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Background/Aims While switching strategies of P2Y12 receptor inhibitors (RIs) have sometimes been used in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients, the current status of in-hospital P2Y12RI switching remains unknown. Methods Overall, 8,476 AMI patients who underwent successful revascularization from Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health (KAMIR-NIH) were divided according to in-hospital P2Y12RI strategies, and net adverse cardiovascular events (NACEs), defined as a composite of cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) major bleeding during hospitalization were compared. Results Patients with in-hospital P2Y12RI switching accounted for 16.5%, of which 867 patients were switched from clopidogrel to potent P2Y12RI (C-P) and 532 patients from potent P2Y12RI to clopidogrel (P-C). There were no differences in NACEs among the unchanged clopidogrel, the unchanged potent P2Y12RIs, and the P2Y12RI switching groups. However, compared to the unchanged clopidogrel group, the C-P group had a higher incidence of non-fatal MI, and the P-C group had a higher incidence of TIMI major bleeding. In clinical events of in-hospital P2Y12RI switching, 90.9% of non-fatal MI occurred during pre-switching clopidogrel administration, 60.7% of TIMI major bleeding was related to pre-switching P2Y12RIs, and 71.4% of TIMI major bleeding was related to potent P2Y12RIs. Only 21.6% of the P2Y12RI switching group switched to P2Y12RIs after a loading dose (LD); however, there were no differences in clinical events between patients with and without LD. Conclusions In-hospital P2Y12RI switching occurred occasionally, but had relatively similar clinical outcomes compared to unchanged P2Y12RIs in Korean AMI patients. Non-fatal MI and bleeding appeared to be mainly related to pre-switching P2Y12RIs.

Background/Aims Although cardiovascular (CV) risk factors are well established, some patients experience acute myocardial infarction (AMI) even without any risk factors. Methods We analyzed total 11,390 patients (63.6 ± 12.6 years old, 8,401 males) with AMI enrolled in Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health from November, 2011 to December, 2015. Patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of any CV risk factors (group I, without risk factors, n = 1,420 [12.5%]; group II, with risk factors, n = 9,970 [87.5%]). In-hospital outcomes were defined as in-hospital mortality and complications. One-year clinical outcomes were defined as the composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Results Group I was older (67.3 ± 11.6 years old vs. 63.0 ± 12.7 years old, p < 0.001) and had higher prevalence of female gender (36.2% vs. 24.8%, p < 0.001) than the group II. Group I experienced less previous history of angina pectoris (7.0% vs. 9.4%, p = 0.003) and the previous history of cerebrovascular accidents (3.4% vs. 6.9%, p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality (2.6% vs. 3.0%, p = 0.450) and complications (20.6% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.647) were no differences between the groups. And 1 year clinical outcomes (5.7% vs. 5.1%, p = 0.337) were no differences between the groups. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum creatinine level (hazard ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 1.75; p = 0.021) were independent predictors of 1 year MACE in patients without any CV risk factors. Conclusions Elderly female patients were prone to develop AMI even without any modifiable CV risk factors. We suggest that more intensive care is needed in AMI patients without any CV risk factors who have high serum creatinine levels.

Coronary artery disease, especially acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is a leading cause of death in the Asia-Pacific region. The Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR) is the first nationwide, prospective, multicenter registry of Korean patients with AMI. Since the KAMIR first began in November 2005, more than 70,000 patients have been enrolled, and 230 papers have been published (as of October 2018). Moreover, published data from the KAMIR have revealed different characteristics from those of Western AMI registries regarding risk factors, interventional strategies, and clinical outcomes. As a result, the KAMIR study has improved the outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention and reduced mortality. We propose the use of the KAMIR score in the prediction of 1-year mortality. Using data from the KAMIR, we provide an overview of the current status of AMI in Korea, including trends in demographic characteristics, risk factors, medications, treatment strategies, and clinical outcomes.

