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AIM: To determine whether renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade is beneficial for cardiovascular outcomes in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) using meta-analysis. METHODS: The MEDLINE and Cochrane library databases were searched for randomized controlled trials published up to June 2010. We also reviewed reference lists from identified trials and review articles to identify any other relevant studies, and the ClinicalTrials.gov website to identify randomized controlled trials that were registered as completed but not yet published. A random-effects model was used to combine the estimates for risk ratios (RR). RESULTS: Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials (including post hoc analyses) assessing the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers on cardiovascular events compared to controls in patients with DM. Nineteen clinical trials with 41,042 patients and 6039 cardiovascular events were identified. RAS blockade significantly reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events (RR 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.84-1.00, I(2) statistic 53%) and myocardial infarction (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.72-0.94, I(2)=55%). There were trends towards fewer strokes and lower all-cause mortality but these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The available evidence shows that treatment with RAS blockade can routinely be considered for diabetic patients to reduce major cardiovascular events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of catheter ablation in treating atrial fibrillation (AF) among the elderly population., Methods: A total of 170 017 AF ablation procedures prospectively enrolled from 482 facilities between 2017 and 2020 were analysed. They were stratified into six age groups, ranging from < 65 to ≥ 85 years, in 5-year increments. A cut-off of 80 years was set for dividing participants into two groups. The primary endpoints included procedure-related complications and 1-year arrhythmia recurrence after a 3-month blanking period., Results: Patients ≥ 80 years constituted 7.2% of procedures in 2017, which significantly increased to 9.6% by 2020 (p < 0.001). This older group predominantly comprised women, with smaller stature and body mass index, a higher prevalence of paroxysmal AF, and a higher rate of initial ablation procedures. The overall complication rate was 2.8%, showing a positive correlation with age (p < 0.001), peaking at 4.3% for patients ≥ 85 years. Older age remained a significant independent risk factor for complications (odds ratio: 1.36 [1.24, 1.49], p < 0.001). Cardiac tamponade, ischemic stroke, and sick sinus syndrome were more common in the elderly. The recurrence rate in the total population was 16.0% and did not differ significantly between age groups (log-rank p = 0.473), remaining consistent even after adjusting for multiple variables., Conclusions: Although age increases complication risk, recurrence rates remained steady across age groups, suggesting that AF ablation is a reasonable option for elderly individuals, contingent on careful patient selection for safety. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03729232)., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Background: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rising in Japan with its aging population, but there is a lack of epidemiological data on sex differences in CVD, including acute coronary syndrome (ACS), acute heart failure (AHF), and acute aortic disease., Methods and results: This retrospective study analyzed data from 1,349,017 patients (January 2012-December 2020) using the Japanese Registry Of All Cardiac and Vascular Diseases database. ACS patients were youngest on average (70.5±12.9 years) and had the lowest female proportion (28.9%). AHF patients had the oldest mean age (79.7±12.0 years) and the highest proportion of females (48.0%). Acute aortic disease had the highest in-hospital mortality (26.1%), followed by AHF (11.5%) and ACS (8.9%). Sex-based mortality differences were notable in acute aortic disease, with higher male mortality in Stanford Type A acute aortic dissection (AAD) with surgery (males: 14.2% vs. females: 10.4%, P<0.001) and similar rates in Type B AAD (males: 6.2% vs. females: 7.9%, P=0.52). Aging was a universal risk factor for in-hospital mortality. Female sex was a risk factor for ACS and acute aortic disease but not for AHF or Types A and B AAD., Conclusions: Sex-based disparities in the CVD-related hospitalization and mortality within the Japanese national population have been highlighted for the first time, indicating the importance of sex-specific strategies in the management and understanding of these conditions.

Objectives: Nationwide lifestyle intervention-specific health guidance (SHG) in Japan-employs counselling and education to change unhealthy behaviours that contribute to metabolic syndrome, especially obesity or abdominal obesity. We aimed to perform a model-based economic evaluation of SHG in a low participation rate setting., Design: A hypothetical population, comprised 50 000 Japanese aged 40 years who met the criteria of the SHG, used a microsimulation using the Markov model to evaluate SHG's cost-effectiveness compared with non-SHG. This hypothetical population was simulated over a 35-year time horizon., Setting: SHG is conducted annually by all Japanese insurers., Outcome Measures: Model parameters, such as costs and health outcomes (including quality-adjusted life-years, QALYs), were based on existing literature. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated from the healthcare payer's perspective. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA) were conducted to evaluate the uncertainty around the model input parameters., Results: The simulation revealed that the total costs per person in the SHG group decreased by JPY53 014 (US$480) compared with that in the non-SHG group, and the QALYs increased by 0.044, wherein SHG was considered the dominant strategy despite the low participation rates. PSA indicated that the credibility intervals (2.5th-97.5th percentile) of the incremental costs and the incremental QALYs with the SHG group compared with the non-SHG group were -JPY687 376 to JPY85 197 (-US$6226 to US$772) and -0.009 to 0.350 QALYs, respectively. Each scenario analysis indicated that programmes for improving both blood pressure and blood glucose levels among other risk factors for metabolic syndrome are essential for improving cost-effectiveness., Conclusions: This study suggests that even small effects of counselling and education on behavioural modification may lead to the prevention of acute life-threatening events and chronic diseases, in addition to the reduction of medication resulting from metabolic syndrome, which results in cost savings., Competing Interests: Competing interests: YMN reports a study grant from Bayer, outside the submitted work. No other disclosures are applicable., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Antithrombotic therapy is crucial for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD), but women with CVD may face increased bleeding complications post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) under antithrombotic therapy. However, women are often underrepresented in clinical trials in this field, so evidence for sex-specific recommendations is lacking. Methods and Results: A search on PubMed was conducted for English-language articles addressing bleeding complications and antithrombotic therapy in women. Despite women potentially showing higher baseline platelet responsiveness than men, the clinical implications remain unclear. Concerning antiplatelet therapy post-PCI, although women have an elevated bleeding risk in the acute phase, no sex differences were observed in the chronic phase. However, women require specific considerations for factors such as age, renal function, and weight when determining the dose and duration of antiplatelet therapy. Regarding anticoagulation post-PCI, direct oral anticoagulants may pose a lower bleeding risk in women compared with warfarin. Concerning triple antithrombotic therapy (TAT) post-PCI for patients with atrial fibrillation, there is a lack of evidence on whether sex differences should be considered in the duration and regimen of TAT. Conclusions: Recent findings on sex differences in post-PCI bleeding complications did not provide enough evidence to recommend specific therapies for women. Further studies are needed to address this gap and recommend optimal antithrombotic therapy post-PCI for women., Competing Interests: Y.M.N. reports a study grant from Bayer, outside of this study. All other authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024, THE JAPANESE CIRCULATION SOCIETY.)

