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Purpose: This study investigates the potential impact of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) on patients with heart failure (HF) and dementia. ChEIs are known to boost acetylcholine levels and benefit cognition in patients with dementia; however, their effect on patients with HF is uncertain. This study aimed to assess whether cardiovascular events and mortality among patients with HF and dementia are altered by ChEI therapy. Methods: Data from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan were retrospectively analyzed. Dementia patients diagnosed with HF were followed for 5 years until all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, hospitalization for worsening HF, or the end of the study. Multivariable Cox models and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were employed. Results: Out of 20,848 patients with dementia, 5138 had HF. Among them, 726 were ChEI users and 4412 were non-users. Based on IPTW, the ChEI users had significantly lower estimated risks of all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 0.43; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.38–0.49, p < 0.001] and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.41; 95% CI 0.33–0.53, p < 0.001) compared with the non-users, but there was no significant difference in hospitalization for worsening HF (HR 0.73; 95% CI 0.51–1.05, p = 0.091) after 5 years. The survival benefits of ChEIs were consistent across subgroups. Conclusions: The results of this retrospective cohort study suggest that ChEIs may be beneficial in reducing all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with dementia with HF. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore the potential benefits of ChEIs in all patients with HF, including those without dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No study has evaluated the effect of dexmedetomidine in patients who received surgery for type A aortic dissection. This is the first study to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine in aortic dissection patients. This study was executed using data from the Chang Gung Research Database in Taiwan. The CGRD contains the multi‐institutional standardized electronic medical records from seven Chang Gung Memorial hospitals, the largest medical system in Taiwan. We retrospectively evaluate patients who received surgery for acute type A aortic dissection between January 2014 and December 2018. Overall, 511 patients were included, of whom 104 has received dexmedetomidine infusion in the postoperative period. One-to-two propensity score-matching yielded 86 cases in the dexmedetomidine group and 158 cases in the non-dexmedetomidine group. The in-hospital mortality and composite outcome including all-cause mortality, acute kidney injury, delirium, postoperative atrial fibrillation, and respiratory failure, were considered primary outcomes. The in-hospital mortality and composite outcome were similar between groups. The risk of Acute Kidney Injury Network stage 3 acute kidney injury was significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group than in the non-dexmedetomidine group (8.1% vs 19.0%; OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.17–0.86; p = 0.020. The risk of newly-onset dialysis was also significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine group than in the non-dexmedetomidine group (4.7% vs 13.3%; OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.11–0.90; p = 0.031). Post-operative dexmedetomidine infusion significantly reduced the rate of severe acute kidney injury and newly-onset dialysis in patients who received surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the major concerns of higher education institutions (HEIs) are teaching, services, and research, this paper describes a region-wide evaluation of institutional performance in relation to universities in Taiwan. The evaluation was based on the perceptions of university professors regarding institutional slack and reputation, as well as internal and external social capital. The study sought answers to several research questions and adopted a survey approach. After choosing 30 universities of various sizes and from different regions, 926 professors were selected randomly as participants. Using PLS-SEM, this study confirms the influence of institutional slack, reputation, and internal and external social capital on performance. The results show that (a) institutional slack and reputation positively affect institutional performance; (b) internal social capital positively and significantly influences the relationships of institutional slack and reputation with performance; and (c) external social capital has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between institutional slack and performance. Concluding this paper, theoretical and managerial implications and suggestions for future studies are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on a large patient population regarding very long-term outcomes after bare metal stent (BMS) implantation in diabetic patients are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the very long-term (8-17 years) clinical and 6-month angiographic outcomes of BMS implantations in patients with and without type 2 diabetes.Methods and Results: A total of 2391 patients (579 with and 1812 without diabetes) who received BMS implantations between November 1995 and May 2004 were enrolled from the Cardiovascular Atherosclerosis and Percutaneous TrAnsluminal INterventions (CAPTAIN) registry into this study. During a mean follow-up period of 152±53months, the diabetic patients had higher rates of all-cause mortality (28% vs. 15%, p<0.001), re-infarction (6% vs. 5%, p=0.284), target lesion revascularization (13% vs. 10%, p=0.049), and a lower cardiovascular event-free survival rate (42% vs. 56%, p<0.001) compared to the patients without diabetes. The diabetic patients also had a higher restenosis rate (26% vs. 18%, p<0.001) at 6-month angiographic follow-up. The multivariate analysis of risk factors for cardiac event-free survival included age (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.011; p=0.001), hypertension (HR: 1.168; p=0.011), diabetes mellitus (HR: 1.353; p<0.001), pre-existing coronary artery disease (HR: 1.341; p<0.001), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (HR: 0.992; p=0.002) (Table 7). