Predictor Of Cardiovascular Events Research Articles

Comparative effects of sacubitril/valsartan and ACEI/ARB on endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with heart failure: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionHeart failure (HF) is a complex syndrome that affects millions of people worldwide and leads to significant morbidity and mortality. Sacubitril/valsartan, a combination drug consisting of a neprilysin inhibitor and...

Elevated remnant cholesterol as a potential predictor for cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis patients

ObjectiveThe risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains inadequately defined. Consequently, this study aims to evaluate the predictive value of remnant cholesterol (RC) for assessing CVD risk in RA patients.MethodsPlasma RC levels were measured in 114 RA patients and 41 healthy controls, calculated as total cholesterol minus HDL-C and LDL-C. These levels were further analyzed using 1H-NMR lipid/metabolomics. Meanwhile, the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) assessed RA activity.ResultsRC levels were significantly elevated in RA patients (19.0 mg/dl, p < 0.001) compared to healthy controls (14.5 mg/dl). Furthermore, RC levels were significantly elevated at 37.4 mg/dl in patients who experienced cardiovascular event (CVE) compared to 17.4 mg/dl in those without CVE (p < 0.001). To enhance the precision and reliability of RC measurements, RC concentrations were further validated using 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between RC levels and DAS28. Multivariate analysis identified RC as a significant predictor of CVE (odds ratio = 1.82, p = 0.013). ROC curve analysis revealed superior predictive capability of RC for CVE (AUC = 0.919, p < 0.001) compared to LDL-C (AUC = 0.669, p = 0.018), with a high sensitivity of 94.7% and a specificity of 82.1%.ConclusionElevated RC levels demonstrate greater accuracy in predicting CVE occurrence in RA patients compared to traditional measures such as LDL-C. These findings suggest that elevated RC levels may serve as a novel predictor for occurrence of CVE in RA patients, facilitating early intervention strategies based on the risk stratification.

Serum calciprotein particle-to-phosphate ratio as a predictor of cardiovascular events in incident hemodialysis patients.

Recent studies have identified increased blood calciprotein particle (CPP) levels as risk factors for vascular calcification and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Although positively correlated with serum phosphate levels, serum CPP levels vary considerably among patients with similar serum phosphate levels. We investigated the capacity of the ratio of serum CPP levels to serum phosphate levels (CPP/Pi ratio) to predict cardiovascular events in incident hemodialysis patients compared to the serum calcification propensity test (T50). The association between the CPP/Pi ratio and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) was investigated in 174 incident hemodialysis patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that the CPP/Pi ratio was independently associated with MACCE [hazard ratio 1.60, 95% confidence interval (1.15-2.23), p = 0.006] but serum T50 levels were not. The CPP/Pi ratio is a useful, novel biomarker for predicting the risk of cardiovascular events in patients undergoing incident hemodialysis.

P218 MAY MEASUREMENT MONTH 2019: BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH HYPERTENSION AND COMORBIDITIES

Background and Objective: Within-visit blood pressure variability (BPV) is a predictor of cardiovascular events, independent of mean blood pressure (BP) levels. This study explored the associations of BPV with hypertension status and comorbidities in May Measurement Month (MMM) 2019 global survey participants. Methods: Adults (≥18 years) were surveyed via convenience sampling from 92 countries in May 2019. Each participant had up to three standardized seated BP readings. Participants with incomplete data on age or sex, or any missing BP readings were excluded. Hypertension was defined as having a BP ≥140 and/or 90 mmHg or being treated with BP-lowering medication. Participants were stratified into three groups: normotensive, untreated hypertensives, treated hypertensives, and normotensives. BPV was calculated as the variation independent of the mean (VIM) of the three BP readings. Associations between BPV and each of three conditions (previous stroke, previous myocardial infarction, or diabetes) were modelled using linear regression. Each model was adjusted for mean BP, age, sex, and an interaction term between age and sex. Results: Data from 1,128,889 participants were included. The mean age was 45.2 (SD 16.6) years and 51.4% were female. A third (33.6%) of participants were hypertensive, of whom 200,370 (53.2%) were treated. Of non-hypertensive and untreated hypertensive participants, those with a history of stroke, myocardial infarction, or diabetes had lower BPV relative to those without a history of these conditions (Figure). A stronger association was observed for diabetes within untreated hypertensive than non-hypertensive participants. However, amongst treated hypertensive participants, differences in BPV between those with comorbid conditions and those without were smaller than in the other two groups. Conclusions: Contrary to expectation, BPV was significantly lower in those with diabetes, or a history of stroke or myocardial infarction, amongst both untreated hypertensives and normotensives. However, among treated hypertensives, BPV was similar between those with or without each comorbidity, suggesting a modifying effect of BP-lowering medication.

