Background and aims: Visceral obesity is a marker of dysfunctional adipose tissue and ectopic fat infiltration. Many studies have shown that visceral fat dysfunction has a close relationship with cardiovascular disease. For a better identification of visceral adiposity dysfunction, the visceral adiposity index (VAI) is used. Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is known to have a strong correlation with the total plaque burden therefore provides information about the severity of the coronary atherosclerosis. CACS is a strong predictor of cardiac events and it refines cardiovascular risk assessment beyond conventional risk factors. Our aim was to evaluate the association between VAI and CACS in an asymptomatic Caucasian population. Methods and results: Computed tomography scans of 460 participants were analyzed in a crosssectional, voluntary screening program. A health questionnaire, physical examination and laboratory tests were also performed. Participants with a history of cardiovascular disease were excluded from the analysis. Mean VAI was 1.41 AE 0.07 in men and 2.00 AE 0.15 in women. VAI showed a positive correlation with total coronary calcium score (r Z 0.242) in males but not in females. VAI was stratified into tertiles by gender. In males, third VAI tertile was independently associated with CACS>100 (OR: 3.21, p Z 0.02) but not with CACS>0 after the effects of conventional risk factors were eliminated. Conclusion: VAI tertiles were associated with calcium scores and the highest VAI tertile was an independent predictor for the presence of CACS>100 in males but not in females.
Detecting early-stage atherosclerosis is an important step towards cardiovascular disease prevention. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) score is a sensitive and non-invasive tool for detecting coronary atherosclerosis. Higher serum uric acid (SUA) levels are known to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, there is inconsistency regarding the independence of the association. The aim of our study was to assess the association of CAC and SUA in an asymptomatic population. CAC scans of 281 participants were analyzed in a voluntary screening program. A health questionnaire, physical examination, and laboratory tests were also performed. Participants with a history of cardiovascular disease were excluded from the analysis. 36.3% ( n = 102) of the participants had no detectable CAC and 13.9% ( n = 39) had a CAC score of > 300. SUA showed positive correlation with CAC score (0.175, p < 0.01). SUA was independently associated with Ca score > 300 (OR 5.17, p = 0.01) after the effects of conventional risk factors were eliminated.
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring with computed tomography (CT) is an established tool for quantifying calcified atherosclerotic plaque burden. Despite the widespread use of novel image reconstruction techniques in CT, the effect of iterative model reconstruction on CAC score remains unclear. We sought to assess the impact of iterative model based reconstruction (IMR) on coronary artery calcium quantification as compared to the standard filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm and hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR). In addition, we aimed to simulate the impact of iterative reconstruction techniques on calcium scoring based risk stratification of a larger asymptomatic population. We studied 63 individuals who underwent CAC scoring. Images were reconstructed with FBP, HIR and IMR and CAC scores were measured. We estimated the cardiovascular risk reclassification rate of IMR versus HIR and FBP in a larger asymptomatic population (n = 504). The median CAC scores were 147.7 (IQR 9.6-582.9), 107.0 (IQR 5.9-526.6) and 115.1 (IQR 9.3-508.3) for FBP, HIR and IMR, respectively. The HIR and IMR resulted in lower CAC scores as compared to FBP (both p < 0.001), however there was no difference between HIR and IMR (p = 0.855). The CAC score decreased by 7.2 % in HIR and 7.3 % in IMR as compared to FBP, resulting in a risk reclassification rate of 2.4 % for both HIR and IMR. The utilization of IMR for CAC scoring reduces the measured calcium quantity. However, the CAC score based risk stratification demonstrated modest reclassification in IMR and HIR versus FBP.