This cross-sectional study investigated the association between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and cognitive impairment. We used data from 6215 Japanese individuals registered in the Suita Study. Cognitive impairment was defined as a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of ≤ 26. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of cognitive impairment for eGFR 45-59.9 and < 45 mL/min/1.73 m 2 (mild and moderate-to-severe eGFR reductions) compared to eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 (normal eGFR). The results showed that both mild and moderate-to-severe eGFR reductions were associated with cognitive impairment: ORs (95% CIs) = 1.49 (1.22-1.83) and 2.35 (1.69-3.26), respectively (p-trend < 0.001). Each increment of eGFR by 10 mL/min/1.73m 2 was associated with 4.8% lower odds of cognitive impairment. In conclusion, eGFR reduction was associated with cognitive impairment. Managing CKD is essential for preventing cognitive impairment., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Hypertension.)

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is increasingly common and associated with excess morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Treatment of HF can alter the disease trajectory and reduce clinical events in HF. However, many cases of HF remain undetected until presentation with more advanced symptoms, often requiring hospitalisation. Predicting incident HF is challenging and statistical models are limited by performance and scalability in routine clinical practice. An HF prediction model implementable in nationwide electronic health records (EHRs) could enable targeted diagnostics to enable earlier identification of HF., Methods and Analysis: We will investigate a range of development techniques (including logistic regression and supervised machine learning methods) on routinely collected primary care EHRs to predict risk of new-onset HF over 1, 5 and 10 years prediction horizons. The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)-GOLD dataset will be used for derivation (training and testing) and the CPRD-AURUM dataset for external validation. Both comprise large cohorts of patients, representative of the population of England in terms of age, sex and ethnicity. Primary care records are linked at patient level to secondary care and mortality data. The performance of the prediction model will be assessed by discrimination, calibration and clinical utility. We will only use variables routinely accessible in primary care., Ethics and Dissemination: Permissions for CPRD-GOLD and CPRD-AURUM datasets were obtained from CPRD (ref no: 21&#95;000324). The CPRD ethical approval committee approved the study. The results will be submitted as a research paper for publication to a peer-reviewed journal and presented at peer-reviewed conferences., Trial Registration Details: The study was registered on Clinical Trials.gov (NCT05756127). A systematic review for the project was registered on PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42022380892)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: YMN reports a study grant from Bayer, outside the submitted work. JM reports personal fees from Bayer. He is the President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. CG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Boehrinher-Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor, Pharma, Menarini, Wondr Medical, Raisio Group and Oxford University Press. He has received educational and research grants from BMS, Abbott inc., the British Heart Foundation, National Institute of Health Research, Horizon 2020, and from the European Society of Cardiology, outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: The utility of screening for the degree of common carotid artery (CCA) stenosis as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a general population remains unclear., Methods and Results: We studied 4775 Japanese men and women whose CCA was measured using bilateral carotid ultrasonography at baseline (April 1994-August 2001). We calculated the degree of stenosis as a percentage of the stenotic area of the lumen in the cross-section perpendicular to the long axis. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs for incident CVD and its subtypes according to the degree of CCA stenosis. During the median 14.2 years of follow-up, 385 incident CVD events (159 coronary heart disease and 226 stroke) were documented. The degree of CCA stenosis was associated with increased risks of incident CVD, coronary heart disease, and stroke, with multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for <25%, 25%-49%, and ≥50% stenosis with plaque compared with no CCA plaque of 1.37 (1.07-1.76), 1.72 (1.23-2.40), and 2.49 (1.69-3.67), respectively. Adding the CCA stenosis degree to traditional CVD risk factors increased Harrell's C statistics (0.772 [95% CI, 0.751-0.794] to 0.778 [95% CI, 0.758-0.799]; P =0.04) and improved the 10-year risk prediction ability (integrated discrimination improvement, 0.0129 [95% CI, 0.0078-0.0179]; P <0.001; continuous net reclassification improvement, 0.1598 [95% CI, 0.0297-0.2881]; P =0.01)., Conclusions: The degree of CCA stenosis may be used as a predictive marker for the development of CVD in the general population.

