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Objective To assess the safety and efficacy of multifunctional catheter of 5F Tiger I in coronary angiography versus Judkins approach via the right radial artery pathway. Methods 200 patients were selected from Department of Cardiology, Nanjing First Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from April to October 2007, including 123 males and 77 females, aged (58 ± 8) years. They were randomized into two groups (n = 100). The informed consent was obtained from all subjects. All patients underwent coronary angiography via the right radial artery pathway using standard Judkins catheters (Cordis Corporation, Miami, U. S. ) and 5F Tiger I catheters (Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). 6F Judkins L (JL) 3. 5 and Judkins R (JR) 3. 5 were used as first choice catheters in one group, if catheter tip size was not suitable, 6F JL4. 0 , JR4. 0 and other catheters might be used. 5F Tiger I catheters were used in the other group. If the left or right coronary artery angiography failed or did not achieve the target site, Tiger I catheter intubation failed and replaced by Judkins or other catheters. Success rate of left and right coronary artery angiography, total procedure time, total fluoroscopic time, usage amount of contrast, incidence of complication correlating with catheter in angiography procedure, and cost of catheter were observed. Results The success rate of Tiger I catheter in left and right coronary artery angiographies via the right radial artery pathway was 94% ,and that of Judkins catheter was 100% (P <0. 05). Total procedure time was (318. 3 ± 47. 9) s in Judkins catheter group and (318.5 ±49.0) s in Tiger I catheter group (P >0. 05). Total fluoroscopic time was (1. 8 ±0. 9) mm in Judkins catheter group and (1.9 ± 0.6) min in Tiger I catheter group (P >0.05). Usage amount of contrast was (42. 6 ±6. 4) ml in Judkins catheter group and (34. 2 ±5. 0) ml in Tiger I catheter group (P <0. 05). Incidence of complication correlating with catheter in angiography procedure was zero in both two groups. Judkins catheters cost (530. 4 ± 51. 2) Yuan, and Tiger I catheter cost (260 ± 0) Yuan. Biocompatibility of material and host No platelet disorder, local inflammation or general malaise were found in any patients undergoing coronary artery angiography by Tiger I and Judkins catheters. Conclusion Tiger I catheter is effective and safe in coronary angiography via the right radial artery pathway with no specific biocompatibility problems. Judkins catheter is better than Tiger I catheter in the success rate of coronary angiographies, but Tiger I catheter is superior to Judkins catheter in reducing usage amount of contrast and cost of catheters, the two catheters have no difference in proccessing time and fluoroscopic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reports showed no change of 7‐day mortality after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) between 2001 and 2011 in China. National rolling one‐year interventional standardized training programme began in September 2009. However, the improvement in clinical outcome following STEMI PCI after 2011 remains unclear. Methods and Results: This multicentre MOODY registry study aimed to analyse the clinical improvement after STEMI PCI. Of a total of 9265 acute MI patients registered from 24 centres, 3142 STEMIs having a first medical contact time ≤12 hours and undergoing primary PCI were assigned to the Pre Group (n = 1014, between March 1999 and October 2010) or the Post Group (n = 2128, between 2010 November and 2016 October). The primary endpoint was in‐hospital cardiac death. Study endpoints were also compared between trained and untrained operators and between experienced (≥50 primary PCIs/year) and inexperienced personnel. In‐hospital death after PCI was 3.0% in the Pre Group, significantly higher than 1.6% in the Post Group (P =.035). The improvements in clinical outcome after PCI between the 2016 and Pre Groups were stably sustained through one‐year follow‐up. The significant reduction for in‐hospital death was noted when primary PCI was performed by trained (1.4% vs 5.4%, P <.001) or experienced (2.7% vs 4.8%, P =.001) operators, compared to untrained or inexperienced operators, respectively. Inclusion of the untrained operator into the conventional risk model strongly enhanced the prediction for endpoints. Age, Killip Class 3, diabetes, trans‐radial approach and system delay were five predictors of in‐hospital death after primary PCI. Conclusion: PCI for STEMI by a trained and experienced operator was associated with significant reduction of in‐hospital death. Our results strongly warrant the need for promoting the current system response and patient education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty seems a safe and effective option for specific de novo coronary lesions. However, the beneficial effect of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided DCB angioplasty in de novo lesions remains uncertain., Objectives: This study aimed to assess the benefits of IVUS guidance over angiography guidance during DCB angioplasty in de