Confirmed Coronary Artery Disease Research Articles

Comparison of Estimated LDL Cholesterol Equations with Direct Measurement in Patients with Angiographically Confirmed Coronary Artery Disease.

Background and aims: Our goals in the study were to (1) quantify the discordance in LDL-C levels between equations (the Friedewald, Sampson, and Martin/Hopkins equations) and compare them with direct LDL-C (dLDL-C); and (2) explore the proportion of misclassified patients by calculated LDL-C using these three different equations. Methods: A total of 30,349 consecutive patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) were prospectively enrolled. Concordance was defined as if the LDL-C was <1.8 mmol/L with each pairwise comparison of LDL-C equations. Estimated LDL-C that fell into the same category as dLDL-C at the following levels: <1.4, 1.4 to 1.7, 1.8 to 2.5, 2.6 to 2.9, and ≥3.0 mmol/L was considered to have been correctly categorized. Results: The concordance was 96.3% (Sampson vs. Martin/Hopkins), 95.0% (Friedewald vs. Sampson), and 91.4% (Friedewald vs. Martin/Hopkins), respectively. This proportion fell to 82.4% in those with hypertriglyceridemia (TG ≥ 1.7 mmol/L). With an accurate classification rate of 73.6%, the Martin/Hopkins equation outperformed the Sampson equation (69.5%) and the Friedewald equation (59.3%) by a wide margin. Conclusions: Comparing it to the validated Martin/Hopkins equation, the Friedewald equation produced the lowest levels of LDL-C, followed by the Sampson equation. In the classification of LDL-C, the Martin/Hopkins equation has also been shown to be more accurate. There is a significant difference between the equations and the direct measurement method, which may lead to overtreatment or undertreatment.

Myocardial perfusion imaging using single-photon emission computed tomography with cadmium-zinc-telluride technology.

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a well-established diagnostic approach for patients with suspected or confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD). In the present century, nuclear cardiology has benefited immensely from advances in imaging instrumentation and technology. Dedicated cardiac SPECT cameras incorporating novel, highly efficient cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detectors, collimators, and system designs have evolved as a result of the expansion of nuclear cardiology. A vast amount of evidence is emerging, demonstrating the new technology's advantages over the traditional gamma cameras. Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using gamma-cameras with CZT detectors may be performed with the limited injected activity of radiotracer and recorded times. The use of CZT's dynamic acquisition of myocardial perfusion imaging in clinical practice may help cardiologists in detecting hemodynamically significant CAD. In this article, we present the current state of knowledge on cardiac CZT-SPECT scanners, a summary of the literature published on validation studies, radiation dose reduction, and dynamic acquisition, as well as a comparison of conventional myocardial perfusion imaging with invasive coronary angiography.

Evaluation of Patients with Angiographically-Confirmed Coronary Artery Disease to Investigate the Association Between Epicardial Fat Thickness and Atrial Fibrillation.

BackgroundEpicardial fat thickness (EFT) is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor of the presence, severity, and recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated the associations between EFT and AF prevalence and identified its correlation with other risk factors.Material/MethodsA total of 199 participants who underwent coronary angiography and had confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) were enrolled in this study.The EFT was measured by echocardiography and the association of EFT with other AF risk factors was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsThe EFT was significantly higher in patients with comorbidity of AF and CAD than those with CAD alone (6.86±1.96 mm vs 5.91±1.71 mm, P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis indicated that EFT was a predictive factor of the occurrence of AF in CAD, after adjusting for body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), left circumflex artery (LCX) stenosis, LA diameter, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), creatinine (Cr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). LA diameter, SBP, and LCX stenosis are also independent risk factors for CAD complicated by AF. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive linear correlations between EFT and BMI (P<0.01), EFT, and LA diameter (P<0.05), as well as positive correlations between LA diameter and BNP, Cr, or BUN.ConclusionsEpicardial fat thickness is a strong predictor for AF prevalence in patients with CAD, independent of other AF risk factors such as LA diameter, BMI, and SBP, while LA diameter, SBP, and LCX stenosis are also independent AF risk factors for CAD.