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significant difference in cardiovascular event-free survival rate between the two groups (p<0.001).Conclusion: The clinical and angiographic outcomes of diabetic patients with BMS implantations were worse than those of patients without diabetes after a very long-term follow-up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The cardiovascular safety and efficacy of sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, in type 2 diabetic patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has so far remained uncertain. Methods: We analyzed data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), a government-operated, population-based database, from March 1st, 2009 to December 31st, 2011. Type 2 diabetic patients hospitalized for AMI were included in our study. We compared subjects using sitagliptin with comparison group to evaluate its cardiovascular safety and efficacy. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke. Results: We identified a total of 3,282 type 2 diabetic patients hospitalized for AMI (mean follow-up 1.15 years). Of these patients, 547 (16.7%) who were exposed to sitagliptin were defined as the sitagliptin group and 2,735 (83.3 %) who did not use sitagliptin were the comparison group. The incidence of primary composite cardiovascular outcomes was 9.50 per 100 person-years in the sitagliptin group and was 9.70 per 100 person-years in the comparison group (hazard ratio (HR), 0.97; 95% CI, 0.73–1.29, P=0.849). Compared to the non-sitagliptin group, the sitagliptin group had similar risks of all-cause mortality, hospitalization for heart failure (HF) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a HR of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.61–1.11, P=0.195), 0.93 (95% CI, 0.67–1.29, P=0.660), and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.75–1.14, P=0.473), respectively. Conclusion: The use of sitagliptin in type 2 diabetic patients with recent AMI was not associated with increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Carotid artery stenosis is one of the leading causes of ischemic stroke. Carotid artery stenting has become well-established as an effective treatment option for carotid artery stenosis. For this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of carotid stenting in a population-based large cohort of patients by analyzing the Taiwan National Healthcare Insurance (NHI) database. Methods: 2,849 patients who received carotid artery stents in the NHI database from 2004 to 2010 were identified. We analyzed the risk factors of outcomes including major adverse cardiovascular events including death, acute myocardial infarction, and cerebral vascular accidents at 30 days, 1 year, and overall period and further evaluated cause of death after carotid artery stenting. Results: The periprocedural stroke rate was 2.7% and the recurrent stroke rate for the overall follow-up period was 20.3%. Male, diabetes mellitus, and heart failure were significant risk factors for overall recurrent stroke (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.35, p = 0.006; HR = 1.23, p = 0.014; HR = 1.61, p < 0.001, respectively). The periprocedural acute myocardial infarction rate was 0.3%. Age and Diabetes mellitus were the significant factors to predict periprocedural myocardial infarction (HR = 3.06, p = 0.019; HR = 1.68, p < 0.001, respectively). Periprocedural and overall mortality rates were 1.9% and 17.3%, respectively. The most significant periprocedural mortality risk factor was acute renal failure. Age, diabetes mellitus, acute or chronic renal failure, heart failure, liver disease, and malignancy were factors correlated to the overall period mortality. Conclusion: Periprocedural acute renal failure significantly increased the mortality rate and the number of major adverse cardiovascular events, and the predict power persisted more than one year after the procedure. Age and diabetes mellitus were significant risk factors to predict acute myocardial infarction after carotid artery stenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clopidogrel is a prodrug that undergoes in vivo bioactivation to show its antiplatelet effects. Recent studies have shown that cytochrome P450 (CYP), ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABCB1), and paraoxonase-1 (PON1) play crucial roles in clopidogrel bioactivation. Here, we aim to determine the effects of genetic polymorphisms of CYP (CYP 2C19*2, CYP 2C19*3, and CYP 2C19*17), ABCB1 (ABCB1 3435C>T, ABCB1 129T>C, and ABCB1 2677G>T/A), and PON1 (PON1 Q192R, PON1 L55M, and PON1 108C.T) on the development of stent thrombosis (ST) in patients receiving clopidogrel after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results: We evaluated the incidence of ST (0.64%) in 4964 patients who were recruited in the CAPTAIN registry (Cardiovascular Atherosclerosis and Percutaneous TrAnsluminal INterventions). The presence of genetic polymorphisms was assessed in 20 subjects who developed ST after aspirin and clopidogrel therapy and in 40 age- and sex-matched control subjects who did not develop ST, which was documented after 9 months of angiographic follow-up. ST was acute in 5 subjects, subacute in 7, late in 7, and very late in 1. The presence of CYP 2C19*2 allele was significantly associated with ST (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj]: 4.20, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.263-9.544; P = 0.031). However, genetic variations in PON1 and ABCB1 showed no significant association with ST. Conclusion: We conclude that in a Taiwanese population, PON1 Q192R genotype is not associated with ST development after PCI. However, the presence of CYP 2C19*2 allele is a risk factor for ST development after PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent trend of transforming regulatory bureaus into independent agencies has raised concerns over accountability once the regulator is cut loose from political control. There is also concern that the promotion of public values may be at risk when the regulatory function is outsourced to a mission-limited independent agency. To find possible solutions to these problems, this study compares the provision of telecommunications universal service in Australia with that in Taiwan to determine how different accountability designs lead to different means of ensuring universal service provision. Following a detailed investigation, this article finds that the consumer sovereignty model used in Australia performs better than the fiduciary trusteeship model in Taiwan in constraining the capture of the regulator by the dominant carrier. Overall, the author argues that, as a social goal, ensuring universal service should rely on both a politically mandated institution and competing regulatory agencies that accommodate different value groups so that a line is drawn between the social and commercial spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the differing roles in promoting the semiconductor and wireless communication industries in Taiwan. Background on the developmental strategy in the semiconductor industry; Impact of the country's industrial policy on the two industries; Analysis of the state-technologist nexus in the two industries.

