Is adiponectin elevation associated with left atrial remodeling and impaired mechanical functions? (a speckle tracking study)

Objectives Recent studies demonstrated that elevated adiponectin levels predicted an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke; however, a causal relationship is yet to be unknown. Reduced left atrium (LA) functions detected by two-dimensional echocardiographic speckle tracking (2D-STE) can predict AF development. We aimed to investigate the relationship between adiponectin level and LA functions in hypertensive and diabetic patients at high risk for incident AF. Material and methods The study consisted of 80 hypertensive diabetic patients. All patients underwent echocardiography, and venous blood samples were taken. The relationship between adiponectin levels and LA functions was analyzed. Results We divided patients into two groups according to the mean adiponectin level (13.63 ng/ml). In the high adiponectin group, the mean age (p=0.001) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (p=0.015) were higher, whereas estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (p=0.036) and hemoglobin (p=0.014) levels were lower. Although LA maximum volume, LA minimum volume, and LA pre-A volume were higher in the group with high adiponectin levels, they did not reach a statistical significance. Peak early diastolic LA strain (S-LAe) (p=0.048) and strain rate (SR-LAe) (p=0.017) were lower in this group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age (p=0.003) and hemoglobin (p=0.006) were predictors of elevated adiponectin levels. On the contrary, S-LAe, HDL cholesterol, and eGFR lost their statistical significance. Conclusion In patients with HT and DM, elevated adiponectin level is associated with impaired LA mechanical functions. Increased age and hemoglobin level are independent predictors of elevated adiponectin levels

Bleeding risk in patients with acute coronary syndrome in a Turkish population results from the Turkish acute coronary syndrome registry (TACSER) study

Objective Bleeding is one of the most important causes of mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study therefore aimed to investigate bleeding risk in patients with ACS who were scheduled to receive dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in Turkey. Methods This was a multicentre, observational, cross-sectional cohort study. The study population included 963 patients with ACS from 12 centres in Turkey. We used the Predicting Bleeding Complication in Patients Undergoing Stent Implantation and Subsequent Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (PRECISE-DAPT) score to predict the bleeding risk for all the patients. The patients were divided into high (>= 25) or low (= 25). Compared with the male patients, the female patients had higher PRECISE-DAPT scores (28.2 +/- 15.7 vs 18.4 +/- 13.6,P = 25 was 53%, while among the male patients, the score occurred at a rate of 22%. The female patients had lower haemoglobin (Hb) levels than the male patients (12.1 +/- 1.7 vs 13.8 +/- 1.9,P < .001) and lower creatinine clearance (70.7 +/- 27.5 vs 88.7 +/- 26.3,P < .001). The in-hospital bleeding rates were higher among the patients with high PRECISE-DAPT scores than among those who did not have high scores. Furthermore, the patients with high PRECISE-DAPT scores had a higher in-hospital mortality rate compared with those with low PRECISE-DAPT scores (1% vs 0%,P = .11). Conclusions The mean PRECISE-DAPT score was high among the patients with ACS in this study, indicating that the bleeding tendency was high. This study showed that the PRECISE-DAPT score may help physicians determine the type and duration of DAPT, especially in patients with ACS in Turkey

Impact of Postdilation on Intervention Success and Long-Term Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE) among Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes

Postdilation is frequently used during coronary interventions to prevent stent malapposition. Currently there are contradictory findings regarding the benefits of postdilation for both intraprocedural and long-term outcomes. We evaluated the impact of postdilation among patients who presented with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and underwent percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). A total of 258 consecutive patients who presented with ACS and underwent PCI were included in the study. The patients were followed up for 25±1.7 months for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). During follow-up, 65 patients (25.2%) had MACE. Among patients without MACE, intracoronary nitrate infusion was less frequently used (P=0.005), myocardial blush grade was higher (P<0.001), and a drug-eluting stent was more frequently used (P=0.005). No significant differences were noted between groups regarding the predilation, recurrent dilation, postdilation, and other angiographic characteristics. In multivariate analysis, female sex (P=0.047), myocardial blush grade (P=0.038), previous coronary artery disease (P=0.030), and peak troponin level (P=0.002) were found to be predictors of MACE. In patients who were treated with PCI for ACS, performing postdilation did not predict final Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) flow grade, corrected TIMI frame count, myocardial blush grade, or MACE

Serum osteoprotegerin level is independently related to subclinical left atrial mechanical function in patients with hypertension and diabetes