Circulating microRNAs in patients with aneurysmal dilatation of coronary arteries.

To understand the mechanism underlying coronary artery abnormal dilatation (CAAD), the present study identified and compared the expression of circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) in three groups of patients. Group 1 included 20 patients with CAAD, Group 2 included 20 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD), and Group 3 included 20 patients with normal coronary arteries (control). miRNAs were isolated from plasma samples and were profiled using PCR arrays and miRCURY LNA Serum/Plasma Focus PCR Panels. The present study demonstrated that the plasma miRNA levels were significantly different in Group 1 compared with in Group 2 and Group 3 (fold change >2 and P<0.05). The comparison of Group 1 with Group 3 identified 21 significantly upregulated and two downregulated miRNAs in patients with CAAD compared with in the control group. Moreover, six upregulated and two downregulated miRNAs were identified in patients with CAD compared with in the controls. The third comparison revealed four upregulated and three downregulated miRNAs in Group 1, when compared with patients with CAD. In conclusion, the present study identified a specific signature of plasma miRNAs, which were upregulated and downregulated in patients with CAAD compared with in patients with CAD and control individuals.

Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid Levels in Known Coronary Artery Disease Patients

Vitamin B12 and folic acid are water soluble vitamins playing a vital role in various biological processes, where their deficiency leading to hyperhomocysteinemia are closely related to the development of cardio vascular risk. This case-control study included a total of 60 participants; 30 with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) and 30 were age and sex matched healthy controls. Fasting blood samples were collected and analyzed for biochemical parameters. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. A p value &lt;0.05 was considered statistically significant. Vitamin B12 levels were found to be significantly lower in CAD patients than the controls. Based on the results, 50% of CAD patients had vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 was positively associated with HDL-c and negatively with TC, TGL, LDL-c, VLDL-c, RLP-c, Non-HDL-c, TG/HDL-c. The study concludes that low levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid are related with risk factors of coronary artery disease

Automated left ventricular myocardium segmentation using 3D deeply supervised attention U-net for coronary computed tomography angiography; CT myocardium segmentation.

Segmentation of left ventricular myocardium (LVM) in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is important for diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Due to poor image contrast and large variation in intensity and shapes, LVM segmentation for CCTA is a challenging task. The purpose of this work is to develop a region-based deep learning method to automatically detect and segment the LVM solely based on CCTA images. We developed a 3D deeply supervised U-Net, which incorporates attention gates (AGs) to focus on the myocardial boundary structures, to segment LVM contours from CCTA. The deep attention U-Net (DAU-Net) was trained on the patients' CCTA images, with a manual contour-derived binary mask used as the learning-based target. The network was supervised by a hybrid loss function, which combined logistic loss and Dice loss to simultaneously measure the similarities and discrepancies between the prediction and training datasets. To evaluate the accuracy of the segmentation, we retrospectively investigated 100 patients with suspected or confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD). The LVM volume was segmented by the proposed method and compared with physician-approved clinical contours. Quantitative metrics used were Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance (HD), mean surface distance (MSD), residual mean square distance (RMSD), the center of mass distance (CMD), and volume difference (VOD). The proposed method created contours with very good agreement to the ground truth contours. Our proposed segmentation approach is benchmarked primarily using fivefold cross validation. Model prediction correlated and agreed well with manual contour. The mean DSC of the contours delineated by our method was 91.6% among all patients. The resultant HD was 6.840±4.410mm. The proposed method also resulted in a small CMD (1.058±1.245mm) and VOD (1.640±1.777cc). Among all patients, the MSD and RMSD were 0.433±0.209mm and 0.724±0.375mm, respectively, between ground truth and LVM volume resulting from the proposed method. We developed a novel deep learning-based approach for the automated segmentation of the LVM on CCTA images. We demonstrated the high accuracy of the proposed learning-based segmentation method through comparison with ground truth contour of 100 clinical patient cases using six quantitative metrics. These results show the potential of using automated LVM segmentation for computer-aided delineation of CADs in the clinical setting.