Background: Clinical trials have investigated efficacy of drug-eluting balloon (DEB) angioplasty for bare-metal stent (BMS) in-stent restenosis (ISR). Few studies have investigated predictors of long-term outcomes following BMS-ISR treatment with DEB.Methods: From June 2011 to April 2015, 105 patients with 125 BMS-ISR lesions were enrolled from the Cardiovascular Atherosclerosis and Percutaneous TrAnsluminal INterventions (CAPTAIN) registry. All these lesions were treated with DEB angioplasty as final therapy. The major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were recurrent clinically driven target lesion revascularisation (TLR), myocardial infarction, and cardiac death after DEB angioplasty.Results: After DEB angioplasty, the angiographic stenosis decreased from 84.8%±12.4% to 22.6%±10.4%. Over a mean follow-up duration of 21.7±13.4months, the rates of TLR at 1-12 months and 12-48 months were 4.8% and 4.2%, respectively. The rates of MACEs at 1-12 months and 12-48 months were 6.7% and 6.1%, respectively. Chronic haemodialysis, calcified lesion, chronic total occlusion lesion before stenting, stent with metal-to-artery ratio >16.5%, and residual stenosis >25% after DEB angioplasty were potential risk factors for MACEs in univariate analysis. After adjustment in multivariate analysis, independent predictors of long-term MACEs were identified as chronic haemodialysis, chronic total occlusion lesion before stenting, and residual stenosis >25% after DEB angioplasty.Conclusions: The long-term results of DEB angioplasty for BMS-ISR are acceptable in this real-world registry. Patient (chronic haemodialysis), lesion (chronic total occlusion) and angioplasty (residual stenosis percentage) related factors predicted long-term outcomes following BMS-ISR treatment with DEB angioplasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, there have been conflicting results reporting an increased risk of AR or MR associated with oral fluoroquinolones (FQs).This study investigated whether the use of FQs increases the risk of mitral regurgitation (MR) or aortic regurgitation (AR)., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance research database. A unidirectional case-crossover design without selecting controls from an external population was adopted in this study. A total of 26,650 adult patients with new onset of AR or MR between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2012, were identified. The risk of outcomes was compared between the hazard period and one of the randomly selected referent periods of the same individuals., Results: Before exclusion of pneumonia diagnosed within 2 months before the index date, patients who took FQs had a significantly greater risk of AR or MR (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30-1.77), any AR (combined AR and MR) (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.10-2.04), and any MR (combined AR and MR) (aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16-1.62). After exclusion of pneumonia, FQs exposure remained significantly associated with a greater risk of MR (aOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.17-1.62) and any MR (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 1.05-1.48)., Conclusions: The findings suggested that patients treated with FQs could be warned about the potential risk for MR even after considering the possibility of protopathic bias. Reducing unnecessary FQs prescriptions may be considered to reduce the risk of valvular heart disease., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Chou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Importance: Current international normalized ratio (INR) guidelines are based on trials involving European and US populations. To our knowledge, no adequate study involving Asian patients has been conducted to date., Objective: To evaluate the association between INR and anticoagulation-related outcomes in an Asian population after mechanical aortic valve replacement (AVR) or mitral VR (MVR)., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study was conducted between 2001 and 2018, with follow-up until December 31, 2018, among patients who underwent AVR, MVR, or combined AVR-MVR at 3 medical centers and 4 regional hospitals and contributed electronic medical records to the Chang Gung Research Database. Exclusion criteria were missing demographic characteristics, younger than 20 years, fewer than 2 INR records, and having died during the hospitalization of the index surgery., Main Outcomes and Measures: Bleeding and thromboembolic complications were analyzed. The possibility of nonlinearity and cutoff potential for the INR were explored using a logistic regression model, which considered the INR a restricted cubic spline (RCS) variable., Results: The study population consisted of 900 patients, with 525 (58.3%) men and 375 (41.7%) women and a mean (SD) age of 52.0 (12.5) years. Overall, 474 (52.7%) received