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Clinical implications of systemic atherosclerosis in patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) remain unclear. This study investigated the association between polyvascular disease (PVD) and clinical outcome in CS patients.A total of 1247 CS patients was enrolled from the RESCUE registry, a multicenter, observational cohort between January 2014 and December 2018. They were divided into two groups according to presence of PVD, defined as ≥2 coexistence of coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, or cerebrovascular disease. Primary outcome was all-cause death during 12 months of follow-up.136 (10.9%) patients were diagnosed with PVD. The risk of 12-month all-cause death was significantly higher in the PVD group than in the non-PVD group (54.4% versus 40.4%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.69, p = 0.034). There was a significant interaction between PVD and vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) (p for interaction = 0.014). Among the 945 patients with VIS84, PVD was associated with a higher risk of 12-month all-cause death (unadjusted HR 1.77, 95% CI 1.30-2.41, p = 0.030); among the 302 patients with VIS ≥84, the incidence of 12-month all-cause death was similar between the PVD and non-PVD groups (unadjusted HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.68-1.56, p = 0.301).Presence of PVD was associated with 12-month all-cause mortality in patients with CS, especially for less severe forms of CS patients with VIS84. Clinicaltrials.govnumber:NCT02985008.

Current treatment guidelines for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) recommend lowering low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, previous clinical studies among East Asian AMI patients failed to prove its clinical efficacy of lipid lowering therapy based on Western target LDL-C level. Thus, the purpose of this study is directly to compare the clinical outcomes of target LDL-C 70 mg/dL and 55 mg/dL and identify optimal target LDL-C level and in Korean AMI patients.A total of 2198 AMI patients in Korea AMI Registry - National Institute of Health were enrolled. Patients were initially divided into LDL-C non-target group (n = 1115) and target group (n = 1083). Successful achievement of follow up target LDL-C was defined as70 mg/dL and ≥ 50% reduction from baseline. Target group patients were additionally divided to70 mg/dL group (n = 698) and55 mg/dL group (n = 385). Propensity score matching analysis was done in non-target vs. target group and70 mg/dL vs.55 mg/dL group. In the matched population, the risk of 3 years major adverse cardiac event (MACE) (13.0% vs 9.8%, HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.56-0.96; p = 0.025) was higher in non-target group patients. However, the risk of MACE was similar in70 mg/dL and 55 mg/dL group patients (10.0% vs 8.1%, HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.46-1.22; p = 0.247).In the present study, target LDL-C level of70 mg/dL and ≥ 50% reduction from baseline level was associated with better clinical outcomes in Korean AMI patients. However, further lowering target LDL-C level of55 mg/dL showed no additional benefits.

We sought to evaluate the diagnostic performance of contrast quantitative flow ratio (cQFR) in all-comer patients with coronary artery disease, and to compare the vessel-oriented composite outcomes (VOCO) according to cQFR values.599 vessels with 452 patients who underwent clinically indicated fractional flow reserve (FFR) and cQFR measurement were evaluated. The cQFR, derived from 3-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography combined with TIMI frame-counts was compared with FFR as a reference standard. The risk of VOCO at 2 years, a composite of cardiac death, target-vessel myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization, was compared according to cQFR and FFR value.cQFR strongly correlated with FFR (r=0.860, p0.001) and showed diagnostic accuracy of 91.2% to predict FFR≤0.80. cQFR showed significantly higher c-index to predict FFR≤0.80 (0.953, 95%CI 0.937-0.969) than %DS, percent area stenosis, resting distal coronary pressure/aortic pressure, and fixed QFR (p0.001). Diagnostic accuracy of cQFR was not different according to various subgroups including non-culprit vessel of acute coronary syndrome and diabetes mellitus. Vessels with low cQFR (≤0.80) showed a significantly higher risk of VOCO at 2-year compared to those with high cQFR (0.80) (HR 4.650, 95%CI 1.254-17.240, p=0.022). Discriminatory ability of cQFR for VOCO was similar with that of FFR (0.672 vs. 0.643, p=0.147).cQFR showed excellent correlation and diagnostic accuracy with FFR in diverse clinical presentations or patient characteristics. Low cQFR was significantly associated with a higher risk of VOCO at 2 years compared with high cQFR and cQFR showed similar discriminatory ability for VOCO with FFR.

Despite the short-term vasodilatory effects of nitrates, the prognostic effects of long-term nitrate therapy in patients with vasospastic angina (VSA) remains unclear. We investigated the prognostic impact of chronic nitrate therapy in VSA patients.Between January 2003 and December 2014, a total of 1154 VSA patients proven by ergonovine provocation tests were classified into nitrate (n=676) and non-nitrate (n=478) groups according to prescriptions for oral nitrates, including isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN) and nicorandil. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, any revascularization, or rehospitalization due to recurrent angina.The nitrate group was found to have a higher risk of MACE (22.9% vs. 17.6%, hazard ratio [HR] 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.73, p=0.043) than the non-nitrate group. After propensity score matching, the nitrate group had greater risks of MACE (HR 1.32, 95%CI 1.01-1.73, p=0.049). Patients who received the immediate-release formula of ISMN (HR 1.80, 95%CI 1.35-2.39, p0.001) or were administered any forms of ISMN other than at bedtime (HR 1.90, 95%CI 1.41-2.57, p0.001) had a significantly higher risk of MACE compared with the non-nitrate group. Nicorandil was shown to have a neutral effect on VSA patients (HR 1.11, 95%CI 0.73-1.69, p=0.62).The long-term use of nitrate therapy was associated with increased risk of adverse cardiac events in VSA patients. The use of immediate-release ISMN or the administration of ISMN other than at bedtime was related with poor outcomes of VSA patients.