Higher serum level of CTRP15 in patients with coronary artery disease is associated with disease severity, body mass index and insulin resistance

Background CTRP15 is a prologue of adiponectin which has shown to have favourable effects on glucose and lipid metabolism. Studies have reported lower levels of CTRP15 in T2DM and metabolic syndrome; however, its circulating levels have not been evaluated in CAD patients. Methods This case–control study was conducted on 190 angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and 70 controls. Serum levels of CTRP15, adiponectin, TNF-α, and IL-6 were measured using the ELISA technique. Results CTRP15 was shown to occur in higher levels in CAD patients compared with controls. In CAD patients, CTRP15 showed a positive correlation with BMI, FBS, insulin, HOMA-IR, IL-6, and TNF-α and a negative correlation with HDL-C and adiponectin. Conclusion Elevated levels of CTRP15 in CAD patients and the relation of CTRP15 with pathogenic conditions such as insulin resistance, inflammation, and decreased adiponectin and HDL-C suggest a possible compensatory response to these conditions in CAD patients.

Risk factors predisposing to acute coronary syndromes in young women ≤45 years of age

BackgroundAcute coronary syndromes (ACS) are rare in young women. The purpose of this study was to characterize risk factors (RF) predisposing to ACS in young women and evaluate possible age-related differences. Methods and resultsWe studied 1941 young women with ACS aged ≤45 years (≤45ACS) from the PL-ACS registry and compared them with two control groups: 4275 women aged 63–64 years with ACS (63-64ACS) from the PL-ACS registry and 1170 young healthy women aged ≤45 years (≤45H) without confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD), from two national, representative, cross-sectional population health surveys, NATPOL 2011 and WOBASZ. The prevalence of major RF in these three groups was as follows, respectively: (≤45 ACS vs. 63-64ACS vs. ≤45H, for all P < 0.0001): hypertension 49.8% vs. 78.1% vs. 16.8%; hypercholesterolemia 36.1% vs. 44.3% vs. 12.9%; obesity 22.3% vs. 28.1% vs. 15.6%; diabetes 10.6% vs. 29.9% vs. 1.8% and smoking 48.7% vs. 22.2% vs. 39%. Healthy women had the lowest number of major RF (1.7 ± 1.2 vs. 2.0 ± 1.1 vs. 1.1 ± 1.0). No RF was found in 16.7% vs. 8.2% vs. 34.4% women, respectively. Independent predictors of ACS in the ≤45ACS group included diabetes [odds ratio (OR) 6.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.47–12.74]*, hypertension (OR 4.30, 95% CI 3.42–5.38)*, hypercholesterolemia (OR 3.45; 95% CI 2.60–4.29)*, and smoking (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.34–1.98)*, *(P < 0.0001 for all). ConclusionsThe prevalence of risk factors for acute coronary syndromes in young women with ACS is different to those in healthy women and to those in older women. The prevalence of smoking was higher. The strongest predictor of ACS in women ≤45 years of age was diabetes, with a 6-fold increase in risk. There is still need to improve the cardio-vascular primary prevention and health promotion in the population of young women.

A single-center observational study on the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention for ischemic heart failure: A cohort study.

The effects of revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on cardiac function and clinical outcomes in patients with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF), on the basis of the optimal medical treatment recommended by current guidelines, remain to be determined.A cohort study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of PCI on the basis of optimal medical treatment in patients with CAD and HF. Patients who received PCI were subsequently grouped according to partial and complete revascularization (CR) depending on the PCI outcome. The primary outcome was defined as a composite outcome of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) also were compared.A total of 69 patients (12 who received medical treatment and 57 who received PCI) were included. Patients in the PCI group showed significantly improved LVEF (P < .001), but patients in the medical treatment group did not (P > .05) after 3 months of follow-up. MACEs occurred in 50% patients in the medical treatment group and 19.3% patients of the PCI group, with this difference almost reaching statistical significance (P = .06). Compared with patients who received medical therapy only, patients who received PCI experienced better survival (P = .02). Moreover, survival seemed to be better in patients who achieved CR with PCI of the coronary arteries than in those who had partial revascularization of the coronary arteries (P = .06).PCI may be effective for improving survival in patients with CAD and HF.

