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BACKGROUND B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) may be a predictor of stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF); because heart failure is associated with the incidence of stroke in AF patients. However, limited data exist regarding the association between BNP at baseline and risks of thromboembolic events (TE) and death in NVAF patients. Methods and Results We prospectively studied 1,013 NVAF patients (725 men, 72.8±9.7 years old) from the Hokuriku-plus AF Registry to determine the relationship between BNP at baseline and prognosis among Japanese NVAF patients. During the follow-up period (median, 751 days); 31 patients experienced TE and there were 81 cases of TE/all-cause death. For each endpoint we constructed receiver-operating characteristic curves that gave cutoff points of BNP for TE (170 pg/mL) and TE/all-cause death (147 pg/mL). Multivariate analysis with the Cox-proportional hazards model indicated that high BNP was significantly associated with risks of TE (hazard ratio [HR] 3.86; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.83-8.67; P=0.0003) and TE/all-cause death (HR 2.27; 95% CI 1.45-3.56; P=0.0003). Based on the C-index and net reclassification improvement, the addition of BNP to CHA2DS2-VASc statistically improved the prediction of TE. CONCLUSIONS In a real-world cohort of Japanese NVAF patients, high BNP was significantly associated with TE and death. Plasma BNP might be a useful biomarker for these adverse clinical events.

BACKGROUND It has been shown that serum lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is elevated in familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) with mutation(s) of the LDL receptor (LDLR) gene. However, few data exist regarding Lp(a) levels in FH with gain-of-function mutations of the PCSK9 gene. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated 42 mutation-determined heterozygous FH patients with aPCSK9gain-of-function mutation (FH-PCSK9, mean age 52, mean LDL-C 235 mg/dl), 198 mutation-determined heterozygous FH patients with aLDLRmutation (FH-LDLR, mean age 44, mean LDL-C 217 mg/dl), and 4,015 controls (CONTROL, mean age 56, mean LDL-C 109 mg/dl). We assessed their Lp(a), total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C, use of statins, presence of hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, smoking, body mass index (BMI) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Multiple regression analysis showed that HDL-C, use of statins, presence of hypertension, smoking, BMI, and Lp(a) were independently associated with the presence of CAD. Under these conditions, the serum levels of Lp(a) in patients with FH were significantly higher than those of the CONTROL group regardless of their causative genes, among the groups propensity score-matched (median Lp(a) 12.6 mg/dl [IQR:9.4-33.9], 21.1 mg/dl [IQR:11.7-34.9], and 5.0 mg/dl [IQR:2.7-8.1] in the FH-LDLR, FH-PCSK9, and CONTROL groups, respectively, P=0.002 for FH-LDLR vs. CONTROL, P=0.002 for FH-PCSK9 vs. CONTROL). CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that serum Lp(a) is elevated in patients with FH caused by PCSK9 gain-of-function mutations to the same level as that in FH caused by LDLR mutations.

BACKGROUND There is sparse data regarding the survival and neurological outcome of elderly patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). METHODS AND RESULTS OHCA patients (334,730) aged ≥75 years were analyzed using a nationwide, prospective, population-based Japanese OHCA database from 2008 to 2012. The overall 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcome (Cerebral Performance Category Scale, category 1 or 2; CPC 1-2) rate was 0.88%. During the study period, the annual 1-month CPC 1-2 rate in whole OHCA significantly improved (0.73% to 0.96%, P for trend

Background: Although acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stroke are known to increase after earthquake, few data exist regarding the effect of earthquake on these cardiovascular events in rural areas. Methods and Results: The Noto Peninsula earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 occurred at 9:45 a.m. on 25 March 2007. The first case of ACS occurred approximately 15 min later, whereas cerebral hemorrhage (CH) occurred 72 h after the onset of earthquake. During the 35 days after earthquake, among 49 patients who were attended by local ambulance, 5 patients with ACS (10.2%) and 8 with CH (16.3%) were documented and 4 died. The total number of both ACS and CH cases was greater than the averages for the same period of the past 3 years in this area (2.0 vs 5 and 2.3 vs 8, P