Although coronary angiography is still the technique most widely used to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the appropriate angiographic indication of revascularization for intermediate coronary lesions remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare conservative versus aggressive strategies with angiographic guidance alone in patients with intermediate coronary lesions.A total of 899 patients with intermediate coronary lesions between 50% and 70% diameter stenosis by quantitative coronary analysis were randomly assigned to the conservative group (n=449) or the aggressive group (n=450). For intermediate lesions, PCI was performed using everolimus-eluting stents in the aggressive group, but was deferred in the conservative group. The primary end point was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or any revascularization at 1year. The number of treated lesions per patient was 0.8±0.9 in the conservative group and 1.7±0.9 in the aggressive group (p0.001). The cumulative rate of the primary endpoint was 7.3% in the conservative group and 6.8% in the aggressive group (the upper limit of the one-sided 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4%; p=0.006 for non-inferiority with a predefined non-inferiority margin of 5.0%). The risk of death or myocardial infarction (hazard ratio [HR] 0.50; 95% CI, 0.19-1.33; p=0.17) and revascularization (HR 1.42; 95% CI, 0.80-2.52; p=0.23) was not significantly different between the 2 groups.Conservative revascularization was non-inferior to aggressive revascularization for intermediate coronary lesions. Revascularization of intermediate lesions can be safely deferred in patients undergoing PCI with angiographic guidance alone.URL: http://ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00743899.

Background Acute hyperglycemia on admission is common in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients regardless of diabetic status, and is known as one of prognostic factors. However, the effect of hyperglycemia on non-diabetic patients is still on debate. Methods A total of 12,625 AMI patients (64.0±12.6years, 26.1% female) who were enrolled in Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health between November 2011 and December 2015, were classified into 4367 diabetes (65.4±11.6years, 30.4% female) and 8228 non-diabetes (63.3±13years, 23.9% female). Patients were analyzed for in-hospital clinical outcome according to admission hyperglycemic status. Results In diabetic patients, independent predictors of in-hospital mortality were old age, high HbA 1 C, pre-Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow 0, left ventricle ejection fraction p p p p =0.012), decreased Hb≥5g/dL ( p =0.013), atrioventricular block ( p p =0.007) was higher in non-diabetic with hyperglycemia than in diabetic patients. Conclusions These findings underscore clinical significance of admission hyperglycemia on in-hospital mortality in non-diabetic AMI patients.

Background Studies comparing the drug-eluting balloon (DEB) with contemporary drug-eluting stent (DES) in the treatment of in-stent restenosis (ISR) have been scarce. We compared that the efficacy and safety of contemporary DES versus DEB in unselected, real world patients of ISR occurred in bare-metal stent or DES. Methods Patient-level pooled analysis from nationwide multicenter registries was performed with 628 consecutive patients who underwent ISR treatment using 2nd or 3rd generation DES or DEB. Target lesion failure (TLF) and patient-oriented composite outcomes (POCO, composite of all-cause mortality, all-cause myocardial infarction, or any revascularization) at 1-year follow-up were compared between the DES and DEB groups. Results A total of 628 patients with 697 ISR lesions were treated using newer generation DES ( n =409) or DEB ( n =219). About 55.1% presented with acute coronary syndrome, and 15.1% showed left ventricular dysfunction. The risks of TLF and POCO were significantly lower in the DES group, even after being adjusted by an inverse probability weighted model (TLF, 9.2% vs. 17.9%, HR adjust 0.22, 95% CI 0.11–0.47; POCO, 12.4% vs. 24.1%, HR adjust 0.25, 95% CI 0.13–0.48, all p -values adjust 0.21, 95% CI 0.09–0.49, p p =0.034) along with multi-vessel disease, chronic kidney disease, type B2 or C lesion, and number of treated lesion>1. Conclusions In unselected patients of ISR, clinical outcome at one year was mainly dependent on difference in TLR and found to be better with contemporary DES than DEB.