Evaluation of local carotid stiffness and inflammatory biomarkers in stable angina pectoris.

IntroductionArterial stiffness (AS) is a well-accepted and reliable predictor of atherosclerotic diseases. Inflammation plays an important role in the development of AS.AimTo evaluate local carotid stiffness (CS) together with fibrinogen and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels in stable angina pectoris (SAP) patients.Material and methodsThe study consisted of 353 consecutive patients with SAP. All underwent coronary angiography (CAG) after the evaluation of local CS parameters and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) from both common carotid arteries by a real-time echo-tracking system. Baseline inflammatory biomarkers, serum hsCRP and fibrinogen levels were measured. Based on CAG findings, the patients were classified into 4 groups: control subjects with normal coronary arteries (group 1, n = 86), single-vessel disease (group 2, n = 104), double-vessel disease (group 3, n = 95) and triple-vessel disease (group 4, n = 68).ResultsThe mean carotid pulse wave velocity (PWV) in patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly higher than that in patients with normal coronary arteries (7.82 ±1.76 vs. 6.51 ±0.85 cm/s, p = 0.001). The mean carotid IMT was detected to be significantly higher in group 4 patients compared to those in group 1 (p < 0.001) and group 2 (p = 0.001). Significant correlations were observed between both inflammatory biomarkers and the number of diseased vessels and carotid PWV. Using multi-variate analysis, carotid stiffness, carotid IMT, hsCRP and fibrinogen were independently associated with the presence and extent of CAD.ConclusionsLocal CS, carotid IMT, hsCRP and fibrinogen levels are significant predictors of atherosclerotic burden and they may facilitate the identification of high-risk patients for the early diagnosis and prompt treatment of CAD.

Assessment of genetic diversity in IL-6 and RANTES promoters and their level in Saudi coronary artery disease patients.

The present study consisted of a total of 200 subjects (100 confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients), both men and women, and 100 healthy control individuals. Serum concentration of IL-6 and RANTES were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. For SNPs analysis, sanger method of DNA sequencing was followed. We observed variable numbers of SNP sites at -174G/C, -572G/C, and -597G/A in IL-6 and -28 C/G and -109 C/T in RANTES promoters in CAD patients compared with control individuals. However, the observed changes in the number of SNPs were found to be non-significant compared with control individuals. The IL-6 level was found to be significantly (P<.001) elevated in CAD patients compared with control. Moreover, RANTES serum level did not show any significant change in CAD patients. Based on our result, it is quite clear that inflammation has a role in the pathogenesis of CAD but does not lead to significant changes at the genetic level in our population. As far as our knowledge goes, this is the first report that shows the genetic diversity in IL-6 and RANTES promoters and their respective levels in Saudi CAD patients.

Role of common sarcomeric gene polymorphisms in genetic susceptibility to left ventricular dysfunction.

Mutations in sarcomeric genes are common genetic cause of cardiomyopathies. An intronic 25-bp deletion in cardiac myosin binding protein C (MYBPC3) at 3' region is associated with dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies in Southeast Asia. However, the frequency of sarcomeric gene polymorphisms and associated clinical presentation have not been established with left ventricular dysfunction (LVD). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the association of MYBPC3 25-bp deletion, titin (TTN) 18 bp I/D, troponin T type 2 (TNNT2) 5 bp I/D and myospryn K2906N polymorphisms with LVD. This study includes 988 consecutive patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) and 300 healthy controls. Among the 988 CAD patients, 253 with reduced left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF≤45%) were categorized as LVD. MYBPC3 25-bp deletion, TTN 18 bp I/D and TNNT2 5 bp I/D polymorphisms were determined by direct polymerase chain reaction method, while myospryn K2906N polymorphism by TaqMan assay. Our results showed that MYBPC3 25-bp deletion polymorphism was significantly associated with elevated risk of LVD (LVEF <45) (healthy controls versus LVD: OR=3.85, P <0.001; and nonLVD versus LVD: OR=1.65, P = 0.035), while TTN 18 bp I/D, TNNT2 5 bp I/D and myospryn K2906N polymorphisms did not show any significant association with LVD. The results also showed that MYBPC3 25-bp deletion polymorphism was significantly associated with other parameters of LV remodelling, i.e. LV dimensions (LV end diastole dimension, LVEDD: P = 0.037 and LV end systolic dimension, LVESD: P = 0.032). Our data suggests that MYBPC3 25-bp deletion may play significant role in conferring LVD as well as CAD risk in north Indian population.