Background and objectivesThis study sought to compare clinical outcomes between bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) and durable polymer everolimus-eluting metallic stents (DP-EES) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).MethodsFrom March 2016 to October 2017, 952 patients with AMI without cardiogenic shock undergoing successful PCI with BRS (n = 136) or DP-EES (n = 816) were enrolled from a multicenter, observational Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry.ResultsIn the crude population, there was no significant difference in the 1-year rate of device-oriented composite endpoint (DOCE) and device thrombosis between the BRS and DP-EES groups (2.2% vs. 4.8%, hazard ratio [HR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13-1.41, p = 0.163; 0.7% vs. 0.5%, HR 1.49, 95% CI 0.16-13.4, p = 0.719, respectively). BRS implantation was opted in younger patients (53.7 vs. 62.6 years, p < 0.001) with low-risk profiles, and intravascular image-guided PCI was more preferred in the BRS group (60.3% vs. 27.2%, p < 0.001).ConclusionsAt 1-year follow-up, no differences in the rate of DOCE and device thrombosis were observed between patients with AMI treated with BRS and those treated with DP-EES. Our data suggest that imaging-guided BRS implantation in young patients with low risk profiles could be a reasonable strategy in the setting of AMI.

Abstract Background Hypertension is a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke, and is one of the leading causes of death. Although over a billion people are affected worldwide, only half of them receive adequate treatment. Current guidelines on antihypertensive treatment recommend combination therapy for patients not responding to monotherapy, but as the number of pills increase, patient compliance tends to decrease. As a result, fixed-dose combination drugs with different antihypertensive agents have been developed and widely used in recent years. CCBs have been shown to be better at reducing central blood pressure and arterial stiffness than diuretics. Recent studies have reported that central blood pressure and arterial stiffness are associated with cardiovascular outcomes. This trial aims to compare the efficacy of combination of calcium channel blocker (CCB) or thiazide diuretic with an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Methods This is a multicenter, double-blinded, active-controlled, phase 4, randomized trial, comparing the antihypertensive effects of losartan/amlodipine and losartan/hydrochlorothiazide in patients unresponsive to treatment with losartan. The primary endpoint is changes in mean sitting systolic blood pressure (msSBP) after 4 weeks of treatment. Secondary endpoints are changes in msSBP, mean 24-h ambulatory mobile blood pressure, mean 24-h ambulatory mobile central SBP, mean 24-h ambulatory carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, ambulatory augmentation index, and microalbuminuria/proteinuria after 20 weeks of treatment. The sample size will be 119 patients for each group in order to confer enough power to test for non-inferiority regarding the primary outcome. Conclusion The investigators aim to prove that combination of a CCB with ARB shows non-inferiority in lowering blood pressure compared with a combination of thiazide diuretic and ARB. We also hope to distinguish the subset of patients that are more responsive to certain types of combination drugs. The results of this study should aid physicians in selecting appropriate combination regimens to treat hypertension in certain populations. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02294539. Registered 12 November 2014.

Gestational hypertensive diseases (GHD) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. However, the association between gestational medical diseases and familial history of CVD has not been investigated to date. In the present study, we examined the association between familial history of CVD and GHD or GDM via reliable questionnaires in a large cohort of registered nurses.The Korean Nurses' Survey was conducted through a web-based computer-assisted self-interview, which was developed through consultation with cardiologists, gynecologists, and statisticians. We enrolled a total of 9,989 female registered nurses who reliably answered the questionnaires including family history of premature CVD (FHpCVD), hypertension (FHH), and diabetes mellitus (FHDM) based on their medical knowledge. Either multivariable logistic regression analysis or generalized estimation equation was used to clarify the effect of positive family histories on GHD and GDM in subjects or at each repeated pregnancy in an individual.In this survey, 3,695 subjects had at least 1 pregnancy and 8,783 cumulative pregnancies. Among them, 247 interviewees (6.3%) experienced GHD and 120 (3.1%) experienced GDM. In a multivariable analysis adjusted for age, obstetric, and gynecologic variables, age at the first pregnancy over 35 years (adjusted OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.02-2.43) and FHpCVD (adjusted OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.16-2.22) were risk factors for GHD in individuals, whereas FHH was not. FHDM and history of infertility therapy were risk factors for GDM in individuals (adjusted OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.86-3.86; 1.84, 95% CI 1.05-3.23, respectively). In any repeated pregnancies in an individual, age at the current pregnancy and at the first pregnancy, and FHpCVD were risk factors for GHD, while age at the current pregnancy, history of infertility therapy, and FHDM were risk factors for GDM.The FHpCVD and FHDM are significantly associated with GHD and GDM, respectively. Meticulous family histories should be obtained, and women with family histories of these conditions should be carefully monitored during pregnancy.