Background We sought to evaluate safety and efficacy of the deferred stenting versus immediate stent implantation of infarct-related arteries in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods A meta-analysis using random-effects models were conducted. The primary outcome, major adverse cardiac events (MACE), was a composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), any unplanned target vessel revascularization (TVR), and hospitalization due to cardiac cause. Periprocedural composite events were composed of acute re-occlusion, no-reflow/slow flow, or distal embolization. Results Seven non-randomized registries and three randomized trials comparing outcomes of deferred versus immediate stenting in infarct-related arteries of 2281 STEMI patients were selected. Risk of MACE between deferred or immediate stenting did not differ significantly (rates, 12.8% vs 15.0%; pooled RR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.43–1.06; p =0.087; I 2 =26.8%). Deferred stenting was associated with significantly reduced risk of periprocedural composite events (rates, 5.3% vs 10.2%; pooled RR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.18–0.69; p =0.002; I 2 =68.0%) and flow abnormality in infarct-related arteries (rates, 3.8% vs 8.4%; pooled RR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.14–0.61; p =0.001; I 2 =58.1%). However, clinical outcomes including all-cause mortality, MI, or any unplanned TVR, were unaffected. Meta-regression indicated a significant relationship between prolonged total ischemic and reduced risk of MACE after deferred stenting (OR=0.994, 95% CI: 0.990–0.998; p =0.027; I 2 residual 0.0%, adjusted R 2 =100.0%). Conclusions Although deferred stenting carried significantly lower risk of periprocedural composite events and abnormal flow in patients undergoing primary PCI for STEMI, such benefits had no impact on MACE, which did not differ significantly by timing of stent placement.

Background & aims Although Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds (A-BVS) are routinely used in the Asia-Pacific, there is little information on patient selection or deployment technique here. This document investigates the experiences of leading interventional cardiologists from the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on patient characteristics, deployment techniques and management. Methods and results A detailed questionnaire was distributed to 28 highly-experienced interventional cardiologists (‘Authors') from 13 Asia-Pacific countries. The results were discussed at a meeting on patient selection, technical consideration, deployment practices and patient management. Potential patient benefits of Absorb compared to metallic DES, the learning curve for patient selection and preparation, device deployment, and subsequent patient management approaches are presented. Conclusions Current practices are derived from guidelines optimized for European patients. Differences in approach exist in the Asia-Pacific context, including limited access to imaging and frequency of occurrence of complex lesions. Nevertheless, the use of the Absorb BVS (‘Absorb') in certain Asia-Pacific countries has flourished and practices here are continuing to mature.

Indication of side branch (SB) intervention after main vessel (MV) stenting is not established for coronary bifurcation lesions.We evaluated 2017 patients who were treated with 1-stent technique or MV stenting as a first strategy. Patients undergoing SB intervention after MV stenting (SB intervention group, n=929) were compared to those treated with MV stenting only (no-SB intervention group, n=1088).During a median follow-up of 37months, cardiac death or myocardial infarction (MI) tended to occur less frequently in the SB intervention group than in the no-SB intervention group (1.8% versus 2.9%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-1.11; P=0.09). There was a significant interaction between SB intervention and SB stenosis after MV stenting (P for interaction0.01). Among 1077 patients with diameter stenosis of SB ≥50% after MV stenting, SB intervention was associated with a lower risk of cardiac death or MI (1.2% versus 4.2%; adjusted HR 0.22; 95% CI 0.09-0.52; P0.01). However, among 940 patients with diameter stenosis of SB50%, there was no significant difference in cardiac death or MI between the SB intervention group and the no-SB intervention group (3.5% versus 2.2%; adjusted HR 1.36; 95% CI 0.58-3.20; P=0.48).The effect of SB intervention differed according to SB stenosis after MV stenting. SB intervention may reduce cardiac death or MI in bifurcation lesions with diameter stenosis of SB ≥50% after MV stenting.

Objectives To compare clinical outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with those of optimal medical therapy (OMT) alone in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO) of a single coronary artery. Background Limited data are available on the efficacy of OMT for the treatment of single-vessel CTO. Methods Between March 2003 and February 2012, we enrolled 2024 CTO patients in a retrospective, observational registry and analyzed 435 patients with CTO of a single coronary artery. We divided patients into an OMT group (n=147) and PCI group (n=288) according to the initial treatment strategy. One-to-many (1:N) propensity score matching with a non-fixed matching ratio was also performed. The primary outcome measured in this study was major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and repeated coronary revascularization. Results The median follow-up duration was 47.6 (interquartile range: 22.9 to 68.9) months. Major adverse cardiac events were noted for 16 patients (10.9%) in the OMT group compared to 41 patients (14.2%) in the PCI group (p=0.38). After propensity-score matching, there were no significant differences between the OMT group and PCI group with respect to MACE frequency (10.1% vs. 16.9%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88–4.68, p=0.10) or cardiac death (OMT vs. PCI: 5.1% vs. 4.8%, HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.30–4.42, p=0.85). Subgroup analysis showed that the rate of MACEs was significantly lower in the OMT group compared to the PCI group among patients with an APPROACH score ≤18 and SYNTAX score ≤12. Conclusions As a treatment strategy in patients with single-vessel CTO, PCI did not reduce the risk of MACE or cardiac death. These results suggest that OMT may be a better initial strategy for patients as assessed by low APPROACH and SYNTAX scores.

