Diagnosis and Prognostic Value of the Underlying Cause of Acute Coronary Syndrome in Optical Coherence Tomography-Guided Emergency Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Background The prognostic impact of optical coherence tomography-diagnosed culprit lesion morphology in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has not been systematically examined in real-world settings. Methods and Results This investigator-initiated, prospective, multicenter, observational study was conducted at 22 Japanese hospitals to identify the prevalence of underlying ACS causes (plaque rupture [PR], plaque erosion [PE], and calcified nodules [CN]) and their impact on clinical outcomes. Patients with ACS diagnosed within 24 hours of symptom onset undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention were enrolled. Optical coherence tomography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention recipients were assessed for underlying ACS causes and followed up for major adverse cardiac events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, heart failure, or ischemia-driven revascularization) at 1 year. Of 1702 patients with ACS, 702 (40.7%) underwent optical coherence tomography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention for analysis. PR, PE, and CN prevalence was 59.1%, 25.6%, and 4.0%, respectively. One-year major adverse cardiac events occurred most frequently in patients with CN (32.1%), followed by PR (12.4%) and PE (6.2%) (log-rank P<0.0001), primarily driven by increased cardiovascular death (CN, 25.0%; PR, 0.7%; PE, 1.1%; log-rank P<0.0001) and heart failure trend (CN, 7.1%; PR, 6.8%; PE, 2.2%; log-rank P<0.075). On multivariate Cox regression analysis, the underlying ACS cause was associated with 1-year major adverse cardiac events (CN [hazard ratio (HR), 4.49 [95% CI, 1.35-14.89], P=0.014]; PR (HR, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.05-4.53], P=0.036]; PE as reference). Conclusions Despite being the least common, CN was a clinically significant underlying ACS cause, associated with the highest future major adverse cardiac events risk, followed by PR and PE. Future studies should evaluate the possibility of ACS underlying cause-based optical coherence tomography-guided optimization.

Rationale and design of the TACTICS registry: Optical coherence tomography guided primary percutaneous coronary intervention for patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Recent retrospective investigations have suggested that optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables the diagnosis of underlying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) causes such as plaque rupture, plaque erosion, and calcified nodule. The relationships of these etiologies with clinical outcomes, and the clinical utility of OCT-guided primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are not systematically studied in real-world ACS treatment settings. METHODS: The TACTICS registry is an investigator-initiated, prospective, multicenter, observational study to be conducted at 21 hospitals in Japan. A total of 700 patients with ACS (symptom onset within 24 h) undergoing OCT-guided primary PCI will be enrolled. The primary endpoint of the study is to identify the underlying causes of ACS using OCT-defined morphological assessment of the culprit lesion. The key secondary clinical endpoints are hazard ratios of the composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, heart failure, or ischemia-driven revascularization in patients with underlying etiologies at the 12- and 24-month follow-ups. The feasibility of OCT-guided primary PCI for ACS will be assessed by the achievement rates of optimal post-procedural results and safety endpoints. CONCLUSION: The TACTICS registry will provide an overview of the underlying causes of ACS using OCT, and will reveal any difference in clinical outcomes depending on the underlying causes. The registry will also inform on the feasibility of OCT-guided primary PCI for patients with ACS.

Long distance of spontaneous coronary artery dissection involving LMT in a middle-aged man - Complete rapid healing and clinical usefulness of CABG as a temporizing strategy.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) usually occurs in women, which can result in significant morbidities. A 38 year-old obese man who is currently smoking was referred to our hospital with chest pain. His electrocardiography and echocardiography suggested myocardial infarction in proximal region of left coronary artery. Emergent coronary angiography revealed 99% stenosis at mid portion of LAD and diffuse 50% stenosis from LMT to LAD. Intravascular ultrasound identified intramural hematoma severely compressing the true lumen which extended from mid LAD to LMT suggesting SCAD. After failed fenestration of the false lumen with balloon angioplasty, emergent coronary artery bypass graft using right internal thoracic artery and saphenous vein graft was performed. Two weeks after the surgery, follow-up CAG found completely healed native coronary artery which resulted in occlusion of RITA-LAD graft. This case raises two clinical important issues. First, SCAD can be seen in middle-aged men who are likely to have atherosclerosis. Secondly, CABG is useful as temporizing strategy for unstable SCAD involving LMT. The rapid healing and temporal lifesaving CABG contributed to avoidance of lifelong antiplatelet therapy. Although SCAD is relatively uncommon manifestation of acute coronary syndrome, optimal diagnosis and treatment for each patient need to be considered. .

Impact of use of angiotensin II receptor blocker on all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients: prospective cohort study using a propensity-score analysis.

BACKGROUND: It is controversial whether treatment with an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) or a calcium channel blocker (CCB) improves prognosis of hemodialysis (HD) patients. METHODS: This study was designed as a multicenter prospective cohort study. HD patients (n = 1071) were enrolled from 22 institutes in January 2009 and followed up for 3 years. Patients with missing data, kidney transplantation or retraction of consent during the follow-up period (n = 204) were excluded, and 867 patients contributed to analysis of mortality. Propensity score (PS) for use of ARB and that for CCB was calculated using a multiple logistic regression model. RESULTS: ARB and CCB were prescribed in 45.6 and 54.7 % of patients at enrollment. During the 3-year follow-up period, all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality rates were 18.8 and 5.1 %, respectively. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates were lower in the ARB group than in the non-ARB group, though the mortality rates were similar in the CCB group and non-CCB group. In PS-stratified Cox regression analysis, ARB treatment was associated with 34 and 45 % reduction of all-cause death and cardiovascular death, respectively. In PS matching analysis, ARB treatment was associated with a significant reduction (46 % reduction) in the risk of all-cause death. A significant impact of CCB treatment on all-cause or cardiovascular mortality was not detected in PS analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The use of an ARB, but not a CCB, is associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities in patients on HD.

