Annual Increase of Acute Inpatients with Both Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases in Japan 2011-2015: Analysis From National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer were able to live longer due to improvements in cancer treatment. Additionally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the second leading cause of mortality in cancer survivors. However, epidemiological data on onco-CVD have not been sufficiently provided. We aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of cancer in CVD patients using the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB). METHOD AND RESULTS: The NDB sampling dataset used in this study was randomly sampled 10% from the whole Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) records from every January, April, July, and October from 2011 to 2015. The significance of the increase trend in the percentage of records in each disease group to the total number of all DPC records from 2011 to 2015 was checked with Chi-square test with a Bonferroni correction. The percentage of records in cancer with the CVD group to the total number of all DPC records significantly increased over time, and their average age also increased since 2011. Their proportion over 75 years was approximately 56 % in 2015. There was no difference in the cancer sites. However, the prevalence of heart failure dramatically elevated. CONCLUSION: We were able to assess the increase in cancer among CVD patients using DPC inpatient records obtained from the NDB. Both cardiologists and oncologists should be more aware of this phenomenon.

Successful laparoscopic pheochromocytoma resection in an adult patient with Fontan physiology: a case report.

Background: Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumour producing catecholamines and has been more frequently reported than expected in patients with a Fontan physiology. Case summary: The patient was a 39-year-old woman born with a univentricular atrioventricular connection and pulmonary valve stenosis. A Fontan operation was performed when she was 22 years old. At the age of 38, she was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma. The most serious problem was the increased occurrence of supraventricular arrhythmias, which easily caused heart failure. We decided to perform a laparoscopic resection. Postoperative recovery was good. There were no findings of malignancy and all postoperative catecholamine levels normalized. She was discharged home on the 14th day after the surgery, walking unaided. Discussion: Diagnosis and treatment by tumour resection in the early phase are crucial in patients who undergo the Fontan procedure. However, patients after Fontan surgery have a very low cardiac reserve. Thus, the decision to perform a surgical treatment is a very difficult one to take. In this case, fenestration had been naturally closed. As fenestration provides a consistent source of systemic ventricular preload, we performed transcatheter fenestration dilatation to improve heart failure management before surgical pheochromocytoma removal. Although laparoscopic surgery is generally considered to be less invasive, pneumoperitoneum may interfere with venous return in Fontan physiology patients. There is also a risk of thrombosis via fenestration. Here, we reported the case of a successful laparoscopic pheochromocytoma resection in an adult Fontan patient.

Differential impacts of 24 hour urinary sodium excretion on cardiovascular diseases or cancer mortality in a general population.

BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. But the effects of sodium intake or excretion on CV mortality are uncertain. The present study aimed to investigate the association between 24 h urinary sodium excretion, as a marker of dietary salt intake, and CV or cancer mortality in a healthy Japanese population using 24 hurine collection. METHODS: The baseline study was conducted in 1980. A total of 1291 participants aged 21 to 85 years, underwent health check-ups, which included blood chemistry measurements and the collection of 24 h urine samples. Enrolled 1291 participants were followed up for 27.5 years, in whom the final follow-up rate was 95.8%. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association between 24 h urinary sodium excretion and CV or cancer mortality. RESULTS: The mean 24 h urinary sodium excretion was 5.80 ± 2.28 g/day. There were 631 deaths: 153 (27%) from cancer, 142 (26%) from CV disease. In the Cox proportional hazard regression model after adjustment for confounding factors, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and uric acid were positively associated with CV mortality, and the 24 h urinary sodium and potassium excretions were inversely associated with CV mortality (p < 0.05). On the other hand, there were no association between 24 h urinary sodium excretions and cancer mortality. We divided the urinary sodium excretions levels into quartiles. After adjustment for confounding factors, the hazard ratio of CV mortality in the highest quartile of 24 h urinary sodium excretion versus the lowest was 0.46 (p < 0.05). The cumulative survival rate for CV death was significantly decreased in the lowest quartile compared with the other higher groups. CONCLUSIONS: We found that impacts of 24 h sodium excretion on CV and cancer mortalities were much different in the general population.

Habitual coffee intake reduces all-cause mortality by decreasing heart rate.

It is well known that subjects with metabolic syndrome show an elevated resting heart rate. We previously reported that elevated heart rate was significantly related to all-cause mortality, and that coffee consumption was inversely associated with metabolic syndrome. We hypothesized that higher coffee consumption may decrease all-cause mortality by reducing resting heart rate. We performed a longitudinal epidemiological study in Tanushimaru (a cohort of the Seven Countries Study). A total of 1920 residents aged over 40 years received health checkups in 1999. We measured components of metabolic syndrome, and eating and drinking patterns were evaluated by a food frequency questionnaire. We followed up the participants annually for 15 years. During the follow-up period, 343 of the participants died. Of these, 102 subjects died of cancer, 48 of cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, and 44 of infectious diseases. Multivariate analyses revealed that higher coffee consumption was inversely associated with resting heart rate. Kaplan-Meier curves found lower mortality rates in the higher coffee consumption groups. In the lower coffee consumption groups, elevated hazard ratios of all-cause death were observed in the increased heart rate quintiles, whereas heart rate was not associated with all-cause death in the higher coffee consumption groups. These significant associations remained after further adjustment for confounders. This prospective study suggests that higher coffee consumption may have a protective effect against all-cause death due to reducing resting heart rate.

Twenty-four-Hour Urinary Potassium Excretion, But Not Sodium Excretion, Is Associated With All-Cause Mortality in a General Population.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the relationship between accurate monitoring of sodium or potassium consumption and mortality. We aimed to investigate the association between 24-hour urinary sodium or potassium excretion and ≈30-year mortality in a Japanese population using 24-hour urine collection. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled a total of 1291 participants, aged 21 to 85 years, who underwent health checkups, including a blood test and 24-hour urine collection. They were followed up for 27.5±9.9 years by December 31, 2015, and the final follow-up rate was 95.8%. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess the association between 24-hour urinary sodium or potassium excretion and all-cause mortality. At baseline, the mean 24-hour urinary sodium and potassium excretions were 5.80±2.28 g/d and 1.85±0.82 g/d, respectively. There were 631 deaths during the follow-up. The cumulative survival rate was significantly decreased in the lowest quartile compared with the other higher groups. In the Cox proportional hazard model after adjustment for age and sex, 24-hour urinary potassium excretion, but not sodium excretion, was inversely associated with all-cause mortality. We divided the 24-hour urinary potassium excretion levels into quartiles. After adjustment for confounding factors, the hazard ratio of all-cause mortality in the highest quartile of 24-hour urinary potassium excretion versus the lowest was 0.62 (95% confidence interval, 0.48-0.79; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The 24-hour urinary potassium excretion, but not sodium excretion, was significantly associated with all-cause mortality in the general population.