Abstract P088: Race is Associated with Endothelial Responses to Acute Mental Stress

Introduction: Endothelial dysfunction is associated with short term and long term cardiovascular events. African Americans (AA) have worse cardiovascular outcomes than Non-African Americans (NAA). AAs have higher chronic stress exposure due to socioeconomic deprivation which may affect vascular responses to stress and contribute to health disparities. Our hypothesis was that AA would have abnormal microvascular function after a standardized mental stress as compared to NAA. Methods: We evaluated 692 patients (208 AA) with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD), who underwent a standardized mental stress challenge. Endothelial function measurements were obtained before and 30 minutes after mental stress testing using a speaking task. Reactive hyperemia index (RHI) was measured using peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) (Itamar Inc) as the ratio of hyperemic to baseline finger-tip microvascular blood flow signal. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured using ultrasound as the ratio of hyperemic to baseline brachial artery diameter. Results: As compared to NAA, AA patients were younger, had lower levels of education, and income, and a higher prevalence of co-morbidities. AA patients prior to stress had similar mean RHI (2.07 vs 2.13, p=0.3) but lower mean FMD (3.54 vs 4.76, p=0.0005) as compared to NAA. However, after mental stress, mean RHI was significantly lower in AA, (1.98 vs 2.2, p=0.0002) and mean FMD continued to be lower in AA (2.87 vs 3.81, p=0.005). After adjusting for baseline RHI in addition to age, sex, BMI, cardiovascular risk factors, and depression in a multivariable model, race remained significantly associated with post-stress RHI (p= 0.004). However, race was no longer associated with post-stress FMD after adjusting for pre-stress FMD. (p=0.37). Conclusion: AA patients with CAD, compared with NAA, have worse baseline endothelial-dependent function, which persists after mental stress. Furthermore, AA have a more pronounced decrease in endothelial function with mental stress compared with NAA. Whether this more adverse vascular reactivity with stress is implicated in race-based disparities in cardiovascular disease requires further study.

Simvastatin Efficiently Lowers Small LDL-IgG Immune Complex Levels: A Therapeutic Quality beyond the Lipid-Lowering Effect.

We investigated a polyethylene glycol non-precipitable low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subfraction targeted by IgG and the influence of statin therapy on plasma levels of these small LDL-IgG-immune complexes (LDL-IgG-IC). LDL-subfractions were isolated from 6 atherosclerotic subjects and 3 healthy individuals utilizing iodixanol density gradient ultracentrifugation. Cholesterol, apoB and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were determined in each fraction by enzymatic testing, dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluorescence immunoassay and high-performance liquid chromatography, respectively. The levels of LDL-IgG-IC were quantified densitometrically following lipid electrophoresis, particle size distribution was assessed with dynamic light scattering and size exclusion chromatography. The influence of simvastatin (40 mg/day for three months) on small LDL-IgG-IC levels and their distribution among LDL-subfractions (salt gradient separation) were investigated in 11 patients with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD). We demonstrate that the investigated LDL-IgG-IC are small particles present in atherosclerotic patients and healthy subjects. In vitro assembly of LDL-IgG-IC resulted in particle density shifts indicating a composition of one single molecule of IgG per LDL particle. Normalization on cholesterol levels revealed MDA values twice as high for LDL-subfractions rich in small LDL-IgG-IC if compared to dominant LDL-subfractions. Reactivity of affinity purified small LDL-IgG-IC to monoclonal antibody OB/04 indicates a high degree of modified apoB and oxidative modification. Simvastatin therapy studied in the CAD patients significantly lowered LDL levels and to an even higher extent, small LDL-IgG-IC levels without affecting their distribution. In conclusion simvastatin lowers levels of small LDL-IgG-IC more effectively than LDL-cholesterol and LDL-apoB levels in atherosclerotic patients. This antiatherogenic effect may additionally contribute to the known beneficial effects of this drug in the treatment of atherosclerosis.