P168 CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HEMODYNAMIC PATTERN OF CONTROLLED HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Background: Hemodynamic alterations have been described in hypertensive disease. However, we still do not know if the identification of an altered hemodynamic pattern in patients with controlled hypertension could predict cardiovascular risk or evolution of hypertension. Objective: to identify the hemodynamic pattern of hypertensive patients with BP values in goals. Methods: Controlled hypertensive subjects were recruited (n = 107) and included a control group of normotensive subjects (n: 35.9). A non-invasive hemodynamic study (Z Logic, lying down / standing) was performed, and the cardiac index (CI) and vascular resistance index (VRI) data were recorded for the determination of the hemodynamic pattern. Hypodynamic pattern was considered: CI <2.5 L / min / m2 and VRI> 2500 dynas.seg.cm-5.m2; Hyperdynamic pattern IC> 4,4 L / min / m2 and VRI <2500 dynas.seg.cm-5.m2 Results: The SBP / DBP of the HTA group was 133.09 +/- 6.01 / 82.4 +/-7.2 mm Hg; and of the NT group was SBP/ DBP 123.6 +/- 9.7 / 75.5 +/- 8.9. The CI and VRI of the HTA group obtained was 2.81 l / m2 / min and 2842.31 dynas that, without corresponding to a hypodynamic pattern, showed a predominance of the VRI increase. In the control group of NT subjects, the values were 3.23 and 2289.23, respectively, corresponding to a normal pattern. The values obtained were different between both groups (p <.05). Conclusions: Controlled hypertensive patients with hypertension goals have a hemodynamics pattern with an increase in the VRI different from that of normotensive subjects. These results coincide with those reported by Ferrario and col. The relevance of the imbalance found could only be analyzed in the context of long-term follow-up to identify whether it is a predictor of CV events and / or complications.

Association between instantaneous heart rate sequence during the awake period and cardiovascular events: a study based on Sleep Heart Health Study.

Heart rate variability (HRV) has been reported to be associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), while few studies focused on the instantaneous heart rate (IHR). This study aimed to establish models to predict the occurrence of cardiovascular events based on the IHR sequence. A total of 2977 participants with useful electrocardiogram (ECG) data and free of CVD events at baseline from the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) database were included in this retrospective cohort study. All IHR indicators were measured during the awake period before sleep. The logistic regression, random forest, and XGBoost methods were used to develop the predictive models. The model performance was quantified by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Of theses 2977 participants, 1460 (49.04%) participants had CVD events during the 15-year follow-up. Higher standard deviation of IHR (SDHR) (OR=0.906; 95% CI, 0.832-0.986), coefficient of variation of IHR (CVHR) (OR=0.910; 95% CI, 0.835-0.990), power in low frequency (LF) (OR=0.896; 95% CI, 0.822-0.975), power in high frequency (HF) (OR=0.872; 95% CI, 0.796-0.955), and total power (TP) (OR=0.887; 95% CI, 0.813-0.967) were associated with the lower risk of CVD events, while ratio of semi-minor axis and semi-major axis in Poincare plot (SDratio) (OR=1.105; 95% CI, 1.012-1.206) was related to the higher risk of CVD events. The AUCs of the logistic regression, random forest, and the XGBoost models were 0.734 (95% CI, 0.701-0.767), 0.794 (95% CI, 0.764-0.823) and 0.828 (95% CI, 0.801-0.855) in the testing set, respectively. IHR sequences were important predictors of cardiovascular events. The IHR indicators should be paid more attention to in future clinical researches on CVD.

