⁄ A was well tolerated, with less frequent treatmentrelated adverse events vs A (12.6% vs 16.4%) and a numerically lower incidence of peripheral edema and treatment discontinuation. In conclusion, treatment of patients with substantially elevated BP with T ⁄ A SPCs resulted in high and significantly greater BP reductions and higher BP goal and response rates than the respective monotherapies. T ⁄ A SPCs were well tolerated. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2012;14:206-215. Ó2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Based on evidence from a number of large antihypertensive trials, 1-9 most guidelines acknowledge that combination therapy is needed to reduce blood pressure (BP) successfully to goal in the majority of patients; only a minority of patients achieve their BP goal with a single agent.10-14 Also, the Avoiding Cardiovascular Events Through Combination Therapy in Patients Living With Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH) study showed a significant reduction of cardiovascular (CV) events and death in hypertensive patients at high CV risk treated with a combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a calcium channel blocker (CCB).15 Nevertheless, despite rigorous and comprehensive guidelines, and a trend towards an increase in the use of combination therapy in treatment practice, 16 several studies have demonstrated the persistence of poor BP goal rates in treated patients. [17][18][19] The impact of poor BP control is compounded by the often high prevalence of other CV risk factors in hypertensive patients (eg, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM], and smoking).13 Therefore, an urgent need still remains to improve the management of hypertension. One logical approach would be to use 2 drugs from different classes and complementary mechanisms of action in combination. Such combinations may result in additional BP decreases and improved goal rates, compared with either agent used alone. 20-23Furthermore, single-pill combinations (SPCs) are known to increase treatment adherence and reduce health care costs. [24][25][26][27] A combination of a CCB and an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) is a rational approach for managing hypertension and there is increasing evidence that this combination is effective. 11,13,28,29 The aim of the current study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of the SPC of telmisartan 80 mg ⁄ amlodipine 10 mg (T80 ⁄ A10) with that of...

In patients with bifurcation lesions, the use of SES resulted in better long-term outcomes than did the use of PES, primarily by decreasing the rate of repeat revascularization. (Coronary Bifurcation Stenting Registry in South Korea [COBIS]; NCT00851526).

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Objective Whereas the relation between apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) gene polymorphisms and triglycerides (TG) levels is well established, the associations between apoA5 concentrations, TG and coronary artery disease (CAD) remain controversial. Therefore, we investigated these relations in the setting of a case–control study involving Korean males. Methods ApoA5, TG, insulin, free fatty acid (FFA) and lipoprotein profiles were determined using a cross-sectional design in 777 healthy controls and 367 CAD patients. Results Plasma apoA5 concentration was lower in CAD patients than controls (192.7 ± 5.2 vs. 237.2 ± 3.7 ng/ml, P < 0.001). Values in the second and top tertiles of apoA5 were associated with a decreased odds ratio (OR) for CAD when compared with values in the bottom tertile; OR for apoA5 top tertile was 0.33 (95% CI, 0.23–0.47) in the age- and BMI-adjusted model and 0.35 (95% CI, 0.23–0.56) following additional adjustments for smoking, drinking status, blood pressure, TG and HDL-cholesterol. After adjustment for age and BMI, plasma apoA5 concentration was negatively correlated with serum TG (r = −0.188, P < 0.001) and insulin (r = −0.185, P < 0.001) in normotriglyceridemic controls (TG < 150 mg/dL, n = 509) whereas apoA5 was positively correlated with serum TG in hypertriglyceridemic controls (TG ≥150 mg/dL, n = 268) (r = 0.246, P < 0.001) and total CAD patients (r = 0.177, P < 0.01). Regardless of TG levels and CAD status, apoA5 concentration was positively correlated with HDL-cholesterol and FFA levels. Conclusions Our data supports an inverse association between plasma apoA5 concentrations and CAD risk, probably due to the observed negative correlations of apoA5 with TGs and insulin, although these correlations were affected by TG levels.