Background and Aims: Reports of outcomes after atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnosis are conflicting. The aim of this study was to investigate mortality and hospitalization rates following AF diagnosis over time, by cause and by patient features., Methods: Individuals aged ≥16 years with a first diagnosis of AF were identified from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink-GOLD dataset from 1 January 2001, to 31 December 2017. The primary outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality and hospitalization at 1 year following diagnosis. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios (RRs) for mortality and incidence RRs (IRRs) for hospitalization and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing 2001/02 and 2016/17, adjusted for age, sex, region, socio-economic status, and 18 major comorbidities., Results: Of 72 412 participants, mean (standard deviation) age was 75.6 (12.4) years, and 44 762 (61.8%) had ≥3 comorbidities. All-cause mortality declined (RR 2016/17 vs. 2001/02 0.72; 95% CI 0.65-0.80), with large declines for cardiovascular (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.37-0.58) and cerebrovascular mortality (RR 0.41; 95% CI 0.29-0.60) but not for non-cardio/cerebrovascular causes of death (RR 0.91; 95% CI 0.80-1.04). In 2016/17, deaths caused from dementia (67, 8.0%), outstripped deaths from acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and acute stroke combined (56, 6.7%, P < .001). Overall hospitalization rates increased (IRR 2016/17 vs. 2001/02 1.17; 95% CI, 1.13-1.22), especially for non-cardio/cerebrovascular causes (IRR 1.42; 95% CI 1.39-1.45). Older, more deprived, and hospital-diagnosed AF patients experienced higher event rates., Conclusions: After AF diagnosis, cardio/cerebrovascular mortality and hospitalization has declined, whilst hospitalization for non-cardio/cerebrovascular disease has increased., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death and disability globally, with inequalities in burden and care delivery evident in Europe. To address this challenge, The Lancet Regional Health-Europe convened experts from a range of countries to summarise the current state of knowledge on cardiovascular disease inequalities across Europe. This Series paper presents evidence from nationwide secondary care registries and primary care healthcare records regarding inequalities in care delivery and outcomes for myocardial infarction, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and aortic stenosis in the National Health Service (NHS) across the United Kingdom (UK) by age, sex, ethnicity and geographical location. Data suggest that women and older people less frequently receive guideline-recommended treatment than men and younger people. There are limited publications about ethnicity in the UK for the studied disease areas. Finally, there is inter-healthcare provider variation in cardiovascular care provision, especially for transcatheter aortic valve implantation, which is associated with differing outcomes for patients with the same disease. Providing equitable care is a founding principle of the UK NHS, which is well positioned to deliver innovative policy responses to reverse observed inequalities. Understanding differences in care may enable the implementation of appropriate strategies to mitigate differences in outcomes., Competing Interests: CPG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Boehrinher-Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor, Pharma, Menarini, Wondr Medical, Raisio Group and 10.13039/501100007723Oxford University Press. He has received educational and research grants from BMS, Abbott inc., the 10.13039/501100000274British Heart Foundation, 10.13039/501100000272National Institute for Health Research, 10.13039/501100007601Horizon 2020, and from the 10.13039/501100000860European Society of Cardiology, outside the submitted work. YMN reports a study grant from Bayer. All other authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Aims: Multivariable prediction models can be used to estimate risk of incident heart failure (HF) in the general population. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to determine the performance of models., Methods and Results: From inception to 3 November 2022 MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for studies of multivariable models derived, validated and/or augmented for HF prediction in community-based cohorts. Discrimination measures for models with c-statistic data from ≥3 cohorts were pooled by Bayesian meta-analysis, with heterogeneity assessed through a 95% prediction interval (PI). Risk of bias was assessed using PROBAST. We included 36 studies with 59 prediction models. In meta-analysis, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) risk score (summary c-statistic 0.802, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.707-0.883), GRaph-based Attention Model (GRAM; 0.791, 95% CI 0.677-0.885), Pooled Cohort equations to Prevent Heart Failure (PCP-HF) white men model (0.820, 95% CI 0.792-0.843), PCP-HF white women model (0.852, 95% CI 0.804-0.895), and REverse Time AttentIoN model (RETAIN; 0.839, 95% CI 0.748-0.916) had a statistically significant 95% PI and excellent discrimination performance. The ARIC risk score and PCP-HF models had significant summary discrimination among cohorts with a uniform prediction window. 77% of model results were at high risk of bias, certainty of evidence was low, and no model had a clinical impact study., Conclusions: Prediction models for estimating risk of incident HF in the community demonstrate excellent discrimination performance. Their usefulness remains uncertain due to high risk of bias, low certainty of evidence, and absence of clinical effectiveness research., (© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Background: We aimed to determine the usefulness and sex differences of assessment of coronary artery calcification (CAC) with cardiovascular risk factors and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in Japanese patients., Methods: In a nationwide, multicenter, prospective cohort study, 1187 patients with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent coronary computed tomography were enrolled. MACE included cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, revascularization, and hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, or aortic disease. The concordance (C)-statistics were used to assess the relationships among the Suita risk score, CAC score, and incident MACE, with emphasis on sex differences., Results: The final analysis included 