The FFR measurement in jailed side branch lesions is both safe and feasible. Quantitative coronary angiography is unreliable in the assessment of the functional severity of jailed side branch lesions, and measurement of FFR suggests that most of these lesions do not have functional significance.

AimsThis study was performed to evaluate the functional outcomes of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided jailed sidebranch (SB) intervention strategy. Methods and resultsOne hundred and ten patients treated by provisional strategy were consecutively enrolled and SB FFR was measured in 91 patients. SB intervention was allowed when FFR was ,0.75. FFR measurement was repeated after SB intervention and at 6-month follow-up angiography. In 26 of 28 SB lesions with FFR ,0.75, balloon angioplasty (SB balloon/ artery ratio ¼ 0.84 + 0.14) was performed and FFR 0.75 was achieved in 92% of the lesions although the mean residual stenosis was 69 + 10%. During follow-up, there were no changes in SB FFR in lesions with (0.86 + 0.05 to 0.84 + 0.01, P ¼ 0.4) and without SB angioplasty (0.87 + 0.06 to 0.89 + 0.07, P ¼ 0.1). Functional restenosis (FFR ,0.75) rate was only 8% (5/65). When clinical outcomes of these patients were compared with 110 patients with similar bifurcation lesions treated without FFR-guidance, there was no difference in 9-month cardiac event rates (4.6 vs. 3.7%, P ¼ 0.7) between the two groups. ConclusionIn conclusion, FFR-guided SB intervention strategy resulted in good functional outcomes.--

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The IOCM iodixanol was significantly less nephrotoxic than ioxaglate, an ionic, dimeric LOCM. (The RECOVER Trial; http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT00247325).

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mbulatory 24-h blood pressure (BP) is superior to office BP in relation to advanced hypertensive target organ damage and cardiovascular outcome. 1,2 Furthermore, it has been found that BP variability is associated with organ damage independently on the 24-h mean BP values. 3 In addition, the 24-h BP standard deviation (SD), which is a BP variability index, has been shown to be related to the progression of organ damage over the years. 4,5 It has repeatedly been shown that this phenomenon may have clinical relevance because hypertensive patients with similar 24-h mean BP values have a greater comprehensive score for organ damage when their BP variability is greater. Circulation Journal Vol.72, February 2008So, the identification of increased BP variability by ambulatory monitoring may be one way of detecting the high-risk subject among hypertensive patients.However, the exact mechanisms underlying the link between BP variability and cardiovascular risk are, as yet, unclear. Various mechanisms may be involved in the association between BP variability and cardiovascular disease. In addition to augmented mechanical stress on the cardiovascular system, increased variability of blood flow by augmented BP variability increases sheer stress on endothelial cells. 6,7 Sheer stress-induced platelet activation and subsequent hypercoagulability may lead to cardiovascular events. Neurohumoral activation, which is increased in those with increased BP variability, may also increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.One of the mechanisms explaining the relationship between BP variability and target organ damage is inflammatory response. There is some experimental evidence suggesting that elevated BP and BP variability may promote endothelial expression of cytokines and stimulate inflammation. 8 However, the exact association between BP variability and inflammation in hypertensive subjects has not yet been evaluated. We designed this study to investigate the link between BP variability and inflammation in hypertensive patients. Background Blood pressure (BP) variability has been reported to be associated with hypertensive target organ damage and cardiovascular events. However, the exact mechanism linking BP variability and organ damage is uncertain. This study was designed to investigate the association between BP variability and inflammatory marker in hypertensive patients. Methods and ResultsFifty-two hypertensive patients (28 men, 55.9±1.5 years) completed 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring. Inflammatory markers were evaluated by measuring plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) by particle-enhanced light-scattering immunoassay. BP variability was obtained by calculating within-subject standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation of BP. Subjects were grouped into tertiles according to IL-6, TNF-, and hs-CRP levels. A significant association between ambulatory BP and TNF-level was identified (P for trend =0.011). In...

Contemporary DES, including biocompatible DP-DES, BP-DES, and polymer-free DES, showed a low risk of definite or probable stent thrombosis at 1 year. BVS had an increased risk of device thrombosis compared with CoCr-EES, PtCr-EES, and H-SES. Data from extended follow-up are warranted to confirm the long-term safety of contemporary coronary devices.

The purpose of the present study was to describe the temporal trends in prevalence and management status of hypertension in Korea between 1998 and 2015. Data of adults who were aged 30 years or older were extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationwide representative population-based survey. Hypertension was prevalent in 30.5% of Korean adults. The age and sex standardized prevalence showed little change between 1998 and 2015. The elderly population and men showed higher prevalence. The rates of awareness, treatment, and control showed substantial improvements among hypertensive subjects between 1998 and the time period of 2007‒2009 (awareness, from 23.5 to 66.3%; treatment, from 20.4 to 60.3%; and control, from 4.9 to 42.1%), after which the numbers reached a plateau and no significant changes were observed subsequently (67.3%, 63.6%, and 46.2%, respectively, between 2013 and 2015). The management status remained poor especially among the young population and in men. In conclusion, the hypertension prevalence remained stable at approximately 30% in Korea between 1998 and 2015. While awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension improved remarkably, the young population and particularly men showed a suboptimal management status.