Association of the ABCG2 rs2231142 variant with the Framingham Cardiovascular Disease Risk score in the Taiwanese population

BackgroundSerum uric acid (SUA) is an important predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality. The ABCG2 rs2231142 variant (TT genotype) is associated with hyperuricemia (HUA), but the relationship between ABCG2 gene polymorphisms and coronary artery disease (CAD) risk is poorly elucidated. We investigated the association between ABCG2 rs2231142 genetic variants and the Framingham Risk Score for Cardiovascular Disease (FRS-CVD) in a Taiwanese population. MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled 139,508 Taiwanese participants aged 30–70 years based on data from the Taiwan Biobank (TWB) database that was obtained from questionnaires, laboratory investigations, anthropometry, and Affymetrix TWB genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip data analysis. The association between ABCG2 rs2231142 and FRS-CVD risk was evaluated using logistic regression analysis. ResultsCompared to those with the GG genotype, participants with the ABCG2 rs2231142 TT genotype had a significantly lower systolic blood pressure, smoking rate, body mass index, triglyceride level, waist circumference, waist–hip ratio, and body fat percentage, but had higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. Despite the same FRS-CVD score, participants with TT genotypes had higher SUA. Even with the same SUA, TT carriers had a lower FRS-CVD than GT and GG carriers. Participants with the TT genotype had significantly lower CVD risk, particularly female participants with HUA and BMI <27 (OR: 0.760, 95 % CI: 0.587–0.985; p = 0.0381) group. ConclusionThe ABCG2 rs2231142 TT genotype is associated with a lower FRS-CVD, particularly in non-obese hyperuricemic female individuals. The complicated interplay among genetic variations, metabolic profile, and CVD risk provides insights for precision health.

P101 LEFT VENTRICULAR MASS INDEX (LVMI) IS UNLIKELY TO NORMALISE WITH TREATMENT USING CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED BLOOD PRESSURE TARGETS

Background and Objectives: LVMI is one of the strongest predictors of cardiovascular events. However, it's unclear whether current blood pressure (BP) targets normalise LVMI relative to a truly normotensive population. We therefore compared achieved LVMI in a younger cohort of hypertensive patients (&lt; 55 years) treated for one year to conventional blood pressure targets (&lt; 140/90 mmHg) versus the LVMI of a truly normotensive age-matched healthy population from the UK Biobank (BP ≤ 120/80 mmHg). Methods: The normotensive cohort comprised 101 treatment-naïve men (mean ± SD age: 52 ± 2 years, BP: 112 ± 7/68 ± 7 mmHg) from 77,983 UK Biobank participants who had undergone cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (cMRI) to determine LVMI. The treated hypertensive cohort comprised 44 men from the TREAT CASP study* (mean age: 49 ± 6 years) who achieved mean BP of 129 ± 10/78 ± 8 mmHg after one-year treatment. LVMI in both cohorts was measured accurately via automated analysis of cMRI and manually reviewed for accuracy. Results: LVMI in Biobank cohort was 51.3 ± 6.0 g.m-2 (95% CI: 50.1 to 52.4 g.m-2). In the hypertensive cohort, after one year of treatment, LVMI was reduced (59.2 ± 7.0 versus 56.0 ± 7.0 g.m-2, P &lt;0.001) but remained higher than the Biobank cohort (56.0 ± 7.0 versus 51.3 ± 6.0 g.m-2, P &lt;0.001). Mean LVMI of treated-hypertensive patients achieving truly normotensive BP (≤ 120/80 mmHg) was 52.7 ± 5.7 g.m-2 (95% CI: 48.9 to 56.4 g.m-2; n = 9). Conclusions: This study identified optimal cMRI LVMI for healthy middle-aged men. Antihypertensive treatment reduces but does not restore LVMI to normal levels, suggesting much lower BP targets than currently recommended are likely to be necessary to normalise LVMI in hypertensive patients. *Reference: Lacy, P. S., Jedrzejewski, D., McFarlane, E., &amp; Williams, B. (2023). Blood pressure measurement modalities and indexed left ventricular mass in men with low-risk hypertension confirmed by ambulatory monitoring. Journal of Hypertension, 41(6), 941-950.