novo coronary lesions., Methods: A total of 260 patients with high bleeding risk who had a de novo coronary lesion (reference vessel diameter 2.0-4.0 mm, and lesion length ≤15 mm) were randomly assigned to either an IVUS-guided or an angioplasty-guided DCB angioplasty group. The primary endpoint was in-segment late lumen loss (LLL) at 7 months after procedure. The secondary endpoint was target vessel failure at 6 months., Results: A total of 2 patients in the angiography-guided group and 7 patients in the IVUS-guided group underwent bailout stent implantation (P = 0.172). The primary endpoint of 7-month LLL was 0.03 ± 0.52 mm with angiography guidance vs -0.10 ± 0.34 mm with IVUS guidance (mean difference 0.14 mm; 95% CI: 0.02-0.26; P = 0.025). IVUS guidance was also associated with a larger 7-month minimal lumen diameter (2.06 ± 0.62 mm vs 1.75 ± 0.63 mm; P < 0.001) and a smaller diameter stenosis (28.15% ± 13.88% vs 35.83% ± 17.69%; P = 0.001) compared with angiography guidance. Five target vessel failures occurred at 6 months, with 4 (3.1%) in the angiography-guided group and 1 (0.8%) in the IVUS-guided group (P = 0.370)., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that IVUS-guided DCB angioplasty is associated with a lower LLL in patients with a de novo coronary lesion compared with angiography guidance. (Intravascular Ultrasound Versus Angiography Guided Drug-Coated Balloon [ULTIMATE-III]; NCT04255043)., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 81970307, NSFC 82100357, NSFC 82270344, and NSFC 82200385), and was jointly supported by Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation (BK20221173), Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province (2019-WSN-156), Jiangsu Health Committee (H2019077), and Nanjing Health Committee (JQX22007 and ZKX23030), and Social development project of Jiangsu province (BE2019615). The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: The associations between angiographic findings and post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) fractional flow reserve (FFR) and their clinical relevance according to residual functional disease burden have not been thoroughly investigated., Objectives: To evaluate the association of angiographic and physiologic parameters according to residual functional disease burden after drug-eluting stent implantation., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study population was from the International Post-PCI FFR registry, which incorporated 4 registries from Korea, China, and Japan. Patients who underwent angiographically successful second-generation drug-eluting stent implantation and post-PCI FFR measurement were included in the analysis. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the residual disease burden (post-PCI FFR ≤0.80 [residual ischemia], 0.81-0.86 [suboptimal], and >0.86 [optimal]). The data were collected from August 23, 2018, to June 11, 2019, and the current analysis was performed from January 11, 2022, to October 7, 2023., Exposures: Angiographic parameters and post-PCI FFR., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was target vessel failure (TVF), defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization (TVR) at 2 years., Results: In this cohort of 2147 patients, the mean (SD) age was 64.3 (10.0) years, and 1644 patients (76.6%) were men. Based on the post-PCI physiologic status, 269 patients (12.5%) had residual ischemia, 551 (25.7%) had suboptimal results, and 1327 (61.8%) had optimal results. Angiographic parameters had poor correlations with post-PCI FFR (r < 0.20). Post-PCI FFR was isolated from all angiographic parameters in the unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis. Post-PCI FFR was associated with the occurrence of TVF (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] per post-PCI FFR 0.01 increase, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.92-0.97]; P < .001), but angiographic parameters were not. The residual ischemia group had a significantly higher rate of TVF than the suboptimal group (AHR, 1.75 [95% CI, 1.08-2.83]; P = .02) and the optimal group (AHR, 2.94 [95% CI, 1.82-4.73]; P < .001). The TVR in the residual ischemia group was predominantly associated with TVR in the nonstented segment (14 [53.8%]), unlike the other 2 groups (3 [10.0%] in the suboptimal group and 13 [30.2%] in the optimal group)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of the International Post-PCI FFR registry, a low degree of associations were observed between angiographic and physiologic parameters after PCI. Post-PCI FFR, unlike angiographic parameters, was associated with clinical events and the distribution of clinical events. The current study supports the use of post-PCI FFR as a procedural quality metric and further prospective study is warranted.