982 patients (mean age, 64.7 ± 6.6 years; male patients, 53.9 %). MACE developed in 65 male and 21 female patients during a median follow-up of 1480 days. The C-statistics calculated using Suita score for MACE were 0.650, 0.633, and 0.569 in overall, male, and female patients, respectively. In overall patients, the C-statistic significantly increased in combined models of Agatston CAC scores of ≥100, 200, 300, or 400 and the Suita score. In each sex, the C-statistics significantly increased in the model that added an Agatston CAC score of ≥100 and ≥200 (+0.049 and +0.057) in male patients, and ≥400 (+0.119) in females, respectively., Conclusions: Adding assessment of Agatston CAC scores to Suita score was useful to improve the predictive ability for future MACE in Japanese patients. Agatston CAC scores of ≥100 or 200 in male and ≥400 in female patients in addition to Suita score improved the MACE risk prediction., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Y.N. reports a study grant from Bayer, outside the submitted work., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Whether the accuracy of the phenotype ascribed to patients in electronic health records (EHRs) is associated with variation in prognosis and care provision is unknown. We investigated this for heart failure (HF, characterised as HF with preserved ejection fraction [HFpEF], HF with reduced ejection fraction [HFrEF] and unspecified HF)., Methods: We included individuals aged 16 years and older with a new diagnosis of HF between January 2, 1998 and February 28, 2022 from linked primary and secondary care records in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in England. We investigated the provision of guideline-recommended diagnostic investigations and pharmacological treatments. The primary outcome was a composite of HF hospitalisation or all-cause death, and secondary outcomes were time to HF hospitalisation, all-cause death and death from cardiovascular causes. We used Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank tests to compare survival across HF phenotypes and adjusted for potential confounders in Cox proportional hazards regression analyses., Findings: Of a cohort of 95,262 individuals, 1271 (1.3%) were recorded as having HFpEF, 10,793 (11.3%) as HFrEF and 83,198 (87.3%) as unspecified HF. Individuals recorded as unspecified HF were older with a higher prevalence of dementia. Unspecified HF, compared to patients with a recorded HF phenotype, were less likely to receive specialist assessment, echocardiography or natriuretic peptide testing in the peri-diagnostic period, or receive angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta blockers or mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists up to 12 months after diagnosis (risk ratios compared to HFrEF, 0.64, 95% CI 0.63-0.64; 0.59, 0.58-0.60; 0.57, 0.55-0.59; respectively) and had significantly worse outcomes (adjusted hazard ratios compared to HFrEF, HF hospitalisation and death 1.66, 95% CI 1.59-1.74; all-cause mortality 2.00, 1.90-2.10; cardiovascular death 1.77, 1.65-1.90)., Interpretation: Our findings suggested that absence of specification of HF phenotype in routine EHRs is inversely associated with clinical investigations, treatments and survival, representing an actionable target to mitigate prognostic and health resource burden., Funding: Japan Research Foundation for Healthy Aging and British Heart Foundation., Competing Interests: YMN reports a study grant from Bayer, outside the submitted work. CPG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Boehrinher-Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor, Pharma, Menarini, Wondr Medical, Raisio Group and Oxford University Press. He has received educational and research grants from BMS, Abbott inc., the British Heart Foundation, National Institute of Health Research, Horizon 2020, and from the European Society of Cardiology, outside the submitted work. MCP reports grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, SQ Innovations, Astra Zeneca, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Pharmacosomos. He reports consulting fees and payments from Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pharmacosomos, Abbvie, Bayer, Takeda, Corvia, Cardorentis, Seimens, and Vifor. He has participated on Data Safety Monitoring Boards and Advisory Boards for Teikoku and AstraZeneca and is Director of Global Clinical Trials Partners. AB reports a grant from AstraZeneca. GCF reports consulting fees from Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Cytokinetics. All other authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Objective: Hormonal changes during menopause can disturb serum cholesterol which is closely associated with cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the prospective association between serum cholesterol and heart failure (HF) risk in postmenopausal women., Methods: We analyzed data from 1,307 Japanese women, aged 55 to 94 years. All women had no history of HF, and their baseline brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels were less than 100 pg/mL. During the follow-ups conducted every 2 years, HF was diagnosed among women who developed BNP of 100 pg/mL or greater. Cox proportional hazard models were applied to calculate hazard ratios and 95% CI of HF for women per their baseline total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. The Cox regression models were adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol drinking, hypertension, diabetes, cardiac murmurs, arrhythmia, stroke or ischemic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and lipid-lowering agent use., Results: Within an 8-year median follow-up, 153 participants developed HF. In the multivariable-adjusted model, women with total cholesterol of 240 mg/dL or greater (compared with 160-199 mg/dL) and HDL-C of 100 mg/dL or greater (compared with 50-59 mg/dL) showed an increased risk of HF: hazard ratios (95% CI) = 1.70 (1.04-2.77) and 2.70 (1.10-6.64), respectively. The results remained significant after further adjusting for baseline BNP. No associations were observed with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol., Conclusions: Total cholesterol of 240 mg/dL or greater and HDL-C of 100 mg/dL or greater were positively associated with the risk of HF in postmenopausal Japanese women., Competing Interests: Financial disclosure/conflicts of interest: K.S. receives institutional funding from CSL Behring. Y.M.N. receives institutional funding from Bayer. The other authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 by The North American Menopause Society.)