Variability in Lipid Profiles During Young Adulthood and the Risk of Coronary Artery Calcium Incidence in Midlife: Insights From the CARDIA Study.

Intraindividual variability in lipid profiles is recognized as a potential predictor of cardiovascular events. However, the influence of early adulthood lipid profile variability along with mean lipid levels on future coronary artery calcium (CAC) incidence remains unclear. A total of 2395 participants (41.6% men; mean±SD age, 40.2±3.6 years) with initial CAC =0 from the CARDIA study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) were included. Serial lipid measurements were obtained to calculate mean levels and variability of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), and triglycerides. CAC incidence was defined as CAC >0 at follow-up. During a mean follow-up of 9.0 years, 534 individuals (22.3%) exhibited CAC incidence. Higher mean levels of total cholesterol, LDL-C, and non-HDL-C were associated with a greater risk of future CAC incidence. Similarly, 1-SD increment of lipid variability, as assessed by variability independent of the mean, was associated with an increased risk of CAC incidence (LDL-C: hazard ratio, 1.139 [95% CI, 1.048-1.238]; P=0.002; non-HDL-C: hazard ratio, 1.102 [95% CI, 1.014-1.198]; P=0.022; and triglycerides: hazard ratio, 1.480 [95% CI, 1.384-1.582]; P<0.001). Combination analyses demonstrated that participants with both high lipid levels and high variability in lipid profiles (LDL-C and non-HDL-C) faced the greatest risk of CAC incidence. Specifically, elevated variability of LDL-C was associated with an additional risk of CAC incidence even in low mean levels of LDL-C (hazard ratio, 1.396 [95% CI, 1.106-1.763]; P=0.005). These findings remained robust across a series of sensitivity and subgroup analyses. Elevated variability in LDL-C and non-HDL-C during young adulthood was associated with an increased risk of CAC incidence in midlife, especially among those with high mean levels of atherogenic lipoproteins. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining consistently low levels of atherogenic lipids throughout early adulthood to reduce subclinical atherosclerosis in midlife. URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT00005130.

ACEF vs PARIS score in Predicting Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: Insights From the START ANTIPLATELET Registry.

Several scores can predict clinical outcomes of patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS). The validated PARIS (Patterns of Non-Adherence to Anti-Platelet Regimen in Stented Patients) score is poorly used in clinical practice because it needs items that are not always easily available. The ACEF (Age, Creatinine, and Ejection Fraction) score is more attractive because it only includes three items. We compared these scores to risk-stratify ACS patients enrolled into the START (Survey on anticoagulated pAtients RegisTer)-ANTIPLATELET registry. ACS patients who completed 1-year follow-up (n = 1171) were grouped in tertiles (low, medium, and high-risk) according to their ACEF/PARIS scores. Primary endpoints were: one-year MACCE (major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events: death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke or target vessel revascularization) and NACE (net adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events): MACCE plus major bleeding). MACCE incidence was higher in the high-risk tertile (15%) VS low/medium (3/7 %) risk tertiles (P < .001). NACE incidence in the high-risk tertile was 24% VS low/medium (9/15 %) risk tertiles (P < .001), independently of the risk score used. The ACEF score has similar accuracy as the validated PARIS score for the estimation of ischemic/bleeding risk. Thereby, we strongly suggest its use in clinical practice to risk-stratify ACS patients and select optimal therapeutic strategies.