Effects of parental hypertension on longitudinal trends in blood pressure and plasma metabolic profile: mixed-effects model analysis.

The mechanism underlying the association of parental hypertension with cardiovascular events in offspring remains unclear. In this study, the effects of parental hypertension on longitudinal trends of blood pressure and metabolic parameters were examined by mixed-effects model analysis. From 1977 to 2006, 5198 subjects participated in the Tanno-Sobetsu Study, and we selected 2607 subjects (1095 men and 1512 women) for whom data on parental history of hypertension were available. In both men and women with and without parental hypertension, systolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose levels consistently increased from the third to eighth decades of life, whereas diastolic blood pressure and serum triglyceride levels followed biphasic (inverted U shape) time courses during that period. However, the relationships between the parameters and age were significantly shifted upward (by ≈5.3 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure, 2.8 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure, 0.30 mmol/L in blood glucose, and 0.09 mmol/L in triglyceride) in the group with parental hypertension compared with those in the group without parental hypertension. Both paternal and maternal histories of hypertension were determinants of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, and there was no significant interaction between the sides of parental history. There were no significant effects of parental hypertension on age-dependent or body mass index-dependent changes in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. The present results indicate that parental hypertension has an age-independent impact on elevation of blood pressure, plasma glucose, and triglyceride levels, which may underlie the reported increase in cardiovascular events by family history of hypertension.

Associations of metabolic factors, especially serum retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), with blood pressure in Japanese--the Tanno and Sobetsu study.

Excess secretion of various adipocyte-derived molecules has been linked with insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease. Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), one of the new adipocytokine, is recently reported to provide a link between insulin resistance and features of metabolic factors. Hypertension is one of the most influential risk factors among cardiovascular disease. We examined the relationship between systolic blood pressure (BP) levels and metabolic factors including homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-R), high sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-CRP), adiponectin, and RBP4. The subjects were 153 men aged 59 ± 14 years and 224 women aged 57 ± 14 years who had undergone medical check-ups in rural communities in 2007. Systolic BP was positively correlated with HOMA-R, hs-CRP and RBP4 but not with adiponectin in women. There was a positive significant relationship between serum RBP4 levels and blood pressure in women, but such a relationship was not found in men. Serum RBP4 levels were not correlated with HOMA-R in either men or women. Serum RBP4 levels negatively were correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in women but not in men. Multiple regression analysis revealed that serum RBP4 levels significantly were related to systolic BP independently of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol levels and eGFR. Our study showed that increased levels of RBP4 as well as HOMA-R and hs-CRP in women were significantly associated with increased levels of systolic BP.

Incidence of hypertension in individuals with abdominal obesity in a rural Japanese population: the Tanno and Sobetsu study.

Although abdominal obesity (AO) assessed by waist circumference (WC) is an important component of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), the usefulness of AO as a predictor of hypertension (HT) is not known. In this study, we investigated the incidence of HT in residents of two rural communities in Japan. The subjects were 187 men and 209 women selected from 712 residents who had undergone medical examinations in the towns of Tanno and Sobetsu, Hokkaido, in 1994 and 2002. Participants with HT in 1994 were excluded. Participants with AO were determined according to the WC criteria in the Japanese definition of MetS (> or = 85 cm for men, > or = 90 cm for women). The participants were divided into two groups: a non-AO group and an AO group. We compared the incidence of HT between the two groups and found a significantly higher incidence in the AO group. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the relative risk of developing HT in individuals with AO was 2.33 (p = 0.017; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-4.63) and that the risk per 1-cm increase in WC from 1994 to 2002 was 1.06 (p = 0.003; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10), both adjusted for several confounding factors. The results of this study suggest that, to prevent HT in Japanese, it is important to manage abdominal obesity and to monitor WC in individuals with or without abdominal obesity.

[Relationship of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance with microalbuminuria in senior citizens of rural communities in Japan --the Tanno and Sobetsu study--].

AIM: We investigated the relationship of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and insulin resistance (IR) with microalbuminuria in senior citizens of rural communities in Japan. METHOD: The subjects were 338 senior citizens (age 65 or older) who underwent medical examinations in the towns of Tanno and Sobetsu, Hokkaido in 2005. The following participants were excluded: those with missing data, those with type 2 diabetes (fasting plasma glucose >or=126 mg/dl and/or those who were on medication for diabetes), those who were on medication for hypertension and those with macroalbuminuria (urinary albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) >or=300 mg/g.Cr). The subjects were divided into two groups according to the Japanese criteria of MetS: a MetS group and a non-MetS group. The percentages of subjects with microalbuminuria (ACR >or=30 mg/g.Cr) in the two groups were compared. We also investigated the relationship between IR and microalbuminuria using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-R). RESULT: The percentage of subjects with microalbuminuria was significantly higher in the MetS group than in the non-MetS group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between MetS and microalbuminuria (relative risk: 3.09, 95%CI: 1.18-8.07) and that there was also a significant relationship between HOMA-R and microalbuminuria (relative risk: 1.91, 95%CI: 1.14-3.20). CONCLUSION: It may be important for prevention of microalbuminuria in patients with MetS not only to manage blood pressure and blood glucose but also to manage IR, which is part of the background of accumulation of these risk factors.