AVR alone, 329 (36.6%) received MVR alone, and 97 (10.8%) received combined AVR-MVR. All patients had at least 2 INR examinations after discharge, providing 16 676 INR records for the AVR group and 18 207 for the MVR and combined AVR-MVR groups. In the AVR group, the RCS model showed that higher risks of composite thromboembolic events were associated with an INR of less than 2.0 or greater than 2.6 vs an INR of 2.0, and a higher risk of bleeding events was associated with an INR of less than 1.8 or greater than 2.4 vs an INR of 2.0. When treating the INR as a categorical variable, the risk of composite thromboembolic and composite bleeding events was significantly higher among patients with INRs less than 1.5 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.55; 95% CI, 1.37-4.73) and with INRs of 3.0 or greater (aOR, 3.48; 95% CI, 1.95-6.23) vs those with INRs between 2.0 and 2.5.In the MVR and combined AVR-MVR groups, higher risks of composite thromboembolic events were associated with an INR of less than 2.1 or greater than 2.7 vs an INR of 2.5, and a higher risk of bleeding events was associated with an INR of less than 2.1 or greater than 2.8 vs an INR of 2.5. When treating the INR as a categorical variable, the risk of a composite bleeding events was significantly higher among patients with INRs of 3.5 or greater (aOR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.35-3.76) vs those with INRs between 2.5 and 3.0., Conclusions and Relevance: Among Asian patients in this study, the incidence of thromboembolic events in the MVR group with INRs in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 was not significantly higher than that among those with INRs in the range of 2.5 to 3.0; in the AVR group, the incidence for those with INRs in 1.5 to 2.0 range was not significantly higher than for those with INRs in the range of 2.0 to 2.5.

Background: We aimed to determine whether cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) differs between those who receive gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist (GnRHa) therapy and those who receive GnRH antagonist therapy., Methods: Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, we analyzed data by comparing 666 participants receiving GnRH antagonists and 1332 propensity score-matched participants treated with GnRHa in a 1:2 fashion during the period from May 1, 2015, to September 30, 2018. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to estimate the treatment effect on CV outcomes. Furthermore, we conducted an in vitro study to investigate the effect of a GnRHa (leuprolide) or a GnRH antagonist (degarelix) on matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and invasion ability in THP-1 differentiated macrophages., Results: GnRH antagonist therapy was associated with a lower risk of composite CV events of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or CV death (hazard ratio [HR], 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.90) than GnRHa therapy, with a mean follow-up period of 1.21 years. Significantly lower risks of CV death (HR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.06-0.70) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.61-0.97) were observed in the GnRH antagonist group. In the in vitro study, leuprolide, but not degarelix, significantly increased the expression of MMP-9 activity and the invasive ability of THP-1 differentiated macrophages through gelatin zymography and the matrix invasion assay, respectively., Conclusion: GnRH antagonists were associated with reduced risk CV events compared with the GnRHa among patients with PCa, which may be through effects on macrophages., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) after cardiac surgery in the liver cirrhosis (LC) patients. We conducted a population-based cohort study using data from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2001 to 2013. The outcomes of interest included all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) and liver and renal outcomes. Among 1470 LC patients, 35.6% (n = 524) received beta-blockers and 33.4% (n = 491) were prescribed ACEIs and/or ARBs after cardiac surgery. The risk of negative liver outcomes was significantly lower in the ARB group compared with the ACEI group (9.6% vs 22.7%, hazard ratio [HR] 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31-0.83). Furthermore, the risk of MACCE (44.2% vs 54.7%, HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.65-0.96), all-cause mortality (35.3% vs 46.4%, HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.60-0.92), composite liver outcomes (9.6% vs 16.5%, HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.85) and hepatic encephalopathy (2.7% vs 5.7%, HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.21-0.94) were lower in the ARB group than the control group. Our study demonstrated that ARBs provide a greater protective effect than ACEIs in regard to