Background: Intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention has been shown to result in superior clinical outcomes compared with angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention. However, insufficient data are available concerning the advantages of intravascular ultrasound guidance for patients with an acute coronary syndrome. This trial aimed to investigate whether the use of intravascular ultrasound guidance, as compared with angiography guidance, improves the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with contemporary drug-eluting stents in patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome., Methods: In this two-stage, multicentre, randomised trial, patients aged 18 years or older and presenting with an acute coronary syndrome at 58 centres in China, Italy, Pakistan, and the UK were randomly assigned to intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention or angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients, follow-up health-care providers, and assessors were masked to random assignment; however, staff in the catheterisation laboratory were not. The primary endpoint was target vessel failure, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically driven target vessel revascularisation at 1 year after randomisation. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03971500, and is completed., Findings: Between Aug 20, 2019 and Oct 27, 2022, 3505 patients with an acute coronary syndrome were randomly assigned to intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (n=1753) or angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (n=1752). 1-year follow-up was completed in 3504 (>99·9%) patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 70 patients in the intravascular ultrasound group and 128 patients in the angiography group (Kaplan-Meier rate 4·0% vs 7·3%; hazard ratio 0·55 [95% CI 0·41-0·74]; p=0·0001), driven by reductions in target vessel myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularisation. There were no significant differences in all-cause death or stent thrombosis between groups. Safety endpoints were also similar in the two groups., Interpretation: In patients with an acute coronary syndrome, intravascular ultrasound-guided implantation of contemporary drug-eluting stents resulted in a lower 1-year rate of the composite outcome of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or clinically driven revascularisation compared with angiography guidance alone., Funding: The Chinese Society of Cardiology, the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China, and Jiangsu Provincial & Nanjing Municipal Clinical Trial Project., Translation: For the Mandarin translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests GWS reports speaker fees from Medtronic, Pulnovo, Infraredx, Abiomed, Abbott, Amgen, and Boehringer Ingelheim; has served as a consultant to Daiichi Sankyo, Ablative Solutions, CorFlow, Apollo Therapeutics, Cardiomech, Gore, Robocath, Miracor, Vectorious, Abiomed, Valfix, TherOx, HeartFlow, Neovasc, Ancora, Elucid Bio, Occlutech, Impulse Dynamics, Adona Medical, Millennia Biopharma, and Oxitope; has equity or options from Ancora, Cagent, Applied Therapeutics, Biostar family of funds, SpectraWave, Orchestra Biomed, Aria, Cardiac Success, Valfix, and Xenter; research support from Abbott, Abiomed, Bioventrix, Cardiovascular Systems, Phillips, Biosense-Webster, Shockwave, Vascular Dynamics, Pulnovo, and V-wave paid directly to institution; and his daughter is an employee at IQVIA. S-LC reports speaker fees from Microport, Pulnovo, Boston International Scientific, Medtronic, Sanofi, and BioMed; and grants from the National Scientific Foundation of China. GSM received honorarium from Boston Scientific. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous studies primarily demonstrated that transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with self-expanding valve appeared to be a safe and feasible treatment for patients with pure native aortic regurgitation (AR). However, the routine application of transfemoral TAVR for pure AR patients lacks support from randomized trials., Trial Design: SEASON-AR trial is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, open-label trial, involving at least 20 sites in China, aiming to enroll 210 patients with pure native severe AR and high surgical risk. All enrolled patients are randomly assigned in a 1:1 fashion to undergo transfemoral TAVR with VitaFlow TM valve and receive guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) or to receive GDMT alone. The primary endpoint is the rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 12 months after the procedure, defined by the composite of all-cause mortality, disabling stroke, and rehospitalization for heart failure. The major secondary endpoints encompass various measures, including procedure-related complications, device success, 6-minute walk distance, and the occurrence of each individual component of the primary endpoint. After hospital discharge, follow-up was conducted through clinical visits or telephone contact at 1, 6, and 12 months. The follow-up will continue annually until 5 years after the index procedure to assess the long-term outcomes., Conclusion: SEASON-AR trial is the first study designed to investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of transfemoral TAVR with a self-expanding valve in patients with pure native severe AR with inoperable or high-risk, as compared