Prediction of fatal cardiovascular events in patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer

Aim. To study risk factors for fatal cardiovascular events in patients with non-small cell lung cancer over two years of standard treatment.Material and methods. This pilot retrospective non-randomized cohort study included 179 patients who were consecutively admitted to the chemotherapy department of City Clinical Hospital 1 from January to December 2020 with a confirmed diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer based on the comprehensive examination and morphological verification according to the 2018 clinical guidelines on bronchial and lung cancer. Diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases were carried out according to national clinical guidelines. The follow-up period for non-small cell lung cancer and cardiovascular disease was 2 years. Logistic regression models were considered to assess the risk of cardiovascular death. The model accuracy was assessed by a cross-validation.Results. The best model in terms of the sensitivity and specificity sum according to a cross-validation was the model with the following explanatory variables: sex, cancer stage, platinum-based chemotherapy, etoposide, immunotherapy, surgical treatment. This model showed a sensitivity of 70,1% and a specificity of 82,1%.Conclusion. This approach is easy to implement and may optimize treatment for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Prognostic value of left atrial reverse remodelling in patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure.

Left atrial (LA) volume index (LAVI) in chronic heart failure (HF) predicts cardiovascular outcomes. However, the association between LAVI reduction during acute decompensated HF (ADHF) and its prognostic potential is limited. We hypothesized that LA reverse remodelling (LARR) after ADHF therapy would be associated with better clinical outcomes. This retrospective study analysed clinical outcomes and the LAVI reduction rate of 363 out of 861 patients hospitalized for ADHF who underwent two-point echocardiography at admission and discharge between January 2015 and December 2019. The mean age was 74.3±13.6years, and the mean ejection fraction (EF) was 38.9±15.2%. The follow-up echocardiogram was performed 13.0 [9.5, 20] days after admission. As the median LAVI reduction rate was 7.02%, the LARR was defined as an LAVI reduction rate >7%. During the 34.0±20.2months of follow-up, 117 patients (32.2%) reached the primary endpoint defined as cardiovascular death and rehospitalization for ADHF. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with LARR had a better prognosis. Multivariate analysis indicated that LARR was an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. Similar findings were observed in the subgroup analyses of patients with persistent/permanent atrial fibrillation and those with non-HF with reduced EF. Among patients who were brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) responders, defined as a relative reduction of >70% in BNP from admission to discharge, non-LARR was observed in 41.6%. BNP responders without LARR experienced worse prognoses. LARR in the early vulnerable phase after hospitalization for ADHF was associated with better long-term clinical outcomes.

Weekly Journal Scan: Plastic particles in carotid plaques-inactive debris or predictors of cardiovascular events?

Weekly Journal Scan: Plastic particles in carotid plaques-inactive debris or predictors of cardiovascular events?

Sleep and hypertension - up to date 2024.

People spend one-third of their lives sleeping, and adequate, restful sleep is an essential component of a healthy life. Conversely, disruption of sleep has been found to cause various physical and mental health problems. Emerging research has shown that blood pressure (BP) during sleep is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than conventional office BP or daytime BP. Thus, management of both sleep health and nighttime BP during sleep is important for preventing cardiovascular events. However, recent studies demonstrated that nighttime BP is poorly controlled compared with office BP and daytime BP. This finding is understandable, given the challenges in monitoring BP during sleep and the multiplicity of factors related to nocturnal hypertension and BP variability. This review summarizes recent evidence and considers future perspectives for the management of sleep and hypertension.

Increased Incidence of Adverse Events in Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Combined Multiple Vulnerable Plaque Features. New Insights From the COMBINE OCT-FFR trial.