long-term outcomes following cardiac surgery in patients with LC., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Importance: It is unclear whether the clinical benefits associated with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are similar to those associated with low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) in Asian individuals with cancer and acute venous thromboembolism (VTE)., Objective: To compare the risk of recurrent thromboembolic events and bleeding associated with use of a NOAC vs use of the LMWH enoxaparin in Asian individuals with cancer-associated VTE., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study was conducted using data from the Chang Gung Research Database, a multi-institutional electronic medical records database in Taiwan. A cohort of 1109 patients with cancer-associated VTE were identified between January 1, 2012, and January 31, 2019. Data were analyzed from March 2019 through December 2020., Exposures: Receiving a NOAC (including rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban, or dabigatran) or the LMWH enoxaparin., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcomes were composite recurrent VTE or major bleeding. Stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to balance baseline covariates. We compared risks of recurrent VTE or major bleeding between groups using Cox proportional hazards models. In addition, we conducted an analysis using a Fine and Gray subdistribution hazard model that considered death as a competing risk., Results: Among 1109 patients with cancer and newly diagnosed VTE, 578 (52.1%) were women and the mean (SD) age at index date was 66.0 (13.0) years; 529 patients (47.7%) received NOACs and 580 patients (52.3%) received the LMWH enoxaparin. Composite recurrent VTE or major bleeding occurred in 75 patients (14.1%) in the NOAC group and 101 patients (17.4%) in the enoxaparin group (weighted hazard ratio [HR], 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.07; P = .11). The groups had similar risk of VTE recurrence (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39-1.01; P = .05) and major bleeding (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.52-1.24; P = .32) at 12 months of follow-up. However, taking a NOAC was associated with a significantly lower risk of gastrointestinal bleeding compared with receiving enoxaparin (10 patients [1.9%] vs 41 patients [7.1%]; HR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.15-0.59; P < .001). Findings for both primary outcomes were consistent with competing risk analyses (recurrent VTE: HR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.45-1.01; P = .05; major bleeding: HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.51-1.16; P = .21)., Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found that in real-world practice, among Asian patients with cancer-associated VTE, use of a NOAC was associated with a similar risk for recurrent VTE or major bleeding compared with use of the LMWH enoxaparin. Nonetheless, use of a NOAC was associated with a significantly lower rate of gastrointestinal bleeding. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Background: Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) has shown evidence of cardiovascular benefit in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Currently metformin is the guideline-recommended first-line treatment. We aimed to investigate the benefit of SGLT2i vs metformin as first-line therapy., Methods: Electronic medical records from Chang Gung Research Database during 2016-2019 were retrieved for patients with T2DM. Patients aged < 20, not receiving anti-diabetic medication, first-line treatment neither metformin nor SGLT2i were excluded. Primary outcomes were heart failure hospitalization, acute coronary syndrome, ischemic stroke, and all-cause mortality. Patients were followed up for events or December 31, 2019, whichever comes first., Results: After exclusion criteria, a total of 41,020 patients with T2DM were eligible for analysis. There were 1100 patients with SGLT2i as first-line and 39,920 patients with metformin as first-line treatment. IPTW was used for propensity score matching. During one year follow-up, the hazard ratio (HR) of patients on SGLT2i as first-line treatment to patients on metformin as first-line treatment were HR 0.47 (95% CI 0.41-0.54, p < 0.0001) in heart failure hospitalization, HR 0.50 (95% CI 0.41-0.61, p < 0.0001) in acute coronary syndrome, HR 1.21 (95% CI 1.10-1.32, p < 0.0001) in ischemic stroke, and HR 0.49 (95% CI 0.44-0.55, p < 0.0001) in all-cause mortality., Conclusions: In patients with T2DM, SGLT2i as first-line treatment may be associated with decreased events of heart failure hospitalization, acute coronary syndrome, and all-cause mortality, compared with metformin as first-line treatment. However, there may be an increased events of ischemic stroke using SGLT2i compared to metformin.