to medical treatment only., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest There is nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study was to analyze the incidence of definite stent thrombosis (ST) after the implantation of drug-eluting stents (DESs) and cutoff value of overlapping length for predicting definite ST. An overlapping stent is associated with a high rate of clinical events after DES implantation compared with a non-overlapping stent. However, the rates of definite ST and clinical outcomes from a large patient population remain underreported., Methods: A total of 15,561 patients with 24,183 lesions who underwent DES implantation from January 2005 to February 2017 were retrospectively included in 5 tertiary hospitals in China. The main endpoint was the incidence of definite ST after procedures., Results: With a median of 1932 (IQR = 1194-2929) days, clinical follow-up was available in 7484 patients in the overlap group and in 8077 patients in the non-overlap group. The rates of definite ST were 3.1% in the overlap group and 1.2% in the non-overlap group (HR: 2.67 (95% CI: 2.11-3.38), p < 0.001). Of the 24,183 treated lesions, the incidences of definite ST were 2.4% in the overlap group and 0.9% in the non-overlap group (HR: 2.96 (95% CI: 2.38-3.69), p < 0.001). Stent overlap was associated with a higher rate of target lesion revascularization (TLR) (9.4%) compared with stent non-overlap (6.4%, p < 0.001). The length of overlapping stent ≥ 2.93 mm strongly correlated with definite ST., Conclusion: The present study shows that overlapping DES increases definite ST and revascularization in patients during long-term follow-up. In addition, the longer overlapping zone was associated with worse clinical outcomes.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a risk model incorporating clinical, angiographic, and physiological parameters to predict future clinical events after drug-eluting stent implantation., Background: Prognostic factors after coronary stenting have not been comprehensively investigated., Methods: A risk model to predict target vessel failure (TVF) at 2 years was developed from 2,200 patients who underwent second-generation drug-eluting stent implantation and post-stent fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurement. TVF was defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target vessel revascularization. A random survival forest model with automatic feature selection by minimal depth analysis was used for risk model development., Results: During 2 years of follow-up, the cumulative incidence of TVF was 5.9%. From clinical, angiographic, and physiological parameters, 6 variables were selected for the risk model in order of importance within the model as follows: total stent length, post-stent FFR, age, post-stent percentage diameter stenosis, reference vessel diameter, and diabetes mellitus. Harrell's C index of the random survival forest model was 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.62 to 0.82). This risk model showed better prediction ability than models with clinical risk factors alone (Harrell's C index = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.59; p for comparison = 0.005) and with clinical risk factors and angiographic parameters (Harrell's C index = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.52 to 0.77; p for comparison = 0.045). When the patients were divided into 2 groups according to the median of total stent length (30 mm), post-stent FFR and total stent length showed the highest variable importance in the short- and long-stent groups, respectively., Conclusions: A risk model incorporating clinical, angiographic, and physiological predictors can help predict the risk for TVF at 2 years after coronary stenting. Total stent length and post-stent FFR were the most important predictors. (International Post PCI FFR Registry; NCT04012281)., (Copyright © 2020 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 polymorphism is an established genetic risk of hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart diseases in Asian population. Previous experimental data showed ALDH2 regulated inflammation, a potential mechanism of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, clinically, the association between ALDH2 polymorphism and incidence of HFpEF remains unknown. In this prospective cross-sectional study, ALDH2 genotyping was performed in 613 consecutive patients enrolled with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including hypertension, coronary heart diseases, and/or diabetes mellitus, with normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). HFpEF was diagnosed according to symptoms and/or signs of dyspnea, fatigue or ankle swelling, N-terminal pro-B-Type natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP ≥ 280 pg/mL), LVEF ≥ 50%, and at least one additional criterion: left atrial enlargement (left atrial diameter > 40 mm), diastolic dysfunction (E/E' ≥ 13 or E'/A' < 1) or concurrently with atrial fibrillation. Finally, of 613 patients with CVD, 379 patients (61.8%) were assigned to the wild-type ALDH2*1/*1 group and 234 patients (38.2%) to the mutation-type ALDH2*2 group according to genotyping results. Sixty-nine patients (11.3%) were diagnosed with HFpEF. In ALDH2*2 group, the occurrence of HFpEF was higher (15.4% vs. 8.7%, p = 0.011) than that in ALDH2*1/*1 group. Leukocyte count, the indicator of systemic inflammation, was significantly higher (6.9 ± 2.4 × 10 9 /L vs. 6.5 ± 1.9 × 10 9 /L, p = 0.010) in ALDH2*2 group compared to ALDH2*1/*1 group. In conclusion, ALDH2*2 variant is associated with the risk of HFpEF in patients with CVD. Increased systemic inflammation probably involved in this disease process.