There have been limited and conflicting results regarding the prognostic impact of revascularization treatment on the long-term clinical outcomes of silent ischemia. The current study aimed to determine whether revascularization treatment compared with medical treatment (MT) alone reduces long-term risk of cardiac death of asymptomatic patients with objective evidence of inducible myocardial ischemia.A total of 1473 consecutive asymptomatic patients with evidence of inducible myocardial ischemia were selected from a prospective institutional registry. All patients showed at least 1 epicardial coronary stenosis with ≥50% diameter stenosis in coronary angiography. Patients were classified according to their treatment strategies. The primary outcome was cardiac death up to 10 years.Among the total population, 709 patients (48.1%) received revascularization treatment including percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, n = 558) or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG, n = 151), with the remaining patients (764 patients, 51.9%) receiving MT alone. During the follow-up period, the revascularization treatment group showed a significantly lower risk of cardiac death compared with the MT alone group (25.4% vs. 33.7%, HR 0.624, 95%CI 0.498-0.781, p 0.001). Among revascularized patients, patients with negative non-invasive stress test results after revascularization showed significantly lower risk of cardiac death compared to those with residual myocardial ischemia (8.9% vs. 18.7%, HR 0.406, 95% CI 0.175-0.942, p = 0.036).In patients with silent myocardial ischemia, revascularization treatment was associated with significantly lower long-term risk of cardiac death compared with the MT alone group. The current results support contemporary practice of ischemia-directed revascularization, even in patients with silent myocardial ischemia.

Background Despite common use of second-generation drug-eluting stents in treating patients with coronary artery disease, there is lack of data comparing these stents exclusively in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), especially with metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is highly prevalent in AMI and potential to worsen clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of everolimus-eluting stent (EES) and Resolute-zotarolimus-eluting stent (R-ZES) in AMI patients with MetS, in terms of stent-related and patient-related outcomes. Methods A total of 3942 AMI patients in the KAMIR (Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry) were grouped according to the presence of MetS and stent type: EES (N=1582) and R-ZES (N=255) in MetS (1837). Target lesion failure (TLF) and patient-oriented composite events (POCE) at 1 year were evaluated. Results In MetS patients, TLF (3.7% vs. 2.7%, p=0.592) and POCE (7.9% vs. 6.7%, p=0.764) were similar between EES and R-ZES. Also in Non-MetS patients, TLF (3.9% vs. 3.1%, p=0.307) and POCE (6.4% vs. 7.3%, p=0.866) were similar between 2 groups. TLF was similar between MetS and Non-MetS patients (3.6% vs. 3.8%), while POCEs (7.7% vs. 6.6%) were higher in MetS. Propensity-score matching analysis showed similar results between stent groups in MetS and Non-MetS. In multivariate analysis, left ventricular ejection fraction and symptom-to-door time were independent predictors of TLF and POCE in MetS patients with AMI. Conclusions In MetS patients with AMI, EES and R-ZES showed excellent performance and safety. However, patient-oriented composite events were relatively high, suggesting more efforts to improve them.

Limited data are available on a risk model for survival to discharge after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). We aimed to develop a risk prediction model for survival to discharge in cardiac arrest patients who undergo ECMO.Between January 2004 and December 2012, 505 patients supported by ECMO were enrolled in a retrospective, observational registry. Among those, we studied 152 adult patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest. The primary outcome was survival to discharge. A new predictive scoring system, named the ECPR score, was developed to monitor survival to discharge using the β coefficients of prognostic factors from the logistic model, which were internally validated.In-hospital death occurred in 104 patients (68.4%). In multivariate logistic regression, age ≤ 66, shockable arrest rhythm, CPR to ECMO pump-on time ≤ 38 min, post-ECMO arterial pulse pressure24 mmHg, and post-ECMO Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score ≤ 14 were independent predictors for survival to discharge. Survival to discharge was predicted by the ECPR score with a c-statistics of 0.8595 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80-0.92; p0.001) which was similar to the c-statistics obtained from internal validation (training vs. test set; c-statistics, 0.86 vs. 0.86005; 95% CI, 0.80-0.92 vs. 0.77-0.94). The sensitivity and specificity for prediction of survival to discharge were 89.6% and 75.0%, respectively, when the ECPR score was10.The new risk prediction model might be helpful for decisions about ECPR management and could provide better information regarding early prognosis.

Background Men are more likely to suffer from vasospastic angina (VSA) than women; however, gender differences in the long-term prognosis of VSA patients have not been fully elucidated. We sought to investigate clinical outcomes and predictive factors of VSA patients according to gender. Methods A total of 986 patients (838 men and 148 women) with a positive result on intracoronary ergonovine provocation test between January 2003 and December 2014 were analyzed. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, revascularization, or rehospitalization due to recurrent angina. Results Women were younger and showed a lower prevalence of smoking or fixed coronary stenosis than men. The risk for MACE was similar between male and female patients (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65–1.39; p=0.79). In multivariable prediction models for MACE, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level was a significant predictor of MACE in male patients (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.25–3.06; p=0.003), but there was no significant predictor in female patients. There was a significant interaction between hs-CRP level and MACE rate across genders (interaction p=0.02). Conclusions Long-term clinical outcome was not different between genders. Hs-CRP was an important predictor of long-term clinical outcomes in male patients with VSA, but not in female patients.