Few simple and effective tools are available for determining the prognosis of 30-day survivors after acute myocardial infarction. We aimed to assess whether the simple age, creatinine, and ejection fraction (ACEF) score could predict 1-year mortality of 12,000 post-myocardial infarction 30-day survivors who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. The ACEF score was computed as follows: (age/ejection fraction) + 1, if the serum creatinine was >2 mg/dl. Accuracy was defined through receiver-operating characteristics analysis and area under the curve (AUC) evaluation. Twelve risk factors were selected and ranked according to their AUC value. Age, ejection fraction, and serum creatinine levels indicated the best AUC value. The ACEF score was significantly higher in the nonsurvivors (1.95 ± 0.82 vs 1.28 ± 0.50; p <0.001) and was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 2.26; p <0.001). The best accuracy was achieved by a prediction model including 12 risk factors (AUC = 0.80), but this did not significantly differ compared with the AUC (0.79) of the ACEF score (p = ns). Adjusted hazard ratios for 1-year mortality were 1 (reference), 3.11 (p <0.001), and 10.38 (p <0.001) for the ACEFLOW (ACEF score <1.0), ACEFMID (ACEF score 1.0 to 1.39), and ACEFHIGH (ACEF score ≥1.4) groups, respectively. The ACEF score may be a novel valid model to stratify the 1-year mortality risk in 30-day survivors who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention after acute myocardial infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to investigate the prognostic value of heart block among patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated with drug-eluting stents. A total of 13,862 patients with AMI, registered in the nation-wide AMI database from January 2005 to June 2013, were analyzed. Second- (Mobitz type I or II) and third-degree atrioventricular block were considered as heart block in this study. Thirty-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including all causes of death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and revascularization were evaluated. Percutaneous coronary intervention with implantation of drug-eluting stent was performed in 89.8% of the patients. Heart block occurred in 378 patients (2.7%). Thirty-day MACE occurred in 1,144 patients (8.2%). Patients with heart block showed worse clinical parameters at initial admission, and the presence of heart block was associated with 30-day MACE in univariate analyses. However, the prognostic impact of heart block was not significant after adjustment of potential confounders (p = 0.489). Among patients with heart block, patients with a culprit in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery had worse clinical outcomes than those of patients with a culprit in the left circumflex or right coronary artery. LAD culprit was a significant risk factor for 30-day MACE even after controlling for confounders (odds ratio 5.28, 95% confidence interval 1.22 to 22.81, p = 0.026). In conclusion, despite differences in clinical parameters at the initial admission, heart block was not an independent risk factor for 30-day MACE in adjusted analyses. However, a LAD culprit was an independent risk factor for 30-day MACE among patients with heart block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In contrast to many studies comparing everolimus-eluting stent (EES) with paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES), data directly comparing EES with sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) are limited, especially in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods This study includes 2911 AMI patients treated with SES (n = 1264) or EES (n = 1701) in Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR). Propensity score matching was applied to adjust for baseline imbalance in clinical and angiographic characteristics, yielding a total of 2400 well-matched patients (1200 receiving SES and 1200 receiving EES). One-year clinical outcomes were compared between the two propensity score matched groups. Results Baseline clinical and angiographic characteristics were similar between the two propensity score matched groups. One-year clinical outcomes of the propensity score matched cohort were comparable between the EES versus the SES groups including the rates of cardiac death (4.8% vs. 4.8%, P = 1.000), recurrent myocardial infarction (1.4% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.619), target lesion revascularization (1.4% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.737), target lesion failure (7.0% vs. 7.3%, P = 0.752), and probable or definite stent thrombosis (0.5% vs. 0.9%, P = 0.224) except for a trend toward lower incidence of target vessel revascularization (1.9% vs. 3.0%, P = 0.087) and a lower rate of total major adverse cardiac events (9.3% vs. 11.9%, P = 0.034) in the EES group. Conclusions The present propensity score matched analysis performed in a large-scale, prospective, multicenter registry suggests that the second-generation