Background: Differences in the predictors between ventricular septal rupture (VSR) and free wall rupture (FWR) have not been fully studied. Data on the prevalence and clinical outcome of heart rupture are limited., Hypothesis: This study aimed to investigate heart rupture incidence and clinical results in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI)., Methods: Of 9265 AMI patients in the MOODY registry between March 1999 and October 2016, a total of 146 were studied. The primary clinical endpoint was rupture prevalence and in-hospital mortality. Independent factors of heart rupture were analyzed using Cox proportional model and were compared between patients with VSR and those with FWR., Results: Of 9265 AMI patients, 146 (1.58%) patients had a heart rupture (FWR, 94 (1.02%)) and VSR (52 (0.56%)). All patients with FWR died during hospitalization, and in-hospital mortality was recorded in 37 (71.2%) patients with VSR, who had an extremely longer time delay from AMI onset to the first medical contact (FMC) (~20 h). FWR usually occurred in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with a FMC ≥ 3 h, for whom primary reperfusion was not performed. Percutaneous repair at 1-2 weeks following AMI was associated with less mortality, and 9 of 38 patients who underwent non-primary reperfusion died post procedure., Conclusion: This study demonstrated the importance of shortening FMC to prevent VSR and of early primary reperfusion in STEMI patients to reduce FWR. Urgent closure of rupture is necessary to reduce in-hospital and 1-year mortality., Clinical Trial Registration: http://www.clinicaltrials.org, identifier: No. NCT03051048., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impacts of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation on patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) based on the ULTIMATE trial., Background: IVUS-guided DES implantation improves clinical outcomes in complex lesions. However, routine IVUS guidance in patients with CKD remains controversial., Methods: CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL min -1 1.73 m -2 . The primary end point was target vessel failure (TVF) at 12 months, including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target vessel revascularization., Results: eGFR was available in 1,443 patients, of whom 723 were in the IVUS guidance group, and 720 were in the angiography guidance group. Finally, CKD was present in 349 (24.2%) patients. At 12 months, TVF in the CKD group was 7.2%, which was significantly higher than 3.2% in the non-CKD group (p = .001). Moreover, there were 25 TVFs in the CKD patients, with 7 (3.9%) TVFs in the IVUS group and 18 (10.7%) TVFs in the angiography group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15-0.84; p = .01), whereas 35 TVFs occurred in patients without CKD, with 14 (2.6%) TVFs in the IVUS group and 21 (3.8%) TVFs in the angiography group (HR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.34-1.32; p = .25; p for interaction = .24)., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that CKD patients undergoing DES implantations were associated with a higher risk of TVF at 12 months. More importantly, the risk of TVF in the CKD patients could be significantly decreased through IVUS guidance., Clinical Trial: NCT02215915., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: The authors sought to assess the benefits of pulmonary artery denervation (PADN) among combined pre- and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension (CpcPH) patients in a prospective, randomized, sham-controlled trial., Background: PADN has been shown to improve hemodynamics of pulmonary arterial hypertension in a series of patients. Additionally, benefits of targeted medical therapy for patients with CpcPH secondary to left-sided heart failure are unknown., Methods: Ninety-eight CpcPH patients, defined as mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥25 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure >15 mm Hg, and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) >3.0 Wood units (WU), were randomly assigned to PADN or sildenafil plus sham PADN. Standard medical therapy for heart failure was administered to all patients in both groups. The primary endpoint was the increase in the 6-min walk distance at the 6-month follow-up. The secondary endpoint was change in PVR. Clinical worsening was assessed in a post hoc analysis. The main safety endpoint was occurrence of pulmonary embolism., Results: At 6 months, the mean increases in the 6-min walk distance were 83 m