Neopterin: An immune biomarker of coronary artery disease and its association with other CAD markers.

Neopterin has been considered as an important marker of cellular inflammation. The primary objective of the current study was to determine the role of neopterin in cardiovascular disease and its association with other well known cardiac markers. The study was composed of total 200 subjects (100 confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, 50 recently diagnosed, and 50 managed CAD patients) both men and women and 100 healthy control individuals of matching age and weight. Serum neopterin analysis was done using commercial available ELISA kits. Other cardiac markers viz. troponin, creatine kinase (CK), CK MB isoenzyme (CKMB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) estimation was done by standard routine biochemical methods. Neopterin level was found to be remarkably enhanced by 150% and 513% in the recently diagnosed and managed CAD patients, respectively. CK level also showed a significant rise by 62% in the managed patients. However, recently diagnosed patients did not show any significant change. Moreover, cross correlation study showed statistically significant (P < 0.01) change in neopterin and CK levels between recently and managed patients. In the other studied CAD markers such as CKMB, fibrinogen and LDH also showed a significant increase in both categories of patients. CRP level was also found to be significantly enhanced by 357% (P < 0.01) and 341% (P < 0.05) in recently diagnosed and managed patients respectively. Because of cost effectiveness, easy and quick analysis of neopterin in the serum sample, we propose neopterin as the prognostic as well as diagnostic biomarker of CAD before other markers could be tested especially in Saudi population.

Investigation of the Association Between 584C/T Polymorphism of EL Gene and Risk of Premature Coronary Artery Disease in Fars Province.

Introduction: Endothelial lipase (EL) is a protein from the triglyceride lipase family which plays an important role in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism. One of the most frequently studied variants is 584C/T which causes the amino acid threonine at codon 111 to convert to isoleucine. Many studies have shown the association of this variant with HDL-C level and CAD disease. Methods: The population of this study consists of 140 patients (all males) with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) and 80 controls. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was carried out for genotyping of LIPG 584C/T. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The results of the study indicated that the frequency of T allele was significantly lower among CAD patients than among controls (0.27 vs 0.36, P = .004). However, no significant correlation was found between the 584C/T variant and serum HDL-C level. Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that the T allele is significantly associated with CAD disregarding the age, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and HDL-C (OR = 0.494, 95% CI = 0.253- 0.968, P =.040). Conclusion: It was concluded that the T allele was associated with protection from CAD in Fars province independent of HDL-C level.

Lifetime cumulative exposure to waterpipe smoking is associated with coronary artery disease

ObjectiveGlobally, waterpipe (WP) smoking is becoming a more prevalent form of tobacco consumption. Whilst research so far has demonstrated a significant link between WP use and a number of health outcomes, little is known of its association with heart disease. We examine in this study the association of WP smoking with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD). MethodsA total of 1210 patients, aged 40 years and over and free from smoking-associated illnesses or history of cardiovascular procedures, admitted for coronary angiography at four major hospitals in Lebanon, were included. The extent of CAD was summarized in two ways, firstly as diseased (≥50% and ≥70% occlusion in at least one main coronary artery) versus non-diseased (entirely normal coronaries), and secondly, as CAD cumulative score based on Duke CAD Prognostic Index. A score of WP-years, capturing intensity and lifetime duration of exposure, was estimated for each individual. ResultsLifetime exposure exceeding 40 WP-years was associated with a threefold significant increase in the odds of having severe stenosis (≥70%) compared to non-smokers (OR = 2.94, 95% CI 1.04–8.33) as well as with the CAD Index (β = 7.835, p-value = 0.027), net of the effect of socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors and co-morbidity. A dose–response relationship between WP-years and percent stenosis was also established. WP smoking status (never, past and current) did not associate with CAD. ConclusionsCumulative exposure to WP smoking is significantly associated with severe CAD. There is a need to monitor WP use among cardiac patients and include this information in their medical charts in the same manner cigarettes smoking is documented. This is likely to increase awareness of the hazards of WP smoking and prompt physicians to target WP tobacco control by providing advice to their patients on WP smoking cessation.