AimsThe low lymphocyte counts and high neutrophil leucocyte fractions have been associated with poor prognosis in chronic heart failure. We hypothesized that the baseline ratio of the neutrophil leucocytes to the lymphocytes (NL ratio) would predict the outcome of chronic heart failure patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).Methods and resultsThe qualitative blood counts and the serum levels of N-terminal of the prohormone brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) of 122 chronic heart failure patients and 122 healthy controls were analysed prospectively in this observational study. The 2-year mortality was considered as primary endpoint and the 6-month reverse remodelling (≥15% decrease in the end-systolic volume) as secondary endpoint. Multivariable regression analyses were applied and net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) were calculated. The NL ratio was elevated in chronic heart failure patients when compared with the healthy controls [2.93 (2.12–4.05) vs. 2.21 (1.64–2.81), P < 0.0001]. The baseline NL ratio exceeding 2.95 predicted the lack of the 6-month reverse remodelling [n = 63, odds ratio = 0.38 (0.17–0.85), P = 0.01; NRI = 0.49 (0.14–0.83), P = 0.005; IDI = 0.04 (0.00–0.07), P = 0.02] and the 2-year mortality [n = 29, hazard ratio = 2.44 (1.04–5.71), P = 0.03; NRI = 0.63 (0.24–1.01), P = 0.001; IDI = 0.04 (0.00–0.08), P = 0.02] independently of the NT-proBNP levels or other factors.ConclusionThe NL ratio is elevated in chronic heart failure and predicts outcome after CRT. According to the reclassification analysis, 4% of the patients would have been better categorized in the prediction models by combining the NT-proBNP with the NL ratio. Thus, a single blood count measurement could facilitate the optimal patient selection for the CRT.
Bevezetés: Az egyes európai országokban a prevenciós tevékenységnek köszönhető morbiditáscsökkenést Magyarországon még nem sikerült elérni. A hatékony prevenció alapfeltétele a lakosság egészségi állapotának, a kockázati tényezők jelenlétének pontos ismerete. Célkitűzés: A szerzők célja volt, hogy egy közép-magyarországi longitudinális lakossági vizsgálattal információt nyerjenek a magyar lakosság egészségi állapotáról, cardiovascularis kockázati státu-sáról, ami lehetővé teszi új rizikóbecslést befolyásoló tényezők azonosítását. Módszer: A Budakalász Vizsgálat a felnőtt lakosságot célzó (>20 év, ~8000 fő), átfogó, önkéntes alapú cardiovascularis szűrőprogram, amely egészségkérdőív-ből, noninvazív tesztekből (antropometriai mérések, szívultrahang, carotisultrahang, vérnyomásmérés, boka-kar index mérése), illetve vénás vérvételből és laborvizsgálatokból áll. Eredmények: 2014. januárig 2420 fő (a lakosság 30%-a, 41,2% férfi , átlagéletkor 54,8 év) kérdőíves, fi zikális vizsgálata és cardiovascularis kockázatbecslése történt meg. A résztvevők cardiovascularis morbiditása a korábbi országos felméréshez viszonyítva magasabb volt, illetve a cardiovascularis kockázati faktorok száma és a becsült 10 éves kockázat is emelkedettnek bizonyult a lakosok körében. Következtetések: Az eredmények felhívják a fi gyelmet a szűrések és a hatékony terápia fontosságára. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(34), 1344-1352. Kulcsszavak: cardiovascularis, morbiditás, kockázatbecslés, szűrővizsgálat Cardiovascular screening programme in the Central Hungarian region The Budakalász StudyIntroduction: The reduction in mortality due to prevention programmes observed in some European countries is not currently reached in Hungary. Effective prevention is based on the screening of risk factors and health state of the population. Aim: The goal of this study was to develop a longitudinal, population-based screening programme in the Central Hungarian region in order to collect information on the health state and cardiovascular risk profi le of the citizens and discover new potential cardiovascular risk factors. Method: The Budakalász Study is a self-voluntary programme involving the adult population (>20 yrs, approx. 8000 persons), and it consists of questionnaires, noninvasive tests (anthropometry, cardiac echo, carotid duplex scan, blood pressure measurement, ankle-brachial index), venous blood sample collection and laboratory tests. Results: Until January, 2014, 2420 persons (30% of the population, male: 41.2%, average age 54.8 years) participated in the programme. Cardiovascular morbidity was higher in contrast to a former national survey. The number of risk factors and, therefore, 10-year cardiovascular risk were also elevated in this population. Conclusions: These fi ndings underline the importance of screening programmes and effective therapies.
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