Background Octogenarians (≥80 years old) are high-risk patients for acute aortic dissection (AAD) surgery. However, no population-based study has investigated the late outcomes of AAD surgery in octogenarians. This study aimed to investigate the late outcomes of AAD surgery in octogenarians. Methods and Results A total of 3998 patients who received AAD surgery from 2005 to 2013 were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. In-hospital complications and late outcomes including all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event, respiratory failure, and redo aortic surgery were evaluated. The risks of late outcomes between octogenarians and nonoctogenarians were compared using the multivariable Cox proportional hazard model or Fine and Gray competing model. The numbers of the octogenarians who underwent type A and B AAD surgeries were 206 (6%; 206/3423) and 79 (13.7%; 79/575), respectively. Compared with the nonoctogenarians, the type A octogenarians had higher risks of in-hospital mortality and several in-hospital complications, whereas the type B octogenarians did not. Furthermore, compared with the nonoctogenarians, the type A octogenarians had a higher risk of all-cause mortality (61.7% vs 32.5%; hazard ratio [HR], 2.35; 95% CI, 1.95-2.84) and a higher cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event and respiratory failure, and the type B octogenarians demonstrated a higher risk of all-cause mortality (44.3% vs 30.4%; HR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.18-2.55). The octogenarians receiving AAD surgeries had higher mortality rates than the normal octogenarian population. Conclusions Octogenarians receiving AAD surgeries exhibit worse late outcomes than nonoctogenarian counterparts.

Background: Patients with multivessel disease (MVD) often pursue complete revascularization (CR) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to improve prognosis. However, angiographic CR is not always feasible and is associated with some procedure-related complications in heart failure (HF) patients with MVD. Clinical selective incomplete revascularization (IR) may be reasonable for these high-risk patients, but its role in long-term outcomes remains uncertain., Methods: Six hundred patients with HF and MVD submitted to PCI were enrolled. Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were defined as a composite of recurrent myocardial infarction, any revascularization, and all-cause mortality at 5 years., Results: During a mean follow-up period of 3.7 ± 1.9 years, there was no significant difference in 5-year MACEs between selective IR and successful angiographic CR in HF patients with MVD. However, patients who failed CR had a significantly greater incidence of 5-year MACEs than those in the other two groups (failed CR: 46.4% vs. selective IR: 27.7% vs. successful CR: 27.8%, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: Long-term outcomes of selective IR were comparable with those of successful angiographic CR in HF patients with MVD. However, patients that failed CR showed 2.53-fold increased risk of MACEs compared to patients undergoing either selective IR or successful angiographic CR. A more comprehensive planning strategy should be devised before PCI in HF patients with MVD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Chieh-Yu Chang et al.)

Aims/introduction: The cardiovascular (CV) outcomes of vildagliptin - a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor - in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus after acute coronary syndrome or acute ischemic stroke are unclear., Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database on 3,750 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with acute coronary syndrome or acute ischemic stroke within 3 months between 1 August 2011 and 31 December 2013. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by comparing 1,250 participants receiving vildagliptin with 2,500 propensity score-matched participants. The primary composite outcome included CV death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and non-fatal stroke., Results: The primary composite outcome occurred in 122 patients (9.8%) in the vildagliptin group and 263 patients (10.5%) in the control group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72-1.11) with a mean follow-up period of 9.9 months. No significant between-group differences were observed for CV death (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.56-1.52), non-fatal myocardial infarction (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.46-1.36) and non-fatal stroke (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74-1.24). The vildagliptin group was at similar risks of hospitalization for heart failure (HF) or coronary intervention to the control group (P = 0.312 and 0.430, respectively). For patients with HF at baseline, the risk of hospitalization for HF was similar between the vildagliptin and control groups (HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.57-1.88)., Conclusions: Among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus after a recent acute coronary syndrome or acute ischemic stroke, treatment with vildagliptin was not associated with increased risks of CV death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke and hospitalization for HF., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Diabetes Investigation published by Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: This study investigated the predictors of subsequent cardiovascular events in stable post-myocardial infarction patients in Taiwan., Methods: A total of 11,183 patients were recruited who had survived one year post-myocardial infarction without subsequent events of recurrent myocardial infarction or stroke from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Their composite cardiovascular event rates were identified., Results: The composite cardiovascular events rate in three year follow-up in the post-myocardial infarction population was 13.8%. Corresponding event rates were 5.8% recurrent myocardial infarction, 5.0% stroke, and 5.2% death. Independent factors associated with a higher risk of ischemic events or death included heart failure (hazard ratio (HR)=1.19), hypertension (HR=1.16), age (65-75 vs <65 years: HR=1.29; 75-85 vs <65 years: HR=1.50; >85 vs <65 years: HR=1.70), diabetes (HR=1.33), prior stroke (HR=1.24), chronic kidney disease (HR=1.4), atrial fibrillation (HR=1.27), and underutilization of guideline-based medication (HR=1.73). Composite risk for myocardial infarction, stroke and death increased progressively from 4.9% in patients with zero risk factor to 100.0% in patients with eight risk factors., Conclusions: For acute myocardial infarction patients surviving one year without subsequent events of recurrent myocardial infarction or stroke, the risk of cardiovascular events remained high. Eight predictors identified patients at increased risk for subsequent cardiovascular events within the next three years. These results suggest an unmet need, particularly in patients with additional risk factors.