Background Data concerning the results of 2nd generation DES in the treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of stenting with everolimus- (EES) with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) for the treatment of ULMCA stenosis in the "real world" setting. Methods In this multi-center all-comer registry, a total of 275 patients with ULMCA stenosis were analyzed; 160 receiving EES and 115 receiving SES. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as death, myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization at 1year. Results Baseline characteristics were similar between the two stent groups. At 1year, the rate of MACE was comparable between the two groups (7.5% for EES vs. 13.9% for SES, HR: 0.55 [0.26–1.17], p=0.117). However, after multivariable or propensity score adjustment, the risk of MACE was significantly lower for EES compared with that for SES (multivariable adjusted HR: 0.42 [0.19–0.92], p=0.030; propensity score-adjusted HR: 0.43 [0.20–0.95], p=0.037). These results were mainly driven from the numerically lower rate of repeat revascularization in the EES group (2.5% for EES vs. 7.0% for SES, p=0.096). As for hard endpoint (death or myocardial infarction) and stent thrombosis, no differences were found between the 2 groups. Conclusions In a large cohort of patients receiving ULMCA stenting, the MACE rate was numerically lower in the EES compared with that in the SES (statistically significant only after adjustment), which was mainly driven by significantly lower rates of repeat revascularization.

Background Limited data are available on the efficacy of statin therapy for secondary prevention in patients with vasospastic angina (VSA). We investigated the association of statin therapy with long-term clinical outcomes in VSA patients without significant coronary artery disease. Methods From January 2003 to June 2014, we enrolled a total of 804 patients with VSA proven by an ergonovine provocation test without significant (≥70% diameter stenosis) coronary artery disease. We classified patients into a statin group (n=330) and a no-statin group (n=474) according to the use of statin. Primary outcome were major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and any revascularization. Results Median follow-up duration was 4.5years (interquartile range: 2.0 to 7.3years). MACE occurred in 14 patients (4.2%) in the statin group, and 21 patients (4.4%) in the no-statin group. There were no differences between the two groups (p=0.97). After 1:1 propensity-score matching (281 pairs), MACE (statin versus [vs.] no-statin; 3.2% vs. 4.3%, hazard ratio [HR]; 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.34–1.89, p=0.60) and readmission due to chest pain (17.1% vs. 17.4%, HR; 1.08, 95% CI; 0.72–1.06, p=0.72) were not statistically different between the two groups. Conclusion Our results suggest that statin therapy could not improve long-term clinical outcomes in VSA patients without significant coronary artery disease.

Background High-dose aspirin has been reported to exacerbate coronary artery spasm in patients with vasospastic angina. We investigated clinical implications of low-dose aspirin on vasospastic angina patients without significant coronary artery stenosis. Methods We included patients without significant coronary artery stenosis on coronary angiography (CAG) and with positive results on intracoronary ergonovine provocation test between January 2003 and December 2014. A total of 777 patients were divided into two groups according to prescription of low-dose aspirin at discharge: aspirin group (n=321) and non-aspirin group (n=456). The major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as composite outcomes of cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, revascularization, or rehospitalization requiring CAG or medication change due to recurrent angina were compared. Results The aspirin group had significantly higher incidence of MACE (22.8% versus 12.1%; p=0.04) and had higher tendency for rehospitalization (20.6% versus 11.2%; p=0.08). All-cause mortality and cardiac death were similar between the two groups. After propensity score matching, the aspirin group had greater risk of MACE (hazard ratio [HR] 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–2.28; p=0.037) and rehospitalization requiring CAG (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.13–4.20; p=0.03), and a higher tendency for rehospitalization (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.94–2.09; p=0.12). Conclusion In vasospastic angina without significant coronary artery stenosis, patients taking low-dose aspirin are at higher risk of MACE, driven primarily by tendency toward rehospitalization. Low-dose aspirin might be used with caution in vasospastic angina patients without significant coronary artery stenosis.

Although ticagrelor has been well-known to improve clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without increased bleeding risk, its clinical impacts have not been well established in East Asian patients.Between November 2011 and June 2015, a total of 8010 patients (1377 patients were prescribed ticagrelor and 6633 patients clopidogrel) undergoing successful revascularization were analyzed from Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health. The patients who discontinued or occurred in-hospital switching between two antiplatelet agents were excluded.After propensity score matching (1377 pairs), no difference in the composite of cardiac death, MI, stroke, or target vessel revascularization at 6months was observed between two groups (4.2% vs. 4.9%, p=0.499). However, the incidences of in-hospital Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) major and minor bleeding were higher in ticagrelor than clopidogrel (2.6% vs. 1.2%, p=0.008; 3.8% vs. 2.5%, p=0.051). The in-hospital mortality was higher in patients with than those without TIMI major bleeding (11.3% vs. 0.9%, p0.001). In a subgroup analysis, a higher risk for in-hospital TIMI major bleeding with ticagrelor was observed in patients≥75years or with body weight60kg (odd ratio [OR]=3.209; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.356-7.592) and in those received trans-femoral intervention (OR=1.996; 95% CI=1.061-3.754).Our study shows that ticagrelor did not reduce ischemic events yet, however, was associated with increased risk of bleeding complications compared with clopidogrel. Further large-scale, long-term, randomized trials should be required to assess the outcomes of ticagrelor for East Asian patients with AMI.

