Potential value of saline-induced Pd/Pa ratio in patients with coronary artery stenosis

BackgroundFractional flow reserve (FFR) is the current gold standard for identifying myocardial ischemia in individuals with coronary artery stenosis. However, FFR is not penetrated as much worldwide due to time consumption, costs associated with adenosine, FFR-related discomfort, and complications. Resting physiological indexes may be widely accepted alternatives to FFR, while the discrepancies with FFR were found in up to 20% of lesions. The saline-induced Pd/Pa ratio (SPR) is a new simplified option for evaluating coronary stenosis. However, the clinical implication of SPR remains unclear.ObjectivesIn the present study, we aimed to compare the accuracies of SPR and resting full-cycle ratio (RFR) and to investigate the incremental value of SPR in clinical practice.MethodsIn this multicenter prospective study, 112 coronary lesions (105 patients) were evaluated by SPR, RFR, and FFR.ResultsThe overall median age was 71 years, and 84.8% were men. SPR was correlated more strongly with FFR than with RFR (r = 0.874 vs. 0.713, respectively; p < 0.001). Using FFR < 0.80 as the reference standard variable, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve for SPR was superior to that of RFR (0.932 vs. 0.840, respectively; p = 0.009).ConclusionSaline-induced Pd/Pa ratio predicted FFR more accurately than RFR. SPR could be an alternative method for evaluating coronary artery stenosis and further investigation including elucidation of the mechanism of SPR is needed (225 words)

Surgical treatment for infective endocarditis in the ageing society: a nationwide retrospective study in Japan

Objective The current status of surgical treatment for infective endocarditis (IE) among very elderly people is unclear.Methods We extracted data on patients in Japan with community-acquired IE who were admitted and discharged between April 2010 and February 2018 using a nationwide inpatient, the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database. We divided patients into three groups: non-elderly (<65 years), elderly (65–79 years) and very elderly (≥80 years). A 1:1 propensity score matching was performed to compare proportions of surgical treatment and in-hospital mortality among the groups.Results We identified 20 667 eligible patients (median age 70 years, 61.0% men). The proportion of very elderly patients significantly increased (19.1% in 2010 to 29.7% in 2018). The proportion of surgical treatment was significantly lower, and in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in very elderly patients. This tendency was more pronounced among patients with in-hospital complications such as heart failure, stroke or embolism. Surgical treatment was significantly associated with lower in-hospital mortality even in very elderly patients, both in an unmatched (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.78) and a propensity score matched cohort (OR 0.61; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.85).Conclusions The proportion of very elderly patients with IE was increasing, and very elderly patients had higher in-hospital mortality. The proportion of surgical treatment for IE among very elderly patients was low, but it was associated with lower in-hospital mortality. Further studies are needed to establish the optimal strategy for IE among very elderly patients

Association of Body Mass Index with Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke

Data on the association between body mass index (BMI) and stroke are scarce. We aimed to examine the association between BMI and incident stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and to clarify the relationship between underweight, overweight, and obesity and stroke risk stratified by sex. We analyzed the JMDC Claims Database between January 2005 and April 2020 including 2,740,778 healthy individuals (Median (interquartile) age, 45 (38–53) years; 56.2% men; median (interquartile) BMI, 22.3 (20.2–24.8) kg/m2). None of the participants had a history of cardiovascular disease. Each participant was categorized as underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2), or obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). We investigated the association of BMI with incidence stroke in men and women using the Cox regression model. We used restricted cubic spline (RCS) functions to identify the association of BMI as a continuous parameter with incident stroke. The incidence (95% confidence interval) of total stroke, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke was 32.5 (32.0–32.9), 28.1 (27.6–28.5), and 5.5 (5.3–5.7) per 10,000 person-years in men, whereas 25.7 (25.1–26.2), 22.5 (22.0–23.0), and 4.0 (3.8–4.2) per 10,000 person-years in women, respectively. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that overweight and obesity were associated with a higher incidence of total and ischemic stroke in both men and women. Underweight, overweight, and obesity were associated with a higher hemorrhagic stroke incidence in men, but not in women. Restricted cubic spline showed that the risk of ischemic stroke increased in a BMI dose-dependent manner in both men and women, whereas there was a U-shaped relationship between BMI and the hemorrhagic stroke risk in men. In conclusion, overweight and obesity were associated with a greater incidence of stroke and ischemic stroke in both men and women. Furthermore, underweight, overweight, and obesity were associated with a higher hemorrhagic stroke risk in men. Our results would help in the risk stratification of future stroke based on BMI