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In this Danish study of >20 000 individuals with suspected heart attack, we confirmed the clinical importance of drawing two consecutive blood samples for measurement of high-sensitivity troponin-I concentrations (a marker of damage to the heart): The risk of death was highest in persons with two elevated high-sensitivity troponin-I concentrations and lowest in those with two normal concentrations.Among persons who had a first normal and a subsequently elevated high-sensitivity troponin-I concentration, a >50% relative rise was associated with significantly higher risk of death at 30 days.Graphical Abstract

Background: Research regarding out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival of diabetes patients is sparse and it remains unknown whether initiatives to increase OHCA survival benefit diabetes and non-diabetes patients equally. We therefore examined overall and temporal survival in diabetes and non-diabetes patients following OHCA.Methods: Adult presumed cardiac-caused OHCAs were identified from the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry (2001–2014). Associations between diabetes and return of spontaneous circulation upon hospital arrival and 30-day survival were estimated with logistic regression adjusted for patient- and OHCA-related characteristics.Results: In total, 28,955 OHCAs were included of which 4276 (14.8%) had diabetes. Compared with non-diabetes patients, diabetes patients had more comorbidities, same prevalence of bystander-witnessed arrests (51.7% vs. 52.7%) and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (43.2% vs. 42.0%), more arrests in residential locations (77.3% vs. 73.0%) and were less likely to have shockable heart rhythm (23.5% vs. 27.9%). Temporal increases in return of spontaneous circulation and 30-day survival were seen for both groups (return of spontaneous circulation: 8.8% in 2001 to 22.3% in 2014 (diabetes patients) vs. 7.8% in 2001 to 25.7% in 2014 (non-diabetes patients); and 30-day survival: 2.8% in 2001 to 9.7% in 2014 vs. 3.5% to 14.8% in 2014, respectively). In adjusted models, diabetes was associated with decreased odds of return of spontaneous circulation (odds ratio 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.66–0.82)) and 30-day survival (odds ratio 0.56 (95% confidence interval 0.48–0.65)) (interaction with calendar year p=0.434 and p=0.243, respectively).Conclusion: No significant difference in temporal survival was found between the two groups. However, diabetes was associated with lower odds of return of spontaneous circulation and 30-day survival.

To investigate the risk of all-cause mortality, recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), and hospitalized bleeding in patients with VTE treated with either rivaroxaban or apixaban.

AbstractPurpose:This study aimed to determine serum YKL-40 in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on haemodialysis (HD) and to evaluate the prognostic value of serum YKL-40.Methods:Patients >18 years on maintenance HD were included. Serum YKL-40 was measured using ELISA before and after a single HD treatment.Results:A total of 306 patients were included. Median serum YKL-40 concentration was 238 µgL−1(IQR: 193–291 µgL−1) before HD treatment and 198 µgL−1(IQR: 147–258 µgL−1) after HD treatment, which corresponded to age-corrected 93th percentile in healthy subjects. All-cause mortality after 2.8 years was 35.9%. Patients with serum YKL-40 in the highest quartile compared with the lowest quartile had a univariate HR of 4.0 (95% CI: 2.2–7.3, p < 0.001) for all-cause mortality which decreased to 2.4 (95% CI: 1.1–4.5, p = 0.01) in multivariate analysis. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves showed that serum YKL-40 after HD treatment had significant higher area under the curves from 90 d (p = 0.004) and throughout the rest of the follow-up period when compared to serum YKL-40 before HD treatment.Conclusion:YKL-40 was highly elevated in patients with ESRD on HD, and dialysis reduced serum YKL-40 concentrations approximately one-sixth. YKL-40 measured after dialysis was independently associated with mortality in HD patients.

