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The present study aimed to evaluate sex-specific association between admission systolic blood pressure (SBP) and in-hospital prognosis in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). In this retrospective, observational study, 1268 ADHF patients requiring intensive care were consecutively enrolled and divided by sex. Patients were divided into three subgroups according to SBP tertiles: high (≥ 122 mmHg), moderate (104-121 mmHg) and low ( 104 mmHg). The primary endpoint was either all-cause mortality, cardiac arrest or utilization of mechanical support devices during hospitalization. Female patients were more likely to be older, have poorer renal function and higher ejection fractions (p 0.001). The C statistics of SBP was 0.665 (95%CI 0.611-0.719, p 0.001) for men and 0.548 (95% CI 0.461-0.634, p = 0.237) for women, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that admission SBP as either a continuous (OR = 0.984, 95% CI 0.973-0.996) or a categorical (low vs. high, OR = 3.293, 95% CI 1.610-6.732) variable was an independent predictor in male but the risk did not statistically differ between the moderate and high SBP strata (OR = 1.557, 95% CI 0.729-3.328). In female, neither low (OR = 1.135, 95% CI 0.328-3.924) nor moderate (OR = 0.989, 95% CI 0.277-3.531) SBP had a significant effect on primary endpoint compared with high SBP strata. No interaction was detected between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and SBP (p for interaction = 0.805). In ADHF patients admitted to ICU, SBP showed a sex-related prognostic effect on primary endpoint. In male, lower SBP was independently associated with an increased risk of primary endpoint. Conversely, in female, no relationship was observed.

Objectives: Fulminant myocarditis (FM) is a rapidly progressive and frequently fatal form of myocarditis that has been difficult to classify. This study aims to compare the clinical characteristics, treatments and outcomes in patients with fulminant giant cell myocarditis (FGCM) and fulminant lymphocytic myocarditis (FLM).Methods and Results: In our retrospective study, nine patients with FGCM (mean age 47.9 ± 7.5 years, six female) and 7 FLM (mean age 42.1 ± 12.3 years, four female) patients confirmed by histology in the last 11 years were included. Most patients with FGCM and FLM were NYHA functional class IV (56 vs. 100%, p = 0.132). Patients with FGCM had significantly lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP, 4.4 (2.0–10.2) mg/L vs. 13.6 (12.6–14.6) mg/L, P = 0.004, data shown as the median with IQR], creatine kinase-myoglobin [CK-MB, 1.4 (1.0–3.2) ng/ml vs. 14.6 (3.0–64.9) ng/ml, P = 0.025, median with IQR], and alanine aminotransferase [ALT, 38.0 (25.0–61.5) IU/L vs. 997.0 (50.0–3,080.0) IU/L, P = 0.030, median with IQR] and greater right ventricular end-diastolic diameter (RVEDD) [2.9 ± 0.3 cm vs. 2.4 ± 0.6 cm, P = 0.034, mean ± SD] than those with FLM. No differences were observed in the use of intra-aortic balloon pump (44 vs. 43%, p = 1.000) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (11 vs. 43%, p = 0.262) between the two groups. The long-term survival rate was significantly lower in FGCM group compared with FLM group (0 vs. 71.4%, p = 0.022). A multivariate cox regression analysis showed the level of hs-CRP (hazard ratio = 0.871, 95% confidence interval: 0.761–0.996, P = 0.043) was an independent prognostic factor for FM patients. Furthermore, the level of hs-CRP had a good ability to discriminate between patients with FGCM and FLM (AUC = 0.94, 95% confidence interval: 0.4213–0.9964).Conclusions: The inflammatory response and myocardial damage in the patients with FGCM were milder than those with FLM. Patients with FGCM had distinctly poorer prognoses compared with those with FLM. Our results suggest that hs-CRP could be a promising prognostic biomarker and a hs-CRP level of 11.71 mg/L is an appropriate cutoff point for the differentiating diagnosis between patients with FGCM and FLM.