Cetin, Mustafa/0000-0001-6342-436X; KALAYCIOGLU, EZGI/0000-0003-2122-1817WOS: 000556232600001PubMed: 32462219Objectives Previous studies showed that subclinical abnormal left atrial (LA) function could be diagnosed with LA speckle tracking evaluation long before chamber enlargement. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily and was recently found to be an indicator for adverse cardiovascular outcomes and a risk factor for new onset atrial fibrillation. the authors hypothesized that OPG values could predict LA mechanical dysfunction and LA remodeling assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) in patients with hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods A single center study was conducted including consecutive patients presenting to the authors' outpatient clinic. Enrolled patients needed to have been treated for HT and DM for at least 1 year. Results the study included 80 patients (mean age, 57.5 +/- 8.3 years). Patients in the impaired LA strain group were older (p = 0.035), had lower low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (mg/dl) (p = 0.021), and higher OPG (pmol/l) (p = 0.004) values than patients in the normal LA strain group. Univariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age (p = 0.039), LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) (p = 0.025), and OPG (pmol/l) (p = 0.008) values were associated with impaired LA strain. Backward multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) (OR: 0.982, CI 95% 0.964-0.999,p = 0.049) and OPG (pmol/l) (OR: 1.438, CI 95% 1.043-1.983,p = 0.027) were independently associated with impaired LA strain. Conclusion in hypertensive and diabetic patients, higher OPG values were associated with impaired LA function assessed by 2D-STE. in this high-risk patient group, serum OPG can be used as a risk predictor for LA mechanical dysfunction

Primer perkütan koroner girişime giden hastalarda miyokart enfarktüsü ve reperfüzyon parametrelerinin öngörülmesinde fragmante olmuş QRS komplekslerin önemi

Amaç: Başvuru elektrokardiyogramlarında (EKG) sıklıkla görülen, dar ya da geniş QRS yapısı olan QRS kompleks fragmantasyonları (fQRS) artmış morbidite ve mortalite ile ilişkilidir. FQRS ve kardiyak fibroz arasındaki sebepsel ilişki bilinmektedir, fakat primer perkütan koroner girişim (p-PKG) öncesi ve sonrası fQRS’nin miyokart enfarktüsü ve reperfüzyon parametreleri ile ilişkisi şimdiye kadar incelenmedi. Çalışma planı: Çalışmaya p-PKG’ye giden 184 ardışık ST yükselmeli miyokart enfarktüslü (STEMI) hasta alındı. p-PKG öncesi ve sonrası EKG’lerde fQRS varlığı ya da yokluğu ve p-PKG ile fQRS değişimi araştırıldı. Ek olarak, fQRS’in bağımsız öngörücüleri ayrıca araştırıldı. Anlamlı organik kapak hastalığı olan, 120 ms ve üzerinde QRS süresi olan ve de kalıcı kalp pili olan hastalar çalışmadan dışlandı. Bulgular: Başvuru EKG’sinde fQRS’i olan hastalar olmayan hastalar ile karşılaştırıldığında daha yüksek lökosit sayılarına (p=0.001), daha yüksek CK-MB (p=0.001) ve troponin (p=0.005) düzeylerine, uzamış ağrı balon sürelerine (p=0.004), daha yüksek Killip skorlarına (p<0.001), uzamış QRS süresine (p<0.001), daha yüksek Gensini skoru (p<0.001) ve EKG’de daha sık Q dalgasına sahipti. Ek olarak, bu hastalar proksimal LAD’de bir lezyon ile ilişkili anteriyor bölge enfarktüsü ve daha geniş tehdit altında bir miyokarda sahipti (p<0.001). fQRS, p-PKG öncesinde ve sonrasında enfarktüs ve miyokardiyal reperfüzyon ile anlamlı bir şekilde ilişkiliydi. STEMI seyrinde başvuru EKG’sinde fQRS’in yokluğu artmış ST rezolüsyonunu, QRS süresinde daha belirgin bir azalma ve daha iyi bir miyokart reperfüzyonunu öngördü. Sonuç: FQRS daha büyük tehdit altındaki iskemik ya da nekroze olmuş miyokardı olan yüksek kardiyak riskteki hastaların tanımlanmasında yararlı olabilir.Objectives: The QRS complex fragmentations (fQRS) fre- quently seen on admission electrocardiograms (ECGs) with narrow or wide QRS complex are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The causative relationship between fQRS and cardiac fibrosis is known, but the relation of frag- mented QRS before and after primary percutaneous coro- nary intervention (p-PCI) with myocardial infarction and re- perfusion parameters has not been studied until now. Study design: The study included 184 consecutive patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who under- went p-PCI. Presence or absence of fQRS on pre- and post- PCI ECGs and its change following PCI were investigated. In addition, independent predictors of fQRS were also in- vestigated. Patients with significant organic valve disease and patients having any QRS morphology with QRS dura- tion &#8805;120 ms as well as patients with permanent pacemak- ers were excluded from the study. Results: Patients with fQRS on admission ECG had higher eukocyte counts (p=0.001), higher CK-MB (p=0.001) and troponin levels (p=0.005), increased pain to balloon time (p=0.004), higher Killip score (p<0.001), prolonged QRS time (p<0.001), higher Gensini score (p<0.001) and more frequent Q waves on ECG (p<0.001) in comparison to pa- tients with non-fragmented QRS. In addition, these patients usually had an infarction of anterior territory related to a le- sion in proximal LAD and wider jeopardized myocardium (p<0.001). fQRS was significantly related to infarction and myocardial reperfusion parameters before and after p-PCI. In the setting of STEMI, absence of fQRS on admission ECG predicted increased ST resolution, higher reduction in QRS duration, and better myocardial reperfusion. Conclusion: FQRS may be useful in identifying patients at higher cardiac risk with larger areas of ischemic jeopardized or necrotic myocardium