ObjectivesTo investigate temporal trends in the use of non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in combination with aspirin and/or clopidogrel in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) following acute myocardial infarction (MI) and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).MethodsUsing Danish nationwide registries, all patients with AF who survived 30 days after discharge from MI and/or PCI between 22 August 2011 and 30 September 2016 were identified.ResultsA total of 2946 patients were included in the study population, of whom 1967 (66.8%) patients were treated with VKA in combination with antiplatelet(s) (VKA+aspirin n=477, VKA+clopidogrel n=439, VKA+aspirin+clopidogrel n=1051) and 979 (33.2%) patients were treated with NOAC in combination with antiplatelet(s) (NOAC+aspirin n=252, NOAC+clopidogrel n=218, NOAC+aspirin+clopidogrel n=509). The overall study population had a median age of 76 years [IQR: 69–82] and consisted of 1995 (67.7%) men. Patients with MI as inclusion event accounted for 1613 patients (54.8%). Patients with high CHA2DS2-VASc score(congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75 years (2 points), diabetes mellitus, history of stroke/transient ischemic attack/systemic thromboembolism (2 points), vascular disease, age 65-75 years, and female sex) accounted for 132 2814 (95.5%) of patients, and patients with high HAS-BLED score (hypertension, abnormal renal/liver function, history of stroke, history of bleeding, age >65 years, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug usages, or alcohol abuse, leaving out labile international normalized ratio (not available), and use of antiplatelets (exposure variable)) accounted for 934 (31.7%) of patients. There was an increase from 10% in 2011 to 52% in 2016 in the use of NOACs in combination with antiplatelet(s).ConclusionFrom 2011 to 2016, the use of NOAC in combination with antiplatelet(s) increased in patients with AF following MI/PCI and exceeded the use of VKA in combination with antiplatelet(s) by 2016.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between thiazolidinediones (TZDs) vs. other antidiabetic drugs and risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) in diabetic patients.

The purpose of this study was to describe adherence with non-vitamin K antagonists (NOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).

Aim Diabetes has been associated with atrial fibrillation but the current evidence is conflicting. In particular knowledge regarding young diabetes patients and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation is sparse. The aim of our study was to investigate the risk of atrial fibrillation in patients with diabetes compared to the background population in Denmark.Methods and results Through Danish nationwide registries we included persons above 18 years of age and without prior atrial fibrillation and/or diabetes from 1996 to 2012. The study cohort was divided into a background population without diabetes and a diabetes group. The absolute risk of developing atrial fibrillation was calculated and Poisson regression models adjusted for sex, age and comorbidities were used to calculate incidence rate ratios of atrial fibrillation. The total study cohort included 5,081,087 persons, 4,827,713 (95%) in the background population and 253,374 (5%) in the diabetes group. Incidence rates of atrial fibrillation per 1000 person years were stratified in four age groups from 18 to 39, 40 to 64, 65 to 74 and 75 to 100 years giving incidence rates (95% confidence intervals) of 0.02 (0.02–0.02), 0.99 (0.98–1.01), 8.89 (8.81–8.98) and 20.0 (19.9–20.2) in the background population and 0.13 (0.09–0.20), 2.10 (2.00–2.20), 8.41 (8.10–8.74) and 20.1 (19.4–20.8) in the diabetes group, respectively. The adjusted incidence rate ratios in the diabetes group with the background population as reference were 2.34 (1.52–3.60), 1.52 (1.47–1.56), 1.20 (1.18–1.23) and 0.99 (0.97–1.01) in the four age groups, respectively.Conclusion Diabetes is an independent risk factor for developing atrial fibrillation/flutter, most pronounced in young diabetes patients. Routine screening for atrial fibrillation/flutter in diabetes patients might be beneficial and have therapeutic implications, especially in younger diabetes patients.Translational perspective Diabetes increases the risk of developing atrial fibrillation and especially young diabetes patients have a high relative risk. Increased focus on detecting atrial fibrillation in young diabetes patients might prove beneficial, and both anticoagulation treatment and anti-arrhythmic treatment strategies should be considered as soon as possible.