Purpose Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist. The impact of rate-control regimens in AF and HF patients has not been well understood. Methods In this multicenter, prospective registry with one-year follow-up, 1359 persistent or permanent AF patients got enrolled. A 1:1 HF to non-HF propensity score matching was applied to adjust for confounding variables. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality while the secondary endpoint was defined as cardiovascular death and stroke. Multivariate Cox analysis was performed to evaluate the association between different rate-control treatment and incidence of adverse events. Results Before matching, HF patients were much younger and more likely to be female. They had a much higher prevalence of previous myocardial infarction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and valvular heart disease. Among 1359 participants, we identified 1016 matched patients. The number of drugs did not affect the risk of all-cause mortality in both cohorts. For non-HF patients, using calcium channel blockers (CCBs) plus digoxin had a significant higher risk of all-cause death (HR=5.703, 95% CI 1.334–24.604, p=0.019) and cardiovascular death (HR=9.558, 95% CI 2.127–42.935, p=0.003) compared with patients not receiving rate-control treatment. The use of beta-blockers, CCBs, digoxin alone, other dual or triple combinations was not related to risk of adverse events in both groups. Conclusions The combined use of CCBs and digoxin was related to increase all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in AF patients without HF but not for those with HF. However, the ideal rate-control regimen for AF and HF patients has not been established and well-designed clinical trials are needed. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Results of multivariate Cox analysisKaplan-Meier curves by drug numbers

Background Standard scoring system for bleeding risk assessment has not been developed in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study aims to evaluate the predictive value of the HAS-BLED, ORBIT, ARTIA, PARIS, and PRECISE-DEAPT score in patients with AF and ACS/PCI who received both anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy. Methods A total of 930 patients with AF and ACS/PCI receiving both anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy were consecutively recruited and followed up for 1 year. The primary endpoint was defined according to the bleeding academic research consortium (BARC) criteria as major (BARC 3a, 3b, 3c, and 5) and any bleeding (BARC 2, 3a, 3b, 3c, and 5). The secondary endpoints included major or minor bleeding according to TIMI criteria. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between bleeding risk scores and outcomes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed and c-statistics were calculated to evaluate the predictive performance of different bleeding risk scores. Results BARC class ≥2 bleedings occurred in 36 patients (3.9%), while BARC class ≥3 bleedings were seen in 134 patients (14.4%). The HAS-BLED, ORBIT, ARTIA, PARIS, and PRECISE-DEAPT score were significantly associated with incidences of BARC class ≥2 and ≥3 bleedings during 1-year follow-up (all p Conclusions In patients with AF and ACS/PCI receiving both anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy, the HAS-BLED, ORBIT, ARTIA, PARIS, and PRECISE-DEAPT score displayed low-to-moderate performance for predicting BARC class ≥3 bleedings during 1-year follow-up. More accurate scoring systems for bleeding risk evaluation should be developed for these patients in the future. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Receiver operating characteristic curve

Objective The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score is recommended for risk stratification for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by clinical guidelines. Data about comorbidities were not incorporated in the GRACE score. This study aimed to evaluate the incremental predictive value of adding the CHA2DS2-VASc score to the GRACE score for in-hospital mortality in patients with STEMI. Methods 7476 patients with STEMI were recruited and divided into five groups according to the CHA2DS2-VASc score (1, 2, 3, 4 and ≥5 points) at admission. The primary outcome was defined as in-hospital mortality, while the secondary outcomes were recurrent MI, stroke and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) during hospitalization. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between the CHA2DS2-VASc score and outcomes. Incremental predictive performance of adding the CHA2DS2-VASc score to the GRACE score were evaluated through analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, net reclassification improvement (NRI) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Results With the increase of CHA2DS2-VASc score, patients with STEMI tended to have more comorbidities, receive less evidence-based treatments and carry worse in-hospital outcomes. Multivariate logistic regressions demonstrated that the CHA2DS2-VASc score was an independent predictor for in-hospital mortality [OR (95% CI): 1.320 (1.238–1.407), p Conclusion The CHA2DS2-VASc score was an independent predictor of in-hospital outcomes in patients with STEMI. Compared to the GRACE score alone, the addition of the CHA2DS2-VASc score to the GRACE score improved the predictive performance for in-hospital mortality in patients STEMI. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Receiver operating characteristic curve