Elevated serum YKL40 level is a predictor of MACE during the long-term follow up in hypertensive patients

Cetin, Mustafa/0000-0001-6342-436X; Cinier, Goksel/0000-0001-5064-1816WOS: 000472090900001PubMed: 31204510Background: YKL-40 (human cartilage glycoprotein 39, chitinase-3-like protein 1) is an inflammatory marker secreted mainly by macrophages and has distinctive roles on extracellular matrix remodeling, macrophage maturation, adhesion, and migration. Despite the presence of robust data suggesting the association of YKL-40 with variety of cardiovascular diseases (CV), there is no study up to date evaluating the role of YKL-40 on the long-term prognosis in patients with hypertension (HT). Methods: A single center, prospective, observational cohort study that included 327 consecutive hypertensive patients which were presented to a cardiology outpatient clinic. Patients were followed up for 7.89 +/- 0.12 years. Primary outcome of the study was the occurrence of major cardiovascular outcomes (MACE) defined as all-cause mortality, new onset heart failure (HF), and coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring revascularization. Results: A total of 135 patients constituted the final study population [mean age: 52.4 +/- 10.2, female: 63 (46%)]. A total of 28 (20.7%) patients had MACE during the follow up. Cox regression analysis revealed that age (HR: 1.046, 1.016-1.093 CI 95%, p = .026), diabetes (HR: 2.278, 1.026-5.057 CI 95%, p = .043), and YKL-40 level (HR: 1.019, 1.013-1.026 CI 95%, p = .005) significantly predicted MACE. We found that sensitivity and specificity of YKL-40 > 93.5 for predicting MACE was 71.4% and 65%, respectively with an area under curve (AUC) 0.723 (0.617-0.828 CI 95%, p < .001) Conclusion: Elevated serum YKL-40 level predicted MACE in hypertensive patients during a long-term follow up

Comparison of the Framingham risk and SCORE models in predicting the presence and severity of coronary artery disease considering SYNTAX score

erdogan, guney/0000-0001-5205-1326WOS: 000384425200006PubMed: 26680546Objective: Although various risk stratification models are available and currently being used, the performance of these models in different populations is still controversial. We aimed to investigate the relation between the Framingham and SCORE models and the presence and severity of coronary artery disease, which is detected using the SYNTAX score. Methods: The observational cross-sectional study population consisted of 227 patients with a mean age of 63.3 +/- 9.2 years. The patients were classified into low-and high-risk groups in the Framingham and SCORE models separately. Following coronary angiography, the patients were classified into SYNTAX=0 (SYNTAX score 0), low SYNTAX (SYNTAX score 1-22), and high SYNTAX (SYNTAX score>22) groups. The relation between the risk models and SYNTAX score was evaluated by student t test, Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test and Receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to detect the discrimination ability in the prediction of SYNTAX score>0 and a high SYNTAX score. Results: Both the Framingham and SCORE models were found to be effective in predicting the presence of coronary artery disease, and neither of the two models had superiority over each other [AUC=0.819 (0.767, 0.871) vs. 0.811 (0.757, 0.861), p=0.881]. Furthermore, both models were also effective in predicting the extent and severity of coronary artery disease [AUC=0.724 (0.656, 0.798) vs. 0.730 (0.662, 0.802), p=0.224]. When the subgroups were analyzed, the SCORE model was found to be better in predicting coronary artery disease extent and severity in subgroups of men and diabetics {[AUC=0.737 (0.668, 0.844) vs. 0.665 (0.560, 0.790), p=0.019], [AUC=0.733 (0.684, 0.798) vs. 0.680 (0.654, 0.750) p=0.029], respectively). Conclusion: In addition to their role in predicting cardiovascular events, the use of the Framingham and SCORE models may also have utility in predicting the extent and severity of coronary artery disease. The SCORE risk model has a slightly better performance than the Framingham risk model