Increased RDW and NLR on admission, in anterior STEMI patients treated with primary PCI are associated with LV systolic dysfunction.

Kandemir YB, Tosun V, Güntekin Ü. Melatonin protects against streptozotocin-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway.

Nondipping pattern in hypertensive patients had a worse cardiac remodeling, and impaired mechanical LA function compared with dipping pattern. The PWD and PTF findings support these changes.

Statin nonadherence or discontinuation is associated with increased cardiovascular events. Many factors related to the physicians or the patients are influential in this. We aimed to compare the compliance with statin therapy between the patients who first presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and unstable angina pectoris (UA) based on the target achievement according to the current dyslipidemia guidelines.We retrospectively acquired all the information about demographic characteristics, in-hospital revascularization procedures, prescribed treatments, and index and up to 6-month follow-up laboratory results of the first acute coronary syndrome patients. Acute coronary syndrome patients were divided into 3 groups as STEMI, NSTEMI, and UA.The STEMI group consisted of 260 patients, NSTEMI group consisted of 560 patients, and UA group consisted of 206 patients. Seventy-six percent of patients underwent percutaneous coronary interventions, 18.3% were managed medically, and 5.7% were referred for coronary artery bypass grafting. There was a significant decrease in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) values with the statin treatment at the follow-up in all 3 groups (for all P < .001). In the STEMI group, the percentage of those achieving the target LDL-C level was significantly higher than those who did not achieve the target according to both The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) and European Society of Cardiology dyslipidemia guidelines. The LDL-C target achievement rates were also higher in the STEMI group than in the NSTEMI and UA groups.Our study concluded that statin treatment goals were more attained in STEMI patients than NSTEMI and UA. All physicians should encourage lifelong intensive statin treatment in UA and NSTEMI patients such as STEMI patients.

The aim of the present study is to investigate if the melatonin has any protective effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy and antioxidant enzymes via phosphorylation of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A). A total of 40 male Wistar rats were enrolled in the study. Rats were divided into four groups: group 1 (control, n=10), group 2 (DM, n=10), group 3 (melatonin, n=10), and group 4 (melatonin+DM, n=10). Melatonin was injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 50 mg/kg/day for 56 days to group 3 and group 4. We investigated expression and phosphorylation of the VEGF-A in coronary vessels of all groups. Staining intensities, biochemical, immunohistochemistry analysis, and transthoracic echocardiography were performed. In comparison to the group 1, DM induced a decrease in p-VEGF-A in coronary vessels of group 2. The lower constitutive phosphorylation of VEGF-A in the group 2 was also increased in coronary vessels after melatonin treatment (p<0.05). Diabetic rats developed myocardial hypertrophy with preserved cardiac function (p<0.05). Cardio-protective effect of melatonin may reduce the damages of diabetes mellitus on the heart muscle fibers and coronary vessels via the phosphorylation of VEGF-A. Melatonin-dependent phosphorylation of VEGF-A in coronary angiogenesis may be associated with the physiological as well as with the pathological cardiac hypertrophy.

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Background and aims The Friedewald equation (LDL‐Cf) is known to produce inaccurate estimations of low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) when triglycerides are high (>400 mg/dL) or LDL‐C is low (<70 mg/dL). The Martin/Hopkins (LDL‐Cmh) and Sampson (LDL‐Cs) equations were developed to overcome these limitations, but few data are available to assess whether these equations offer incremental usefulness over LDL‐Cf. Our aim was to understand whether there was any incremental usefulness of novel equations on decisions regarding patient management. Methods Four thousand one hundred and ninety‐six cardiology patients who were included in a multicentre registry database were analysed. Each patient was assigned to a cardiovascular risk class using the SCORE (Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation) algorithm, and relevant European guidelines were used to assess LDL‐C targets. Results Compared with LDL‐Cmh and LDL‐Cs, LDL‐Cf was able to correctly identify 96.9%‐98.08% of patients as within or outside the LDL‐C target, respectively, and 1.95%‐2.8% of patients were falsely identified as being within the LDL‐C target. Kappa coefficients for agreement between LDL‐Cf vs LDL‐Cmh and LDL‐Cf vs LDL‐Cs were 0.868 and 0.918 (P < .001). For patients not on cholesterol‐lowering drugs, the decision to initiate treatment would be different in 1.2%‐1.8% of cases if LDL‐Cs or LDL‐Cmh were used, respectively. For those already on cholesterol‐lowering drugs, decisions regarding treatment intensification would be different in 1.5%‐2.4% of cases if LDL‐Cs or LDL‐Cmh were used. Conclusions In most cardiology outpatients, the Friedewald equation has excellent agreement with the novel Martin/Hopkins and Sampson equations, and treatment decisions should not change in most patients.

The aim of this study is to assess the left atrium (LA) deformation parameters by using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and to evaluate the relationship between these parameters and AS clinical indexes. 30 patients with AS (22 males, 8 females) and 30 healthy individuals (19 males, 11 females) were enrolled in this study. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed to both groups. Besides the conventional echocardiographic parameters, the LA strain parameters; including systolic-reservoir (LA S-S), early diastolic-conduit (LA S-E), late diastolic-contraction (LA S-A) were measured. No significant difference was found between two groups in terms of conventional echocardiographic parameters except mean deceleration time (DT). Mean DT was prolonged in the AS patients compare with the control group (173.5 ± 22.5 vs. 155.3 ± 36.7, p = 0.025). In the AS patients, LA S-S (48.3 ± 9.4 vs. 56.9 ± 10.1, p = 0.001), LA S-E (26.4 ± 6.4 vs. 31.6 ± 7.3, p = 0.005) and LA S-A (21.9 ± 4.7 vs. 25.4 ± 5.7, p = 0.013) values were statistically lower than the control group. Also a negative correlation was observed between the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) and LA S-S (r = - 0.509, p = 0.004), LA S-E (r = - 0.501, p = 0.005). Our study demonstrated that 2D-STE is a useful method to determine the left atrial involvement in AS patients without the clinical evident of cardiovascular disease.