Limited data are available about the cardiovascular (CV) safety and efficacy of sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, in ischemic stroke patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Ischemic stroke patients with T2DM and CKD were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from March 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011. A total of 1375 patients were divided into 2 age- and gender-matched groups: patients who received sitagliptin (n = 275; 20%) and those who did not (n = 1,100). Primary major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), including ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), or CV death, were evaluated. During a mean 1.07-year follow-up period, 45 patients (16.4%) in the sitagliptin group and 165 patients (15.0%) in the comparison group developed MACCEs (Hazard ratio [HR] 1.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75-1.45). Compared to the non-sitagliptin group, the sitagliptin group had a similar risk of ischemic stroke (HR 0.82; 95% CI, 0.51-1.32.), hemorrhagic stroke (HR 1.50; 95% CI, 0.58-3.82), MI (HR 1.14; 95% CI, 0.49-2.65), and CV mortality (HR 1.06; 95% CI, 0.61-1.85). The use of sitagliptin in recent ischemic stroke patients with T2DM and CKD was not associated with increased or decreased risk of adverse CV events.

Background: The cardiovascular safety and efficacy of linagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or acute ischemic stroke (AIS) are unclear. The aim of our real-world cohort study was to evaluate the cardiovascular outcomes of linagliptin in patients with T2DM after ACS or AIS., Methods: An open observational noncrossover retrospective cohort study was conducted between June 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013 utilizing Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 1203 patients with T2DM after ACS or AIS were selected as the study cohort. Cardiovascular safety and efficacy of linagliptin were evaluated by comparing outcomes of 401 subjects receiving linagliptin after ACS or AIS to 802 matched control subjects not receiving any incretin-based therapy after ACS or AIS. The primary composite outcome included cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction and non-fatal ischemic stroke., Results: The primary composite outcome after 15-month follow-up was 7% (28 patients) in the linagliptin group compared with 6.1% (49 patients) in the control group [hazard ratio (HR) 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI) .66-1.68]. The linagliptin group also had similar risks of all-cause mortality, hospitalization for heart failure, percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting compared to the control group in terms of the secondary outcomes., Conclusions: In T2DM patients after ACS or AIS, treatment with linagliptin was not associated with increased risks of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or non-fatal ischemic stroke.

Cardiovascular disease is the major morbidity and leading cause of mortality for dialysis-dependent patients. This study aimed to stratify the risk factors and effects of dialysis modes in relation to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery among dialysis-dependent patients.This retrospective study enrolled dialysis-dependent patients who underwent CABG from October 2005 to January 2015. All data of demographics, medical history, surgical details, postoperative complications, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed, and patients were categorized as those with or without in-hospital mortality and those with preoperative hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD).Of 134 enrolled patients, 25 (18.7%) had in-hospital mortality. Multivariate analyses identified that older age [odds ratio (OR): 1.110, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.030-1.197, P = .006], previous stroke history (OR: 5.772, 95% CI: 1.643-20.275, P = .006), PD (OR: 19.607, 95% CI: 3.676-104.589, P < .001), and emergent operation (OR: 8.788, 95% CI: 2.697-28.636, P < .001) were statistically significant risk factors for in-hospital mortality among dialysis-dependent patients with CABG surgery. Patients with PD had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (58.3% vs 14.8%, P < .001) and lower 1-year overall survival (33.3% vs 56.6%, P = .031) than did HD patients. The major in-hospital mortality cause was cardiac events among HD patients and septic shock among PD patients.Among dialysis patients who received CABG, those with older age, previous stroke history, PD, and emergent operation had higher risks. Those with PD were prone to poorer in-hospital outcomes after CABG surgery.