in the PADN group and 15 m in the sildenafil group (least square mean difference 66 m, 95% confidence interval: 38.2 to 98.8 m; p < 0.001). PADN treatment was associated with a significantly lower PVR than in the sildenafil group (4.2 ± 1.5 WU vs. 6.1 ± 2.9 WU; p = 0.001). Clinical worsening was less frequent in the PADN group compared with the sildenafil group (16.7% vs. 40%; p = 0.014). At the end of the study, there were 7 all-cause deaths and 2 cases of pulmonary embolism., Conclusions: PADN is associated with significant improvements in hemodynamic and clinical outcomes in patients with CpcPH. Further studies are warranted to define its precise role in the treatment of this patient population. (Pulmonary Arterial Denervation in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With the Left Heart Failure [PADN-5]; NCT02220335)., (Copyright © 2019 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and sodium bicarbonate (SOB) therapies may prevent contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). However, the efficacy of using combination over individual therapies was not established, and there was no large randomised study comparing abbreviated SOB therapy with conventional sustained saline pre-hydration with oral NAC., Methods: In a multi-centre, open-label, randomised, controlled trial (NCT00497328), we prospectively enrolled 548 patients with at least moderate renal impairment undergoing cardiac catheterisation with or without percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were randomly assigned to 3 groups: 1) NAC: 154 mEq/L sustained sodium chloride regime (1 mL/kg/h 12 h before, during and 6h after the procedure) with oral NAC at 1.2g bid for 3 days (n=185); 2) SOB: 154 mEq/L abbreviated SOB regime at 3 mL/kg/h 1h before the procedure, and 1 mL/kg/h during and 6h after the procedure (n=182); and 3) COM: combination of abbreviated SOB regime and oral NAC (n=181). The primary end point was incidence of CIN. The secondary end points were rise in serum creatinine, hospitalisation duration, haemodialysis, morbidity and mortality within 30 days., Results: The 3 groups had similar baseline characteristics: age 68 ± 10 years, 76% male, 48% diabetic and baseline glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 47.7 ± 13.0 mL/min. There were 41 (8.8%) patients with GFR<30. The CIN incidences were NAC 6.5%, SOB 12.8% and COM 10.6%. The COM regimen was not superior to either the NAC (relative risk (RR)=1.61, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.76 to 3.45, p=0.225) or SOB (RR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.44 to 1.56, p=0.593) regimens. The CIN incidence was lower in the NAC group than the SOB group (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=0.40, 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.92; p=0.032). Multivariate analysis showed contrast volume (OR=1.99, 95% CI: 1.33 to 2.96, p<0.001 per 100mL), female (OR=2.47, 95% CI: 1.22 to 5.00, p=0.012) and diabetes (OR=2.03, 95% CI: 1.03 to 3.99, p=0.041) were independent risk predictors. There were no differences in the secondary outcomes among the 3 groups., Conclusion: The combination regimen was not superior to individual regimens in preventing CIN in patients with baseline renal impairment. There was a trend suggesting that the 12-hour sustained sodium chloride pre-hydration regimen was more protective than the 1-hour abbreviated SOB regimen., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the association between periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI), defined by creatine kinase (CK)-MB or troponin I (TNI) level elevations >5 times the 99 th percentile of the upper reference limit (URL) within 48 hr after implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES), and one-year mortality in patients with coronary bifurcation., Background: PMI is reported to be associated with increased one-year mortality after DES implantation. However, the prevalence and association of PMI with mortality after stenting bifurcation lesions remains unclear., Methods: We prospectively followed 1,971 patients with true coronary bifurcations who underwent DES implantation as part of the multicenter DEFINITION study. These patients were grouped into categories based on PMI outcome: Non-PMI, CKMB-PMI, TNI-PMI, and CKMB/TNI-PMI. The primary endpoint was the rate of all-cause mortality at one year., Results: PMI occurred in 11.4% of patients by CKMB criteria and 41.3% of patients by TNI criteria. At one-year follow-up, the mortality rate was 2.3% in the entire patient population. However, mortality was significantly higher in the CKMB-PMI (6.4%) and CKMB/TNI-PMI (6.1%) groups compared to the Non-PMI (1.7%) and TNI-PMI (2.1%) groups (all P < 0.05). A 10-fold increase in TNI levels resulted in similar PMI rate (5.2%) and mortality risk (adjusted HR 2.7, 95% CI 3.0-5.2) as a fivefold increase in CKMB levels., Conclusions: PMI, as defined by CKMB elevations following coronary bifurcation lesion stenting, was associated with increased one-year mortality. Additionally, to attain an equal frequency of PMI, the elevation in TNI levels needed to be twice as high as