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Cardiovascular risk factors contribute differently to short-term prognosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI); hypertension and diabetes increase adverse outcomes, whereas hyperlipidemia, smoking, and obesity seem to paradoxically decrease these in post-MI patients. We aimed to investigate whether a simple calculation of conventional risk factors, PARADOCS (Pressure of ARtery elevAtion, Diabetes, Obesity, Cholesterol, Smoking) score, would improve the ability to predict major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) in post-MI patients. Between November 2011 and December 2015, 13,104 patients with diagnosis of AMI were analyzed in this study from Korean AMI Registry - National Institute of Health database. PARADOCS score was calculated as follows: (number of nonparadoxical risk factors - number of paradoxical risk factors) + 3 where nonparadoxical risk factors are hypertension and diabetes, and paradoxical risk factors are hyperlipidemia, smoking, and obesity. PARADOCS score was significantly greater in patients with 1-year MACCEs compared with those without MACCEs (3.43 ± 1.03 vs 2.88 ± 1.11, p <0.001). In Cox proportional hazards model, PARADOCS score was an independent predictor of 1-year MACCEs (hazards ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 1.30; p <0.001) after adjusting for confounding variables. In Kaplan-Meier survival curve, patients with greater PARADOCS score had worse clinical outcome. In conclusion, although it needs more validation, a simple calculation of risk factors, PARADOCS score, could provide useful prognostic information of MI patients to clinicians., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: A fragmented QRS complex (fQRS) is caused by conduction abnormalities of the ventricle secondary to myocardial ischemia and/or scar in patients with myocardial infarction. However, the implications of the fQRS in the development of coronary artery disease with myocardial ischemia in those without a scar remain unknown., Methods: We studied electrocardiograms (ECGs) obtained from 150 patients (60.5 ± 8.5 years, 102 men) with myocardial ischemia, which was confirmed by performing both, a nuclear exercise stress test and coronary angiography. We also studied ECGs obtained from 601 patients (58.5 ± 10.0 years, 315 men) who showed a negative nuclear exercise stress test (control group). Patients in whom the nuclear exercise stress test showed a myocardial scar were excluded., Results: An fQRS was more commonly observed in patients with myocardial ischemia (n = 48, 32.0%) than in the control group (n = 133, 22.1%) (P = 0.011). The sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values of fQRS in diagnosing myocardial ischemia were 32.0, 77.9, 26.5, and 82.1%, respectively. The fQRS (odds ratio 1.580, 95% confidence interval 1.020-2.446, P = 0.040) was an independent predictor of myocardial ischemia after adjusting for age, sex, current smoking habits, ST-T changes on ECG, as well as histories of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Moreover, the fQRS showed an incremental prognostic value over conventional risk factors (χ 2  = 5, P = 0.032) and over a combination of conventional factors and ST-T changes (χ 2  = 9, P = 0.014)., Conclusions: The fQRS is a moderately sensitive and independent predictor of myocardial ischemia., (© 2018 The Authors. Clinical Cardiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The pattern and prognostic impact of "early" acute kidney injury (AKI) after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction have not been well established. From November 2005 to November 2011, 971 post-myocardial infarction patients who underwent primary PCI were analyzed. Early AKI was defined using absolute change in serum creatinine (SCr; SCr <24 hours after primary PCI minus admission SCr) as follows: no early AKI (SCr change <0.3 mg/dl), mild early AKI (SCr change 0.3 to <0.5 mg/dl), moderate early AKI (SCr change 0.5 to <1.0 mg/dl), and severe early AKI (SCr change ≥1.0 mg/dl). One-year major adverse cardiac events were defined as death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and revascularizations. Overall, 9.6% had early AKI, including 5.7% with mild, 2.5% with moderate, and 1.4% with severe early AKI. Diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 1.84, p = 0.042), the left ventricular ejection fraction (odds ratio 0.97, p = 0.042), and hemoglobin levels (odds ratio 0.84, p = 0.039) were independently associated with early AKI. Early AKI (adjusted hazard ratio 2.80, p = 0.005) was an independent predictor of 1-year major adverse cardiac events. The adjusted hazard ratios of 1-year major adverse cardiac events from the lowest (reference) to the highest quartile of early AKI were as follows: 1, 2.87 (p = 0.012), 3.22 (p = 0.021), and 5.83 (p = 0.004), respectively. In conclusion, early dynamic change in renal function after primary PCI can sensitively predict worse outcomes., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the value of a new Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) that includes consideration of QRS fragmentation (fQRS) as a predictor of cardiac events in patients undergoing noncardiac vascular surgery. Four hundred sixty-seven consecutive patients admitted for noncardiac vascular surgery were studied. Patients were allocated to RCRI 0, 1, 2, or ≥3 groups according to the sum of diabetes, renal insufficiency, and histories of ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease. They were then reallocated to fragmented RCRI (fRCRI) 0, 1, 2, or ≥3 groups after including a score of 1 or 0 corresponding to the presence or absence of fQRS. A major adverse cardiac event (MACE) was defined as a composite of death, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and percutaneous coronary intervention before noncardiac vascular surgery. During index hospitalization, MACE developed in 38 patients (8.1%). fQRS was present in 169 (36.2%), and it was significantly greater in patients with MACE than in those without MACE (63.2% vs 34.3%, p <0.001). The proportions of RCRI 0, 1, 2, and ≥3 were 46.9% (n = 219), 35.3% (n = 165), 12.4% (n = 58), and 5.4% (n = 25), respectively. When fRCRI data were included, 28 patients (48.3%) in RCRI 2 were reclassified as fRCRI ≥3. By multivariate logistic regression analysis, fRCRI (odds ratio 1.529, 95% confidence interval 1.035 to 2.258, p = 0.033) and a left ventricular ejection fraction <50% independently predicted in-hospital MACE. In conclusion, fRCRI is an independent predictor of in-hospital MACE in patients undergoing noncardiac vascular surgery., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.)