Ankle Brachial Index Compared With Different Lipid Ratios to Predict Coronary Events in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

AIM: Risk stratification in patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) could be made more precise. Since it is very difficult to determine which risk factors best predict clinical endpoints, a gentle design of risk stratification model with multiple risk factors may develop prognosis in CAD patients. There is no study with a high level of evidence including multiple risk factors to evaluate the prognostic role of different factors in acute coronary syndrome. This study aimed at determining the importance of different prognostic factors for clinical endpoints in CAD patients METHODS: A prospective concurrent inception cohort study consisting of 521documented CAD patients 184 of whom were exposed participants who were angiographically documented CAD patients with ABI

Association of serum testosterone with lipid abnormalities in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease

Context:Low testosterone levels are associated with an atherogenic lipid profile and may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.Aims:Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum total testosterone (TT) levels and lipid profile in angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) in men.Settings and Design:This is a case-control hospital-based study at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Galle, Sri Lanka.Materials and Methods:Two hundred and six men, 103 with angiographically proven CAD and 103 healthy men as a control group were studied. The serum levels of TT and lipids were assessed.Statistical Analysis:Data were analyzed using Minitab software (version 15 for Windows).Results:The mean concentrations of lipid parameters of patients and controls were as follows: Serum total cholesterol (TCh), 5.9 ± 2.8 vs. 5.2 ± 1.6 mmol/l (P = 0.022), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-Ch), 3.9 ± 1.2 vs. 3.1 ± 0.5 mmol/l (P = 0.001), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-Ch), 1.1 ± 0.5 vs. 1.4 ± 0.6 mmol/l (P = 0.001), and TGs, 2.0 ± 1.0 vs. 1.5 ± 0.8 mmol/l (P = 0.001); lipid levels were significantly different between the two groups. The mean levels of TT in the patients and controls were 11.4 ± 2.7 vs. 18.1 ± 7.2 nmol/l (P = 0.001), significantly different. Among CAD patients, a significant positive association was found between testosterone and HDL-Ch (r = 0.623, P = 0.001), whereas a negative association was found with LDL-Ch (r = -0.579, P = 0.001).Conclusions:Low levels of TT in men with CAD that appear together with an atherogenic lipid milieu may be involved in the pathogenesis of CAD. The observed association between testosterone and HDL-Ch suggests a protective effect of the hormone.

Ten-year mortality risk of patients undergoing elective PCI: long-term follow-up of the GENetic Determinants of Restenosis (GENDER) study

Although the death rates from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have declined over the last decades, the burden of disease remains high and CVD remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Western developed countries [1, 2] including the Netherlands. [3–6] Tremendous efforts worldwide are put into research and development of novel treatment modalities for CVD to further halt the disease burden, and frequent updates of primary and secondary prevention guidelines should result in the most optimal treatment of each patient with CVD. Besides major improvements in pharmacological treatment with for instance statins, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and antiplatelet agents, interventional treatment modalities such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have markedly improved the outcome of patients with coronary artery disease. An important complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) that is still present is coronary restenosis.[7] Coronary restenosis - the renarrowing of the treated obstruction - results in high morbidity [8] and is even reported to be associated with an increased risk of mortality.[9, 10] Data on long-term follow-up of patients with restenosis are, however, scarce. To explore the relation of restenosis development with long-term mortality, we analysed the 10-year survival of the patients included in the GENetic DEterminants of Restenosis (GENDER) study.[11] The second objective of this report was to investigate whether the treatment strategies after PCI, applied in daily clinical practice over the past 10 years, resulted in a shift in mortality rates and causes of death of these confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients compared with the general population.