drug-eluting stent EES has at least comparable or even better safety and efficacy profiles as compared with SES in the setting of AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neurohumoral and inflammatory pathways are regarded as the main mechanisms for the progression of heart failure. We sought to investigate the prognostic value of highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) by evaluating their relation with 12-month mortality rate in this prospective cohort study from 24 academic hospitals in Korea. In 1,608 patients with acute heart failure (AHF), the median hs-CRP and NT-proBNP values were 0.77 mg/dl (interquartile range 0.29 to 2.84) and 4,638 pg/ml (interquartile range 1,945 to 10,852), respectively. During the 12-month follow-up, 213 patients (13.3%) died. The mortality rate increased from the lowest to the highest hs-CRP quartiles (Q1 7.4%, Q2 9.5%, Q3 16.9%, Q4 19.3%, p <0.001) and NT-proBNP quartiles (Q1 7.0%, Q2 13.4%, Q3 11.6%, Q4 20.4%, p <0.001). After adjustment, both hs-CRP (hazard ratio [HR] 1.811, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.138 to 2.882) and NT-proBNP (HR 1.971, 95% CI 1.219 to 3.187) were independent predictors of 12-month mortality among others. When combining both hs-CRP and NT-proBNP and stratifying the patients according to their median values, patients with elevation of both hs- CRP and NT-proBNP values had 2.4-fold increased hazards (HR 2.382, 95% CI 1.509 to 3.761) compared with those without elevation of both markers. In Korean patients with AHF, patients with increased levels of both hs-CRP and NT-proBNP had worse clinical outcomes. The combination of the neurohumoral and inflammatory markers may provide a better strategy for risk stratification of Asian patients with AHF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STsegment myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) during off-hours. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of patients' arrival time on the care of NSTEMI and whether this pattern might affect hospital mortality. This study analyzed 4,736 NSTEMI patients included in the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry from November 2005 to January 2008. Patients' arrival time was classified into regular hours (weekdays, 9:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.) and off-hours (weekdays 18:01 P.M. to 8:59 A.M., weekends, and holidays). A subtotal of 2,225 (46.9%) patients was admitted during off hours, compared with 2,511 (53.1%) patients with regular-hour admission. A higher proportion of patients admitted during off-hours had a higher Killip class, had more frequent cardiopulmonary resuscitation, were less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (67.7% vs 72.7%, p <0.001), and had longer door-to-balloon times (28 hours, interquartile range: 11 to 63 vs 23 hours, interquartile range 4 to 67, p <0.001). Although unadjusted hospital mortality was associated with admission during off-hours (4.5% vs 3.3%, p [ 0.023), after adjusting for all patients covariates, the difference in mortality was attenuated and was no longer statistically significant (odds ratio 0.94, 95% confidence interval 0.59 to 1.48, p[ 0.793). In conclusion, despite receiving fewer PCIs and having substantially longer waiting times to PCI, patients admitted during off-hours may not be at risk for increased in-hospital mortality. If patients are treated within an appropriate reperfusion strategy according to their clinical risk, arrival time may not influence on mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of benidipine (calcium channel blocker) and losartan (angiotensin receptor blocker) on arterial stiffness and central blood pressure (BP) in mild to moderate essential hypertensives. Methods and Results: This 24 weeks, multi-center, open label, randomized, active drug comparative, parallel group study was designed as a noninferior study. Eligible patients (n=200) were randomly assigned to receive benidipine (n=101) or losartan (n=99). Radial artery applanation tonometry and pulse wave analysis were used to derive central aortic pressure, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx). No significant differences were found in the mean changes in central BP between 2 groups [−16.66 (systolic BP)/−10.70 (diastolic BP) mmHg in the benidipine group and –18.44/−11.79 mmHg in the losartan group; P=NS]. The mean changes in central, brachial and femoral PWV were –0.06, +0.06 and −0.51m/sec for the benidipine group and −0.02, −0.15 and −0.06m/s for losartan group (respectively; P=NS). No significant differences were found in the mean changes in AIx between two groups [−5.46 in the benidipine group and −4.22 in the losartan group; P=NS]. Conclusion: The reduction in central BP after 24 weeks of benidipine was non-inferior to that of losartan in mild to moderate essential hypertensives. There were no significant different between two drugs in aspect of PWV and AIx. Both drugs had similar central BP lowering effect and affected similarly arterial stiffness.