Background: To examine the utility of fractional flow reserve by coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography (FFR CT ) for predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD)., Methods: This was a nationwide multicenter prospective cohort study including consecutive 1187 patients aged 50-74 years with suspected CAD and had available coronary CT angiography (CCTA). In patients with ≥50% coronary artery stenosis (CAS), FFR CT was further analyzed. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association of FFR CT and cardiovascular risk factors with incident MACE within 2 years., Results: Among 933 patients with available information on MACE within 2 years after enrollment, the incidence rate of MACE was higher in 281 patients with CAS than in those without CAS (6.11 vs. 1.16 per 100 patient-year). In 241 patients with CAS, the Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that FFR CT as well as diabetes mellitus and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level were independently associated with incident MACE. Moreover, the hazard ratio was significantly higher in patients harboring all three factors compared to those harboring 0-2 of the three factors (6.01; 95% confidence interval: 2.77-13.03)., Conclusions: Combinatorial assessment using CCTA for stenosis, FFR CT , and risk factors was useful for more accurate prediction of MACE in patients with suspected CAD. Among patients with CAS, those with lower FFR CT , diabetes mellitus, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level were at highest risk for MACE during the 2-year period following enrollment., (© 2023 The Authors. Clinical Cardiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aims: Prognosis for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is worse when heart failure is present on admission. Understanding clinical practice in different health systems can identify areas for quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes. In the absence of international comparison studies, we aimed to compare treatments and in-hospital outcomes of patients admitted with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by heart failure status in two healthcare-wide cohorts., Methods and Results: We used two nationwide databases to capture admissions with STEMI in the United Kingdom (Myocardial ischemia National Audit Project, MINAP) and Japan (Japanese Registry of All Cardiac and Vascular Diseases-Diagnostic Procedure Combination, JROAD-DPC) between 2012 and 2017. Participants were stratified using the HF Killip classification into three groups; Killip 1: no congestive heart failure, Killip 2-3: congestive heart failure, Killip 4: cardiogenic shock. We calculated crude rate and case mix standardized risk ratios (CSRR) for use of treatments and in-hospital death. Patients were younger in the United Kingdom (65.4 [13.6] vs. 69.1 [13.0] years) and more likely to have co-morbidities in the United Kingdom except for diabetes and hypertension. Japan had a higher percentage of heart failure and cardiogenic shock patients among STEMI during admission than that in the United Kingdom. Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) rates were lower in the United Kingdom compared with Japan, especially for patients presenting with Killip 2-3 class heart failure (pPCI use in patients with Killip 1, 2-3, 4: Japan, 86.2%, 81.7%, 78.7%; United Kingdom, 79.6%, 58.2% and 79.9%). In contrast, beta-blocker use was consistently lower in Japan than in the United Kingdom (61.4% vs. 90.2%) across Killip classifications and length of hospital stay longer (17.0 [9.7] vs. 5.0 [7.4] days). The crude rate of in-hospital mortality increased with increasing Killip class group. Both the crude rate and CSRR was higher in the United Kingdom compared with Japan for Killip 2-3 (15.8% vs. 6.4%, CSRR 1.80 95% CI 1.73-1.87, P < 0.001), and similar for Killip 4 (36.9% vs. 36.3%, CSRR 1.11 95% CI 1.08-1.13, P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Important differences in the care and outcomes for STEMI with heart failure exist between the United Kingdom and Japan. Specifically, in the United Kingdom, there was a lower rate of pPCI, and in Japan, fewer patients were prescribed beta blockers and hospital length of stay was longer. This international comparison can inform targeted quality improvement programmes to narrow the outcome gap between health systems., (© 2023 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

Hypertension is a significant risk factor for heart failure (HF). Since hypertension definition varies across guidelines, identifying blood pressure (BP) categories that should be targeted to prevent HF is required. We, therefore, investigated the association between hypertension per the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) and 2018 European Society of Cardiology/European Society of Hypertension (ESC/ESH) guidelines and HF risk. This prospective cohort study included randomly selected 2809 urban Japanese people from the Suita Study. Cox regression was used to assess HF risk, in the form of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), for different BP categories in both guidelines, compared to a reference category defined as systolic BP (SBP) <120 mmHg and diastolic BP (DBP) <80 mmHg. Within 8 years of median follow-up, 339 HF cases were detected. Per the 2017 ACC/AHA guidelines, hypertension I and II and isolated systolic hypertension were associated with increased HF risk: HRs (95% CIs) = 1.81 (1.33-2.47), 1.68 (1.24-2.27), and 1.64 (1.13-2.39), respectively. Per the 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines, high-normal BP, hypertension I, II, and III, and isolated systolic hypertension were associated with increased HF risk: HRs (95% CIs) = 1.88 (1.35-2.62), 1.57 (1.13-2.16), 2.10 (1.34-3.29), 2.57 (1.15-5.77), and 1.51 (1.04-2.19), respectively. In conclusion, hypertension and isolated systolic hypertension per the 2017 ACC/AHA and 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines and high-normal BP per the 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines are risk factors for HF., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Hypertension.)

Aim: We aimed to investigate the combined impact of liver enzymes and alcohol consumption on the diabetes risk., Methods: Data on 5972 non-diabetic participants aged 30-79 years from the Suita study were analyzed. Diabetes incidence was surveyed every 2 years. Current daily alcohol consumption was defined as light drinking (< 23.0 g ethanol/day in men and < 11.5 g in women), moderate drinking (23.0-45.9 g and 11.5-22.9 g), and heavy drinking (≥ 46.0 g and ≥ 23.0 g). The nondrinkers category included both never-drinkers and former drinkers., Results: During the median follow-up of 13 years, 597 incident diabetes cases were diagnosed. Higher levels of γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (GPT), and aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) were associated with an increased diabetes risk, and current light drinkers had a lower risk of diabetes than nondrinkers. No sex differences were observed in these associations. Compared to nondrinkers having the lowest quartiles of liver enzymes, nondrinkers and current moderate/heavy drinkers having the highest quartiles had an increased risk of diabetes. However, no association was observed for current light drinkers having the highest quartiles of liver enzymes; the multivariable hazard ratios (95% CIs) in current light drinkers with the highest quartile of liver enzymes were 1.27 (0.68-2.37) for GGT, 1.05 (0.59-1.89) for GPT, and 0.76 (0.40-1.47) for GOT, respectively., Conclusion: High liver enzymes were associated with an increased diabetes risk. No increased diabetes risk was observed in current light drinkers, even in these who had high levels of liver enzymes., (© 2022. Springer-Verlag Italia S.r.l., part of Springer Nature.)