To evaluate the individual as well as combined impact of OCT-detected vulnerability features (OCT-VFs) in the prediction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in non-ischemic lesions in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). The COMBINE OCT-FFR (NCT02989740) was a prospective, double-blind, international, natural history study that included patients with DM having ≥1 lesions with a fractional flow reserve >0.80, undergoing systematic OCT assessment. Pre-specified OCT-VFs included TCFA, r-MLA, h-PB, and CP. The primary endpoint (MACE) was a composite of cardiac mortality, target vessel myocardial infarction, clinically driven target lesion revascularization or hospitalization for unstable angina up to 5 years, analyzed according to the presence of these OCT-VFs, both individually and in combination. TCFA, r-MLA, h-PB and CP were identified in 98 (25.1%), 159 (40.8%), 56 (14.4%), and 116 (29.8%) patients, respectively. The primary endpoint rate increased progressively from 6.9% to 50.0% (HR=10.10; 95%CI, 3.37 to 30.25, p<0.001) in patients without OCT-VFs compared to those with concomitant h-PB, r-MLA, CP, and TCFA. Importantly, while TCFA, h-PB, r-MLA and CP were individually associated with the primary endpoint, the presence of two or more OCT-VFs significantly increased the likelihood of adverse events at 5 years. In patients with DM and non-ischemic lesions, TCFA, h-PB, r-MLA and CP were predictors of adverse events. However, the presence of two or more OCT-VFs significantly increased the likelihood of MACE at 5 years. Further studies are warranted to confirm these findings and their potential clinical implications in a randomized fashion.

Rapid prediction of wall shear stress in stenosed coronary arteries based on deep learning.

There is increasing evidence that coronary artery wall shear stress (WSS) measurement provides useful prognostic information that allows prediction of adverse cardiovascular events. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been extensively used in research to measure vessel physiology and examine the role of the local haemodynamic forces on the evolution of atherosclerosis. Nonetheless, CFD modelling remains computationally expensive and time-consuming, making its direct use in clinical practice inconvenient. A number of studies have investigated the use of deep learning (DL) approaches for fast WSS prediction. However, in these reports, patient data were limited and most of them used synthetic data generation methods for developing the training set. In this paper, we implement 2 approaches for synthetic data generation and combine their output with real patient data in order to train a DL model with a U-net architecture for prediction of WSS in the coronary arteries. The model achieved 6.03% Normalised Mean Absolute Error (NMAE) with inference taking only 0.35s; making this solution time-efficient and clinically relevant.

Effect of FluoRoquinolones on Aortic Growth, aortic stIffness and wave refLEctionS (FRAGILES study).

Background: The widespread use of fluoroquinolones has been associated with the formation, dissection, and rupture of aortic aneurysms. Arterial biomarkers are established predictors of cardiovascular events. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of quinolones on arterial stiffness and aortic size for the first time. Methods: We studied 28 subjects receiving short-term (<15 days) antibiotic therapy involving quinolones and 27 age- and sex-matched subjects receiving an alternative to quinolone antibiotics. The follow-up period was approximately 2 months. The study's primary endpoint was the carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) difference between the two groups 2 months after therapy initiation. Secondary endpoints were the augmentation index corrected for heart rate (AIx@75) and sonographically assessed aortic diameters 2 months after the initial treatment. Results: Subjects had similar values of arterial biomarkers, blood pressure measurements, and aortic diameters at baseline. At follow-up, no significant change was observed between the two groups regarding the hemodynamic parameters and arterial biomarkers (p > 0.05 for all), i.e., cfPWV (7.9 ± 2.6 m/s for the control group vs. 8.1 ± 2.4 m/s for the fluoroquinolones group; p = 0.79), AIx@75 (22.6 ± 9.0% for the control group vs. 26.6 ± 8.1% for the fluoroquinolones group; p = 0.09), and aortic diameters. Conclusions: To our knowledge, FRAGILES is the first study to provide insights into the possible effects of fluoroquinolones on arterial biomarkers, showing that, at least in the short term, treatment with fluoroquinolones does not affect aortic function and diameter.