Outcome from in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is still unsatisfactory. CPR assisted with percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) is expected to improve the outcome of in-hospital CPR.We retrospectively analyzed 83 consecutive cases of adult in-hospital CPR assisted by a portable pre-assembled auto-priming PCPS system (EBS, Terumo, Japan) from January 2004 to December 2007.PCPS was successfully performed in 97.6% of the patients and could be weaned in 57.8% of the patients. The survival-to-discharge rate was 41.0% with an acceptable neurological status in 85.3% of the patients. The 6-month survival was 38.6%. Survival-to-discharge decreased about 1% for each 1 min increase in the duration of CPR. The probability of survival was about 65%, 45%, and 19% when the duration of CPR was 10, 30, or 60 min, respectively. Multivariate analysis adjusted with clinical factors including organ dysfunction severity scores revealed that defibrillation and CPR duration less than 35 min were independent predictors for both survival-to-discharge (odds ratio=8.0, 95% CI=2.8-23.0, p0.001) and 6-month survival (hazard ratio=3.3, 95% CI=1.9-5.9, p0.001).Our results showed that CPR assisted with PCPS results in an acceptable survival-to-discharge rate and mid-term prognosis.

Background Distal protection during primary angioplasty in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the subject of recent controversy. The present study was designed to determine whether the distal embolic protection preserves myocardial microvascular integrity and improves clinical outcomes in patients with AMI. Methods A total of 116 AMI patients presenting within 12 h of onset of symptoms were enrolled at 7 angioplasty centers. They were randomly assigned to either primary angioplasty with distal protection group (DP; n =60) or angioplasty alone group (Controls; n =56). Results After primary angioplasty, achievement of final Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 3 and TIMI Myocardial Perfusion (TMP) grade 3 were more frequent in the DP group than in the control group [58/60 (96%) vs. 43/56 (81%), p =0.016; and 39/60 (65%) vs. 20/56 (38%), p =0.001, respectively]. After primary angioplasty, the baseline and hyperemic averaged peak velocities were significantly higher (23.2±11.5 vs. 18.0±6.9 cm/s, p =0.029; and 39.2±16.7 vs. 30.6±10.8 cm/s, p =0.014, respectively) and the baseline and hyperemic microvascular resistance indices were significantly lower (4.18±2.22 vs. 5.34±2.25 mm Hg cm −1 s, p =0.036; and 2.38±1.39 vs. 3.11±1.32 mm Hg cm −1 s, p =0.030, respectively) in the DP group. Patients in the DP group showed more favorable phasic coronary flow pattern in diastolic deceleration time (679±262 vs. 519±289 ms, p =0.035; and 751±246 vs. 616±269 ms, p =0.035, respectively). Major adverse cardiac events at 6 months occurred with similar frequency in both groups (8.7% vs. 11.1%, p =0.400). Conclusions Distal protection device effectively preserves microvascular integrity during primary angioplasty in AMI. Distal protection, however, did not improve clinical outcomes.

Limited data exist regarding clinical outcomes of multiple chronic total occlusions (CTOs) according to therapeutic strategies, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and medical treatment (MT).From March 2003 to February 2012, a total of 2024 patients with at least one CTO were enrolled in retrospective, single-center registry. 393 patients with at least two CTOs were categorized based on the intention-to-treat principle. Propensity-score matching was performed. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac and cerebral events (MACCE).Of 393 patients with multiple CTOs, 169 patients (43%) were referred for CABG, 130 (33%) for PCI, and 94 (24%) for MT. Median overall follow-up duration was 46.5 (interquartile range 22.7 to 74.6) months. After propensity-score matching analysis, CABG had lower rates of MACCE when compared with PCI (HR=0.43, 0.21-0.85, P=0.01) and MT (HR=0.10, 0.04-0.27, P0.01). Rates of repeat revascularization was significantly lower in CABG, compared with PCI (HR=0.05, 0.01-0.40, P0.01) and MT (HR=0.01, 0.00-0.54, P=0.02). CABG had similar rates of cardiac death compared with PCI group (HR=0.97, 0.37-2.53, P=0.95), but had significantly lower rates of cardiac death compared with MT (HR=0.24, 0.08-0.75, P=0.01).For management of multiple CTOs, MT alone was associated with higher incidence of cardiac death and MACCE compared with CABG. PCI was associated with higher incidence of MACCE, as driven by higher repeat revascularization rate. These findings suggest that CABG might be associated with better clinical outcome and considered as the preferred treatment strategy in patients with multiple CTOs.