Objective: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a widely used technique for treating postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS); however, no study has compared the long-term outcomes of patients who receive ECMO support for PCS with those of the general population post cardiac surgery., Methods: A total of 1141 patients who received ECMO after cardiac surgery between 2000 and 2011 were identified by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. For each patient, we matched 5 non-ECMO patients who had undergone cardiac surgery by using propensity scores calculated for age, sex, 12 comorbid diseases, Charlson score, hospital level, type of cardiac surgery, and year of index hospitalization. The outcomes included all-cause mortality, readmission for any cause, and medical expenditure., Results: The incidence of ECMO use after cardiac surgery in Taiwan was 1.91%. The ECMO group had a significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality than did the non-ECMO group (61.7% vs 6.8%, odds ratio 22.34, 95% confidence interval 19.06-26.18). The risks of all-cause mortality and first readmission for any cause were greater in the ECMO group than that in the control group (P < .001, P < .001) in the first year, whereas no difference was observed after the first year of follow-up (P = .209, P = .474). Similar results were observed regarding the medical expenditure of admission after index admission discharge., Conclusions: Patients receiving ECMO for PCS had similar outcomes to those of the non-ECMO group after the first year of follow-up despite significantly poor outcomes during the in-hospital course., (Copyright © 2017 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increased the incident cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infection, but risk factors of CIED infection in CKD patients remain unclear.Patients who received new CIED implantation between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2011 were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database and were divided into 3 groups: patients with normal renal function, CKD patients without dialysis, and CKD patient with dialysis. Two outcomes, CIED infection during index hospitalization and within 1 year after discharge, were evaluated.This study included 38,354 patients, 35,060 patients in normal renal function group, 1927 patients in CKD without dialysis group, and 1367 patients in CKD with dialysis group. CKD patients without dialysis (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32-3.46) and CKD patients with dialysis (aOR, 3.78, 95% CI, 2.37-6.02) increased incident CIED infection during index hospitalization compared to patients with normal renal function. Use of steroid (aOR: 2.74, 95% CI, 1.08-6.98) increased the risk of CIED infection in CKD patients without dialysis while chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (aOR: 2.76, 95% CI, 1.06-7.16) increased the risk of CIED infection in CKD patient with dialysis during index hospitalization.CKD is a risk of CIED infection during index hospitalization. Use of steroid and COPD are important risks factors for CIED infection in CKD patients.

Atrial septal defect (ASD) closure is major therapy for patients with secundum ASD. Although surgical closure (SC) and transcatheter closure (TC) are usually performed in such patients, data on the long-term outcomes comparing TC and SC in adults are limited. Data on the participants of this cohort study were retrieved from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database from 2004 to 2011. Secundum ASD patients > 18 years of age who underwent TC or SC were initially enrolled, and those with associated comorbidities were excluded. After propensity score matching, the clinical outcomes between the TC and SC groups were analyzed. There were 595 patients recruited in the TC group and 308 patients in the SC group. The SC group had a higher incidence of systemic thromboembolism (P < 0.001), ischemic stroke (P = 0.002), and all-cause mortality (P = 0.013) when compared with those of the TC group at the index hospitalization, and similar phenomena could also be seen in a around 4-year follow-up period after the procedures (systemic thromboembolism (P < 0.001, HR = 11.48, 95% CI: 3.29-40.05), ischemic stroke (P = 0.005, HR = 9.28, 95% CI: 1.94-44.39), and all-cause mortality (P = 0.035, HR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.06-4.89). In addition, atrial fibrillation (P = 0.005) and atrial flutter (P = 0.049) more frequently developed in the SC group than in the TC group at the index hospitalization. The adult secundum ASD patients had lower incidence rates of systemic thromboembolism, ischemic stroke, and all-cause mortality after TC than those after SC in the 4-year follow-up after procedures. Transcatheter ASD closure should therefore be given priority.

Background: The cardiovascular safety and efficacy of sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, in type 2 diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are unclear., Methods: We analyzed data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between March 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2011. A total of 1025 AMI patients with diabetes with chronic kidney disease were selected as the study cohort. The study evaluated the cardiovascular safety and efficacy of sitagliptin by comparing 205 subjects (20%) who use sitagliptin to 820 matched subjects (80%) who do not. The primary outcomes included myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke or cardiovascular death., Results: Primary composite outcomes occurred in 54 patients in the sitagliptin group (26.3%) and in 164 patients in the comparison group (20.0%) (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.97-1.79; P=0.079) during the mean follow-up of 1.02years (SD=0.71years). The sitagliptin group had similar risks of ischemic stroke, all-cause mortality or hospitalization for heart failure (HF) compared to the non-sitagliptin group (P=0.938, 0.523 and 0.795 respectively). However, sitagliptin use was associated with increased risks of recurrent myocardial infarction (HR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.15-2.58; P=0.008) and percutaneous coronary revascularization (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.04-1.95; P=0.026)., Conclusions: Among type 2 diabetic patients with CKD after AMI, the use of sitagliptin was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death, ischemic stroke or hospitalization for HF but was associated with increased risks of recurrent MI and percutaneous coronary revascularization., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)