the elevation in CKMB levels., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background/purpose: Acute kidney injury (AKI) significantly increases the risk of mortality in patients following cardiovascular intervention procedures. This study was carried out to investigate the incidence, predictors, and prognostic implications of AKI after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) of Stanford type B aortic dissection., Methods: A total of 156 patients with Stanford type B aortic dissection who underwent TEVAR were retrospectively analyzed between February 1, 2004 and October 31, 2011. Multivariable regression was used to predict risk factors for AKI. Association between baseline characteristics, postoperative AKI, and mortality during follow up was evaluated., Results: AKI was identified in 48 (30.8%) of 156 patients, with seven (14.5%) patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy. The in-hospital mortality rate was 0% in patients without AKI and 12.5% in those with AKI (p = 0.001). Univariate analysis identified preoperative chronic kidney disease, acute dissection, complicated dissection, malperfusion complications with comprehensive complications, and postoperative minimum estimated glomerular filtration rate within 48 hours as associated with AKI. Malperfusion complications [odds ratio (OR) = 4.828; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.163-20.03] were the only independent predictor of AKI. Patients suffering from AKI had a 14-fold increased risk for 30-day mortality (OR = 14.3; 95% CI = 1.7-118.4; p = 0.014) and a 10-fold increased risk for 1-year mortality (OR = 9.5; 95% CI = 2.02-44.9; p = 0.004)., Conclusion: A significant rate of AKI was observed following TEVAR and was associated with an increase in 30-day and 1-year mortality. Malperfusion complications were identified as an independent predictor of AKI., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Polymer-free sirolimus- and probucol-eluting stents (Real Dual drug-eluting stents [DES]) is as effective as first-generation DES in treating coronary artery stenosis. It is unknown whether sirolimus-eluting stents containing biodegradable polymer (Excel) would be superior to real Dual DES. This study aimed to investigate the difference in target vessel revascularization (TVR) at 12 months in patients with coronary artery disease treated by the implantation of Dual DES or Excel stents., Methods: Three hundred and forty-six patients with de novo coronary artery disease were recruited from six centers in China and randomly assigned to either the Dual DES or the Excel group. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of TVR at 12 months. The secondary endpoint was angiographic in-stent restenosis and late lumen loss at 13 months. Stent thrombosis (ST) served as the safety endpoint. Dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) was prescribed for 6 months., Results: Clinical follow-up for 12 months and repeat angiography at 13 months were available in 100% and >90% of patients, respectively. The ISR and in-stent late loss were significantly different between the Excel (3.1%, 0.09 ± 0.11 mm) and the Dual DES (19.5%, 0.36 ± 0.32 mm, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively) groups. The TVR (3.5%) in the Excel group was significantly less than in the Dual DES group (13.9%, P = 0.001). The ST rate beyond 12 months in the Dual DES group was 0%, and this was 1.2% in the Excel group (P = 0.499)., Conclusions: The Excel stent was statistically superior to the Dual DES in terms of restenosis, late loss, and TVR for long lesions., (© 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Objectives: A large number of clinical studies have well demonstrated that the loss-of-function variant allele CYP2C19 2 is associated with attenuated response to clopidogrel and increased risk of developing stent thrombosis (ST) in white or black patients with stenting. However, similar association studies on the effect of the CYP2C19 2 and 3 variants on maximum platelet aggregation (MPA) and the risk of cardiovascular events are currently unavailable for the Chinese patients. This work was aimed at assessing the impact of the CYP2C19 2 and 3 variants on the antiplatelet effects and adverse cardiovascular events in clopidogrel-treated Chinese patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: The study population consisted of 617 patients undergoing PCI. Genotypes were determined using MALDI/TOF-MS. MPA was measured by light transmittance aggregometry. The clinical end-point was the 1-year incidence of adverse cardiovascular events, including ST., Results: Carriers of CYP2C19 heterozygous (1/2, or 1/3; n = 278) and mutant homozygous (2/2, 2/3, or 3/3, n = 80) genotypes had significantly higher MPA values than noncarriers (1/1; n = 259; P = 0.036 and 0.007 respectively). Moreover, the presence of the CYP2C19 2 or 3 mutant allele was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing ST, with the higher risk of ST being seen in patients homozygous for the CYP2C19 2 or 3 variant allele than in noncarriers (OR, 13.58; 95% CI, 1.49-123.31; P = 0.012). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed an independent association of the presence of CYP2C19*2 and/or 3 variant alleles with greater MPA values (P = 0.001) and increased risk of ST (OR, 11.67; 95% CI, 1.21-78.83; P = 0.022). However, there was no significant influence of CYP2C19 2 and 3 on the risk of developing other adverse cardiovascular events., Conclusions: Carriage of the loss-of-function genetic variants CYP2C19 2 and 3 is significantly associated with attenuated platelet response to clopidogrel and an increased risk of ST in Chinese patients treated with stenting.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the acute effects of nicardipine and esmolol on hemodynamic and endothelial shear stress (ESS) in patients with unstable angina (UA) and moderate coronary stenosis (MCS)., Background: Nicardipine and esmolol exhibit cardioprotection via different mechanisms. However, their acute effects on hemodynamic and ESS are still unknown., Methods: One-hundred sixteen patients with UA and MSC were randomly divided into nicardipine (n = 59) and esmolol (n = 57) groups. Drugs were injected as a bolus followed by continuous infusion to achieve the steady states defined as the mean blood pressure (MBP) reduced by ≥ 10% or a heart-rate change by ≥ 15 bpm, lasting for at least 10 min. The aortic pressure (AP), EKG, blood velocity, right atrial pressure, distal coronary pressure (DCP), systolic time (ST), isovolumetric diastolic time (IVDT), speed filling time (SFT), and ESS were simultaneously calculated at baseline and steady states., Results: Both drugs significantly reduced blood pressure and rate-pressure load. Infusion of nicardipine was associated with negative remodeling of the distal segment (P= 0.005). Esmolol, rather than nicardipine, increased minimal lumen diameter (P= 0.040), prolonged SFT (0.34 ± 0.03 s vs. 0.41 ± 0.03 s, P < 0.001), reduced DCP (P < 0.001) and increased blood velocity (33.65 ± 1.07 cm/s vs. 43.36 ± 1.25 cm/s, P < 0.001) at SFT stages, with increased blood-flow (P < 0.001). Both drugs increased downstream ESS. Esmolol significantly reversed abnormally increased ESS (P < 0.001) and increased upstream ESS compared with nicardipine (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Beyond a similar reduction of AP, patients with UA and MCS could benefit more from the reduction of heart rate induced by esmolol (ChiCTR-TRC-10000964)., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The rapid growth transformation of China from a rural agrarian society to an industrial society with increased wealth has impacted the cardiovascular health of the entire population. The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors mirror in some regards the disease prevalence in western industrialized countries and in other areas present unique public health issues. This article reviewed recent population surveys, reports, and clinical trials conducted in China. It was found that the prevalence of CVD and many of the risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, and diabetes contributing to disease mortality are increasing in China. However, compared with the United States, disease mortality is lower. Also, cerebrovascular disease is far more common than ischemic heart disease in China. The low prevalence of disease may suggest a reduced role of diagnostic imaging studies as compared with the US, while the increased percentage of strokes may point to the need for widely available emergent computed tomography (CT) imaging in hospitals in China. This article also discusses the occurrence of metabolic syndrome, obesity, glucose intolerance, diabetes, and their unique features in the Chinese population. Of interest, compared with the Caucasian cohort of the same body mass index (BMI), the Chinese had a higher percentage of body fat. Metabolic syndrome was found to be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality rate. With one fifth of the world's population, China can anticipate a dramatic rise, in absolute numbers, of CVD. It is imperative that national and regional programs are initiated to detect and treat the disease., (Copyright 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Aims: The purpose of this study was to compare coronary lesions in mainland Chinese and Australians using coronary angiography (CAG)., Methods and Results: 6251 suspected coronary heart disease (CHD) patients (3021 Chinese patients from Nanjing and 3230 Australian patients from Sydney) who underwent a CAG between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, were studied. Of these, 69.4% Chinese and 75.5% Australians were diagnosed with CHD. The incidences of both left main coronary artery (LM) and left anterior descending branch (LAD) lesions in Australians were higher than that for Chinese of the same gender. In the same age range, above 40, Gensini scores of Australians were significantly higher than those of Chinese., Conclusion: In both Chinese and Australians, men had more severe coronary lesions than women. Comparison among different age ranges in the 2 ethnic groups shows that Australians typically have artery lesions more than 10 years earlier than mainland Chinese.