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the association of mild hypertensive retinopathy with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk., Methods: A total of 7,027 residents aged 30-79 years without a history of CVD participated in the annual health checkups and retinal photography assessments. Retinal microvascular abnormalities were graded using the standard protocols and classified according to the Keith-Wagener-Barker classification. Mild hypertensive retinopathy was defined as grades 1 and 2. Cox proportional hazard model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for total CVD and its subtypes according to the presence and absence of mild hypertensive retinopathy., Results: During a median follow-up of 17 years, 351 incident stroke and 247 coronary heart disease (CHD) cases were diagnosed. After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, mild hypertensive retinopathy was positively associated with risk of CVD (multivariable HR=1.24; 95% CI, 1.04-1.49) and stroke (1.28; 1.01-1.62) but not with risk of CHD (1.19; 0.89-1.58). Generalized arteriolar narrowing and enhanced arteriolar wall reflex were positively associated with CVD risk, the multivariable HR (95% CI) was 1.24 (1.00-1.54) and 1.33 (1.02-1.74), respectively. Moreover, mild hypertensive retinopathy was positively associated with stroke risk in normotensive participants., Conclusion: Mild hypertensive retinopathy was positively associated with CVD and stroke risk in the urban Japanese population. Especially, generalized arteriolar narrowing and enhanced arteriolar wall reflex were positively associated with CVD risk. These findings suggested that retinal photography could be helpful for cardiovascular risk stratification in the primary cardiovascular prevention.

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are effective and safe alternatives to warfarin for stroke prophylaxis for atrial fibrillation (AF). Whether this extends to patients at the extremes of body mass index (BMI) is unclear., Methods: Using linked primary and secondary data, Jan 1, 2010 to Nov 30, 2018, we included CHA 2 DS 2 -VAS C score ≥3 in women and ≥2 in men with AF treated with oral anticoagulants (OACs). Outcomes were ischaemic stroke, major bleeding and all-cause mortality by World Health Organisation BMI classification. Patients who received warfarin were propensity score matched (1:1 ratio) with those who received DOACs and the association of time-varying OAC exposure on outcomes quantified using Cox proportional hazards models., Findings: We included 29,135 (22,818 warfarin, 6317 DOAC); 585 (2.0%) underweight, 8427 (28.9%) normal weight, 10,705 (36.7%) overweight, 5910 (20.3%) class I obesity and 3508 (12.0%) class II/III obesity. Patients treated with DOACs were older and more comorbid. After 3.7 (SD 2.5) years follow up, there was no difference in risk of ischaemic stroke and major bleeding by BMI category between DOACs and warfarin. Normal weight, overweight and obese class I patients had higher risk of all-cause mortality when treated with DOACs compared with warfarin (HR: 1.45 [95% CI 1.24-1.69], p  < 0.001; 1.41 [95% CI 1.19-1.66], p  < 0.001; and 1.90 [95% CI 1.50-2.39], p  < 0.001), an effect not observed after DOACs became the most common OAC prescription. Amongst underweight patients OAC exposure was associated with greater harm from bleeding than benefit from stroke prevention (benefit to harm ratio, 0.35 [95% CI 0.26-0.44])., Interpretation: In patients with AF in each BMI classification we found no difference in ischaemic stroke and bleeding risk for DOACs compared with warfarin. Underweight patients experienced divergent risk-benefit patterns from oral anticoagulation compared with other BMI categories., Funding: None., Competing Interests: YMN reports a study grant from Bayer. CPG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Boehrinher-Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor, Pharma, Menarini, Wondr Medical, Raisio Group and Oxford University Press. He has received educational and research grants from BMS, Abbott Inc., the British Heart Foundation, National Institute of Health Research, Horizon 2020, and from the European Society of Cardiology, outside the submitted work. AJC reports personal fees from Abbott, Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer, BMS, Sanofi, Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Menarini. All other authors declare no competing interests., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Objective: The association between serum uric acid levels and the risk of diabetes mellitus in women stratified by menopausal status is not well-established. Therefore, we investigated this association among a cohort of Japanese urban women., Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study on 3,304 women (1,252 premenopausal and 2,052 postmenopausal), aged 30 to 79 years, with no prior cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus, and enrolled from a general urban population. Cox proportional hazard model was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident diabetes mellitus according to serum uric acid quartiles., Results: During 13.8 years of median follow-up, 219 incident diabetes mellitus cases were diagnosed. The incidence rate per 1,000 person-years was 3.42 in premenopausal women and 6.19 in postmenopausal women. After adjustment for potential risk factors, the multivariable hazard ratios (95% CIs) of the highest versus lowest serum uric acid quartiles were 1.56 (0.77-3.16) in premenopausal women, 2.00 (1.19-3.34) in postmenopausal women, and 1.81 (1.21-2.73) in all women. The interaction based on menopausal status was not significant ( P = 0.872). The corresponding population attributable fractions (95% CIs) were 13.3% (-8.9% to 31.1%), 19.1% (5.3%-30.9%), and 17.0% (5.6%-27.0%), respectively., Conclusions: Serum uric acid levels were positively associated with the risk of diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women, but not in premenopausal women. However, the lack of an association in premenopausal women may have been due to limited power, so further research is required to confirm this menopausal status-specific association., Competing Interests: Financial disclosure/conflicts of interest: None reported., (Copyright © 2022 by The North American Menopause Society.)