Risk factors for unsuccessful restoration of coronary flow reserve after coronary bypass surgery

Objectives: Coronary flow reserve (CFR) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events and prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease. This study aimed to evaluate preoperative factors associated with the unsuccessful restoration of CFR after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods: Included in this study were the 65 patients who presented with functionally significant left anterior descending artery (LAD) lesions confirmed by both fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), and who underwent successful CABG at our hospital within the study period. After CABG, graft patency was confirmed by coronary computed tomography angiography, and CFR in the LAD artery was measured by echocardiography. We defined postoperative CFR <2.5 as impaired CFR, and CFR ≥2.5 as preserved CFR. Results: Of the 65 patients, 14 patients (22%) showed impaired CFR, while 51 patients had preserved CFR. Patients with impaired CFR had significantly higher HbA1c (6.7% vs. 6.0%, P < 0.01), greater use of insulin (43% vs. 4%, P < 0.01), longer lesion length (33 mm vs. 25 mm, P = 0.044), and lower iFR (0.69 vs 0.81, P = 0.01) than those with preserved CFR, although both groups had comparable FFR (0.65 vs 0.64, P = 0.46). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, iFR had a significantly larger area under the curve than FFR in terms of the prediction of impaired CFR (0.74 vs 0.42, P = 0.01). Conclusions: Poorly-controlled preoperative diabetes, greater reliance on insulin, longer lesion length and lower iFR were associated with postoperative impaired CFR, suggesting the involvement of microvascular dysfunction.

A Comparison of the TIMI-Risk Score and EuroSCORE in Prediction of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Medically Managed Surgical Coronary Artery Disease

A Comparison of the TIMI-Risk Score and EuroSCORE in Prediction of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Medically Managed Surgical Coronary Artery Disease

Performance assessment of an artificial intelligence-based coronary artery calcium scoring algorithm in non-gated chest CT scans of different slice thickness.

The coronary artery calcium score (CACS) has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. The traditional coronary artery calcium scoring algorithm has been optimized for electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated images, which are acquired with specific settings and timing. Therefore, if the artificial intelligence-based coronary artery calcium score (AI-CACS) could be calculated from a chest low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) examination, it could be valuable in assessing the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in advance, and it could potentially reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular events in patients. This study aimed to assess the performance of an AI-CACS algorithm in non-gated chest scans with three different slice thicknesses (1, 3, and 5 mm). A total of 135 patients who underwent both LDCT of the chest and ECG-gated non-contrast enhanced cardiac CT were prospectively included in this study. The Agatston scores were automatically derived from chest CT images reconstructed at slice thicknesses of 1, 3, and 5 mm using the AI-CACS software. These scores were then compared to those obtained from the ECG-gated cardiac CT data using a conventional semi-automatic method that served as the reference. The correlations between the AI-CACS and electrocardiogram-gated coronary artery calcium score (ECG-CACS) were analyzed, and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess agreement. Risk stratification was based on the calculated CACS, and the concordance rate was determined. A total of 112 patients were included in the final analysis. The correlations between the AI-CACS at three different thicknesses (1, 3, and 5 mm) and the ECG-CACS were 0.973, 0.941, and 0.834 (all P<0.01), respectively. The Bland-Altman plots showed mean differences in the AI-CACS for the three thicknesses of -6.5, 15.4, and 53.1, respectively. The risk category agreement for the three AI-CACS groups was 0.868, 0.772, and 0.412 (all P<0.01), respectively. While the concordance rates were 91%, 84.8%, and 62.5%, respectively. The AI-based algorithm successfully calculated the CACS from LDCT scans of the chest, demonstrating its utility in risk categorization. Furthermore, the CACS derived from images with a slice thickness of 1 mm was more accurate than those obtained from images with slice thicknesses of 3 and 5 mm.