Study questionWhat are the risks of all cause mortality, thromboembolism, major bleeding, and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding associated with restarting antithrombotic treatment after gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation?MethodsThis Danish cohort study (1996-2012) included all patients with atrial fibrillation discharged from hospital after gastrointestinal bleeding while receiving antithrombotic treatment. Restarted treatment regimens were single or combined antithrombotic drugs with oral anticoagulation and antiplatelets. Follow-up started 90 days after discharge to avoid confounding from use of previously prescribed drugs on discharge. Risks of all cause mortality, thromboembolism, major bleeding, and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding were estimated with competing risks models and time dependent multiple Cox regression models.Study answer and limitations4602 patients (mean age 78 years) were included. Within two years, 39.9% (95% confidence interval 38.4% to 41.3%, n=1745) of the patients had died, 12.0% (11.0% to 13.0%, n=526) had experienced thromboembolism, 17.7% (16.5% to 18.8%, n=788) major bleeding, and 12.1% (11.1% to 13.1%, n=546) recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding. 27.1% (n=924) of patients did not resume antithrombotic treatment. Compared with non-resumption of treatment, a reduced risk of all cause mortality was found in association with restart of oral anticoagulation (hazard ratio 0.39, 95% confidence interval 0.34 to 0.46), an antiplatelet agent (0.76, 0.68 to 0.86), and oral anticoagulation plus an antiplatelet agent (0.41, 0.32 to 0.52), and a reduced risk of thromboembolism was found in association with restart of oral anticoagulation (0.41, 0.31 to 0.54), an antiplatelet agent (0.76, 0.61 to 0.95), and oral anticoagulation plus an antiplatelet agent (0.54, 0.36 to 0.82). Restarting oral anticoagulation alone was the only regimen with an increased risk of major bleeding (1.37, 1.06 to 1.77) compared with non-resumption of treatment; however, the difference in risk of recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding was not significant between patients who restarted an antithrombotic treatment regimen and those who did not resume treatment. What this study addsAmong patients with atrial fibrillation who experience gastrointestinal bleeding while receiving antithrombotic treatment; subsequent restart of oral anticoagulation alone was associated with better outcomes for all cause mortality and thromboembolism compared with patients who did not resume treatment. This was despite an increased longitudinal associated risk of bleeding.Funding, competing interests, data sharingThis study was supported by a grant from Boehringer-Ingelheim. Competing interests are available in the full paper on bmj.com. The authors have no additional data to share.

Aims Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) associated with NSAIDs among patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI) has not been examined, and such data could contribute considerably to the risk–benefit assessment of NSAID use in this clinical context. Methods and results Using nationwide administrative registries in Denmark, we studied patients aged ≥30 years admitted with first-time MI and without prior AF in the period of 1997–2011. Risk of AF associated with NSAID use vs. no NSAID use was analysed by multivariable time-dependent Cox proportional hazard models. Of the 86 496 patients [mean age 66 (SD 13) years; 64% men] included in this study, 44.1% filled at least one NSAID prescription after discharge from MI. During a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, 7831 (8.9%) developed AF. The confidence intervals rate (95% CI) of AF per 100 person-years with NSAID treatment was 2.2 (2.0–2.4) compared with 1.7 (1.6–1.7) without NSAIDs. In the adjusted model, the risk of AF after NSAID treatment increased [Hazard ratio (HR) 1.27 (1.14–1.40)]. An increased risk of AF was seen regardless of the type of NSAID or with short-term (0–14 days) treatment [HR 1.45 (1.24–1.69)]. When the risk of death in patients exposed [crude rate 23.3 (19.7–27.5)] vs. not exposed [crude rate 17.4 (95% CI 16.8–18.1)] to NSAIDs at the time of AF was compared, NSAID use was associated with a poorer prognosis [HR 1.35 (1.14–1.60)]. Conclusion Our study suggests that the use of NSAIDs might be associated with the increased risk of AF in post-MI patients.