The Japanese Catheter Ablation (J-AB) registry, started in August 2017, is a voluntary, nationwide, multicenter, prospective, observational registry, performed by the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society (JHRS) in collaboration with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center using a Research Electronic Data Capture system. The purpose of this registry is to collect the details of target arrhythmias, the ablation procedures, including the type of target arrhythmias, outcomes, and acute complications in real-world settings. During the year 2020, we have collected a total of 84 591 procedures (mean age of 65.8 years and 66.6% male) from 466 participant hospitals. Detailed data were shown in Figures and Tables., Competing Interests: Kengo Kusano: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Biotronik Japan, Bayer Yakuhin, Pfizer, and Medtronic Japan, and research grants from Medtronic Japan, HITACHI, Biotronic Japan, Mebix, and JSR. Teiichi Yamane: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Medtronic Japan, and BEG Company, Ltd, and research grants from Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim. Koichi Inoue: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Bristol Myers Squibb, Bayer Yakuhin, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson & Johnson KK, Medtronic Japan, and Boston Scientific Japan. Koji Miyamoto received research fundings irrelevant to this study from Abbott, Japan Lifeline, and lecture fees from Abbott, Nihon‐koden, Johnson & Johnson KK, Medtronic Japan, Japan Lifeline, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Brystol Myer Squibb, Pfizer, Bayer Yakuhin. Seiji Takatsuki received research fundings irrelevant to this study from Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Japan Lifeline, Eizai, Boston Scientific Japan, Johnson & Johnson KK and lecture fees from Medtronic Japan, Japan Lifeline, DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Pfizer, Boston Scientific Japan, Bayer Yakuhin, Biotronik Japan, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Brystol Myers Squibb, Nihon‐koden. Wataru Shimizu: Research grant from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., and Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, and Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Bristol Myers Squibb, Bayer Yakuhin, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Ono Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, Novartis Pharma K.K., and Medtronic Japan. None: M.T., Y.M.N, M.K, M.N, K.K, R.T, Y.I, K.N., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Background: Population-based studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) incidence are needed to inform health-service planning, but evidence is conflicting. We assessed trends of AF incidence in a large general population cohort from England., Methods: We used linked primary and secondary electronic health records of 3.4 million individuals. Eligible patients aged 16 years and older contributed data between Jan 2 1998 and Dec 31 2017. For patients with incident AF, we extracted baseline characteristics, comorbidities, socioeconomic status and geographic region. We calculated standardised rates by applying direct age and sex standardisation to the 2013 European Standard Population. We applied year-specific, age-specific and sex-specific incidence to UK census mid-year population estimates for yearly total incident AF., Findings: Comparing 2017 to 1998 standardised AF incidence increased by 30% (322 vs. 247 per 100 000 person-years; adjusted incidence ratio [IRR] 1·30, 95% CI 1·27-1·33). Absolute number of incident AF increased by 72% (202 333 vs. 117 880), due to an increasing number of older persons. Comorbidity burden at diagnosis of AF increased (3·74 [SD 2·29] vs 2·58 [1·83]; adjusted difference 1·26, 95% CI 1·14-1·39). The age of AF diagnosis declined in the most deprived individuals compared to the most affluent (adjusted difference 0·74 years, 0·62-0·88). Across the study period, age-standardised incidence was higher in men than women (IRR 1·49; 95% CI 1·46-1·52), and men were younger at diagnosis (adjusted difference 5·53 years; 95% CI 5·36 to 5·69). Socioeconomically deprived individuals had more comorbidities and a higher incidence of AF than the most affluent individuals (IRR 1·20; 95% CI 1·15-1·24)., Interpretation: In England AF incidence has increased, and the socioeconomic gradient in age at diagnosis and comorbidity burden widened. This changing burden requires policy-based interventions to achieve health equity., Funding: British Heart Foundation and National Institute for Health Research., Competing Interests: CPG reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, Boehrinher-Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor, Pharma, Menarini, Wondr Medical, Raisio Group and Oxford University Press. He has received educational and research grants from BMS, Abbott inc., the British Heart Foundation, National Institute of Health Research, Horizon 2020, and from the European Society of Cardiology, outside the submitted work. AJC reports personal fees from Abbott, Bayer, Daiichi Sankyo, Pfizer, BMS, Sanofi, Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Menarini. YMN reports a study grant from Bayer. CW has received a research grant from BMS. All other authors declare no competing interests, (© 2022 The Author(s).)