Background There are limited data about long-term outcomes for biodegradable polymer biolimus-eluting stent (BES) versus durable polymer everolimus-eluting stent (EES) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We sought to compare the two-year efficacy and safety of BES versus EES in AMI patients. Methods A total of 707 consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who underwent PCI with BES (n=171) or EES (n=536) between July 2008 and June 2012 were enrolled in this study. The efficacy endpoint (target vessel failure; a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization) and the safety endpoint (a composite of all cause death, myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis) at two years were compared in crude and propensity score-matched cohorts. Results After two years, target vessel failure occurred in 13 patients treated with BES and 49 patients treated with EES (7.6% versus 9.1%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58–2.04; p=0.78). The rates of composite safety endpoint at two years were not different between two groups (BES 7.6% versus EES 10.8%; adjusted HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.47–1.62; p=0.66). The rates of stent thrombosis did not differ between two groups (BES 0.6% versus EES 1.3%; adjusted HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.06–6.20; p=0.69). These findings were substantiated by similar results in the propensity score-matched cohort. Conclusions In the treatment of patients with AMI, BES showed similar efficacy and safety compared to those of EES for up to two years.

Background: Catheter-based transendocardial gene injection would be useful for the delivery of genes into the heart. We examined the feasibility and safety of percutaneous intramyocardial gene injections with fluoroscopic guidance alone. Methods: We performed the procedure through an 8F arterial sheath inserted into the left carotid artery. In protocol 1, a mixture of India ink and normal saline was injected through a needle injection catheter in six pigs. We monitored blood pressure and ECG continuously during the procedure. Echocardiography, left ventriculography, and coronary angiography were performed. All pigs were sacrificed 2 days later and hearts were harvested. In protocol 2, a mixture of India ink and plasmid encoding CAT gene was injected in the same manner in eight pigs. Myocardial tissue was obtained 7 days after the procedure to assess gene expression. In protocol 3, four pigs were intentionally needle-perforated in the ventricular wall and were observed for 7 days. Results: In protocol 1, there was no significant hemodynamic changes or serious arrhythmias during the procedure. Echocardiography and angiography revealed no evidence indicating pericardial effusion or wall motion abnormalities. Harvested hearts revealed one intramyocardial hematoma in a total of 36 injection sites. In protocol 2, the gene expression could be identified in 39 sites out of 48 injections after 7 days. In protocol 3, no animal showed signs indicating cardiac tamponade during the observation period. Conclusions: Our data suggest that fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous intramyocardial gene injection is a feasible and safe procedure, with no indication of associated significant hemodynamic changes, arrhythmias, or mortality.

The disparity between ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) remains controversial. We compared clinical outcomes and prognostic factors between STEMI and NSTEMI using large-scale registry data.We recruited 28,421 patients with STEMI (n=16,607) and NSTEMI (n=11,814) between November 2005 and April 2010 from a nationwide registry in Korea. We performed landmark analysis of cardiac death, recurrent acute myocardial infarction (re-AMI), revascularization, and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 30 days (early term) and 1 year (late term) after admission.Patients with NSTEMI had a greater number of co-morbidities than STEMI patients. Early term MACE (6.9% vs. 4.5%, p0.001) and cardiac death (6.1% vs. 3.7%, p0.001) were higher in STEMI patients. However, late-term MACE (8.0% vs. 9.1%, p=0.007), cardiac death (1.9% vs. 2.6%, p=0.001), and re-AMI (0.6% vs. 1.3%, p0.001) were lower in the STEMI group. The independent predictors of cardiac death were old age, renal dysfunction, LV dysfunction, Killip class, post-thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow, and major bleeding in both groups. Female gender, previous ischemic heart disease, diabetes, current smoking, multivessel disease, and body mass index were MI type- or time-dependent predictors.The STEMI group displayed poor early term clinical outcome, whereas the NSTEMI group displayed poor late-term clinical outcome. The STEMI and NSTEMI groups had different predictor profiles for cardiac death, suggesting that different strategies are required for improving the late-term outcome of STEMI and NSTEMI patients.

The clinical benefit of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (E-CPR) has been proved in short-term follow-up studies. However, the benefit of E-CPR beyond 1 year has been not known. We investigated 2-year outcome of patients who received E-CPR or conventional CPR (C-CPR).We analyzed a total of 406 adult in-hospital cardiac arrest victims who underwent CPR for more than 10 min from 2003 to 2009. The two-year survival and neurological outcome of E-CPR (n=85) and C-CPR (n=321) were compared using propensity score-matched analysis.The 2-year survival with minimal neurological impairment was 4-fold higher in the E-CPR group than the C-CPR group (23.5% versus 5.9%, hazard ratio (HR)=0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.43-0.75, p0.001) by unadjusted analysis. After propensity-score matching, it was still 4-fold higher in the E-CPR group than the C-CPR group (20.0% versus 5.0%, HR=0.53, 95% CI=0.36-0.80, p=0.002). In the E-CPR group, the independent predictors associated with minimal neurological impairment were age ≤65 years (HR=0.46; 95% CI=0.26-0.81; p=0.008), CPR duration ≤35 min (HR=0.37; 95% CI=0.18-0.76; p=0.007), and subsequent cardiovascular intervention including coronary intervention or cardiac surgery (HR=0.36; 95% CI=0.18-0.68; p=0.002).The initial survival benefit of E-CPR for cardiac arrest patients persisted at 2 years.

Debate continues over the importance of periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We evaluated the prognostic significance of PMI in patients undergoing PCI for bifurcation lesions.Between January 2004 and June 2006, patients from 16 centers who received non-left main bifurcation lesion PCIs were enrolled. PMI was defined as a peak creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) ≥ 3 times the upper limit of normal after PCI. We compared long-term cardiac mortality between patients with and without PMI.Among the 1188 patients, PMI occurred in 119 (10.0%). Left ventricular ejection fraction50% (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 2.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13-3.82, p=0.018), multi-vessel coronary artery disease (adjusted HR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.36-3.81, p=0.002), and PCI-related acute closure in a side branch (adjusted HR: 3.34, 95% CI: 1.23-9.02, p=0.018) were the significant risk factors for PMI. During the median follow-up of 22.7 months, the unadjusted rate of long-term cardiac mortality was significantly higher in patients with PMI than in those without PMI (2.5% vs. 0.7%, p=0.026). After multivariable adjustment, the relationship between PMI and short-term (≤ 30 day) cardiac mortality was significant (adjusted HR: 12.32, 95% CI: 1.07-141.37, p=0.044). However, PMI was not an independent prognostic factor of long-term cardiac mortality (adjusted HR: 2.59, 95% CI: 0.62-10.85, p=0.20).PMI occurs in patients with a higher prevalence of adverse cardiac risks and predicts short-term but not long-term cardiac mortality in patients undergoing bifurcation lesion PCI.

Background The purpose of this study was to compare the two year efficacy and safety of zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES) and first-generation DES, sirolimus- (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES), in an all-comer registry receiving primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods A total of 711 consecutive STEMI patients (ZES: 135, SES: 427, and PES: 149), who underwent primary PCI between January 2005 and June 2008 were enrolled from three centers. In our study, the efficacy analysis endpoint was target vessel failure (cardiac death, target vessel related myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization) at 2years. The safety analysis endpoint was a composite of all cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and stent thrombosis within 2years. Results At 2years, the rates of target vessel failure in the ZES, SES, and PES groups were 14.8%, 12.9%, and 19.5%, respectively (p=0.141). The rates of composite safety endpoints at 2years were not different among the three groups (ZES 8.1% vs. SES 13.1% vs. PES 16.8%, p=0.102). However, when comparing the two groups, ZES was safer than PES (adjusted HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.24–0.98, p=0.046). There was also a non-significant trend in favor of ZES in the rate of stent thrombosis (ZES 1.5% vs. SES 2.3% vs. PES 4.7%, p=0.186). Conclusion In the treatment of STEMI patients, ZES showed similar and acceptable efficacy compared to first-generation DES (SES and PES) up to 2years. In addition, ZES seems to be more favorable than PES in terms of safety.

In vivo measurement of the infarct size in a small animal model is still challenging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of quantitative assessment of infarct size by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) in the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) model of the rat.In 32 Sprague-Dawley rats with AMI, we measured total myocardial area (TMA) and infarct area (IA) of the rats by MCE study (MCE method). They were compared with those of postmortem heart measured by planimetry after histochemical staining with triphenyl tetrazolium chloride solution (TTC method). Simple TTC staining was done in 13 rats (Group 1). To reduce the postmortem change, continuous aortic and left ventricular (LV) pressure was loaded during TTC staining in 19 rats (Group 2).The TMA, IA, and IA/TMA ratio measured by the MCE method were 38.4+/-3.4 mm2, 18.3+/-0.8 mm2, and 0.37+/-0.02 in Group 1, and 43.7+/-1.8 mm2, 15.8+/-1.1 mm2, and 0.37+/-0.02 Group 2, respectively. Those measured by the TTC method were 66.1+/-2.2 mm2, 29.3+/-1.1 mm2, and 0.44+/-0.01 in Group 1, and 65.9+/-2.5 mm2, 26.5+/-1.7 mm2, and 0.40+/-0.02 in Group 2, and 65.9+/-2.5 mm2, 26.5+/-1.7 mm2, and 0.44+/-0.02 in Group 2, respectively. Compared with the TTC method, the MCE method underestimated the TMA and IA in both groups (p0.001). There was no difference in TMA and IA between the two groups in both methods. IA/TMA ratio showed significant correlation between the two methods in both groups (r=0.85, p0.001).The IA/TMA ratio measured by the MCE method may be useful for in vivo estimation of the myocardial infarct size in the AMI model of the rat.