The Japanese Heart Rhythm Society established a nationwide, mandatory, multi-center, prospective, observational registry of transvenous lead extraction (TLE) named the Japanese lead extraction registry (J-LEX) in 2018. We have published the first annual report of J-LEX with 661 cases from 42 hospitals. The second annual report of J-LEX in 2020 enrolled increased numbers of 785 cases from 75 hospitals. TLE procedure was attempted on patients with an average age of 71.7 years old, male in 72.5% in the hybrid operating room in 57.9%, and in standard OR with a C-arm fluoroscope in 18.7%. The indication of TLE was an infection in 62.8% and the guideline classification was class-I in 67.4% and class-IIa in 23.8%. The average implantation duration of target leads was 7.9 years. Complete removal was achieved in 96.6% of the target leads and clinical success in 98.1% of the patients. Perioperative complications were observed in 7.1% of the patients. One patient died during a TLE operation and the other three patients died in-hospital (cardiac death in one patient and non-cardiac in two patients). Although the annual J-LEX report in 2020 demonstrated an increased number of TLE procedures despite the first pandemic year of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), perioperative complications increased a little in comparison with J-LEX 2019., Competing Interests: Morio Shoda: Speaker honorarium from Medtronic Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Biotronik Japan, Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and Abbott Japan. Kengo Kusano: Speaker honoraria from Daiichi‐Sankyo, Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Biotronik Japan, and Medtronic Japan, and research grants from Medtronic Japan and EP‐CRSU Co., Ltd. Masahiko Goya: Speaker honoraria from Japan Lifeline, Medtronic Japan, Johnson and Johnson, and Bayer. Nobuhiro Nishii: Speaker honoraria from Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Medtronic Japan. Michio Nagashima: Speaker honoraria from Medtronic Japan and Biotronik Japan. Akihiko Nogami: Speaker honoraria from Abbott and Daiichi‐Sankyo; an endowment from Medtronic and DVX. Wataru Shimizu: Speaker honoraria from Daiichi‐Sankyo, Boehringer‐Ingelheim, Ono Pharmaceutical, Bayer, and Bristol‐Myers Squibb, and research grants from Abbott Japan, Japan Lifeline, Boehringer‐Ingelheim, and Daiichi‐Sankyo., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Along with the incremental cases of cardiac implantable electronic devices implantation or upgrade, the lead-related complications are also in rise year after year. The most common and serious lead-related complication is infection that needs a transvenous lead extraction (TLE) as the first-line therapy. TLE is also performed for abandoned leads in case of lead failure or device upgrade, and for lead-related trouble such as pain, vessel stenosis or occlusion, too many leads, tricuspid valve regurgitation, and difficulty of radiation therapy. This registration has been performed by the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society and started in July 2018. The first reported data of the Japanese Lead Extraction (J-LEX) from July 2018 to December 2019 were underestimated since the number of patients and hospitals increased gradually because of the approval process of each hospital's IRB. The TLE procedure was attempted to 1253 leads among 661 patients. Complete removal was achieved in 96.7% of the target leads and the clinical success was obtained in 98.9% of the patients. Perioperative complications were observed in 4.1% of the patients. The annual J-LEX report reflects a real-world TLE medicine in Japan and demonstrates that the clinical outcome is similar to former reports from high-volume centers in North America and European countries., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Introduction: Stroke remains a major cause of death and disability in Japan and worldwide. Detecting individuals at high risk for stroke to apply preventive approaches is recommended. This study aimed to develop a stroke risk prediction model among urban Japanese using cardiovascular risk factors., Methods: We followed 6,641 participants aged 30-79 years with neither a history of stroke nor coronary heart disease. The Cox proportional hazard model estimated the risk of stroke incidence adjusted for potential confounders at the baseline survey. The model's performance was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve and the Hosmer-Lemeshow statistics. The internal validity of the risk model was tested using derivation and validation samples. Regression coefficients were used for score calculation., Results: During a median follow-up duration of 17.1 years, 372 participants developed stroke. A risk model including older age, current smoking, increased blood pressure, impaired fasting blood glucose and diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and atrial fibrillation predicted stroke incidence with an area under the curve = 0.76 and p value of the goodness of fit = 0.21. This risk model was shown to be internally valid (p value of the goodness of fit in the validation sample = 0.64). On a risk score from 0 to 26, the incidence of stroke for the categories 0-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, and 16-26 was 1.1%, 2.1%, 5.4%, 8.2%, 9.0%, 13.5%, and 18.6%, respectively., Conclusion: We developed a new stroke risk model for the urban general population in Japan. Further research to determine the clinical practicality of this model is required., (© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Although the age-adjusted incidence and mortality of cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been decreasing steadily in Japan, both diseases remain major contributors to morbidity and mortality along with the aging society. Herein, we aim to provide a prescription of 10 health tips for long and healthy life named the "Lifelong Health Support 10 (LHS10).", Method: The LHS10 was developed by the preventive medicine specialists at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Suita, where it has been used for health guidance to prevent CVD, cancer, and cognitive decline in addition to their major risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. It consisted of the lifestyle modification recommendations of the 2014 Japanese Society of Hypertension guidelines and the 2017 Japan Atherosclerosis Society Guidelines for preventing atherosclerotic CVD. Further, it came in line with other international lifestyle modification guidelines. In this narrative review, we summarized the results of several Japanese epidemiological studies investigating the association between the LHS10 items and the risk of cancer, CVD, and other chronic diseases including dementia, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease., Results: The LHS10 included avoiding smoking and secondhand smoke exposure, engaging in physical activity, refraining from excessive alcohol drinking, reducing fried foods and sugary soft drinks, cutting salt in food, consuming more vegetables, fruits, fish, soy foods, and fibers, and maintaining proper body weight. All items of the LHS10 were shown to reduce the risk of cancer, CVD, and other chronic diseases., Conclusions: The LHS10 can be a helpful tool for health guidance.

The Japanese Catheter Ablation (J-AB) registry, started in August 2017, is a voluntary, nationwide, multicenter, prospective, observational registry, performed by the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society (JHRS) in collaboration with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center using a Research Electronic Data Capture system. The purpose of this registry is to collect the details of target arrhythmias, the ablation procedures, including the type of target arrhythmias, outcomes, and acute complications in the real-world settings. During the year of 2019, we have collected a total of 80 795 procedures (mean age of 65.2 years and 66.4% male) from 425 participant hospitals. Detailed data are shown in Figures and Tables., Competing Interests: Kengo Kusano: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Biotronik Japan, and Medtronic Japan, and research grants from Medtronic Japan and EP‐CRSU Co., Ltd. Teiichi Yamane: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Boerringer Ingelheim, Abbott Japan, Medtronic Japan, and Kaneka Corporation and research grants from Boehringer Ingelheim. Koichi Inoue: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Bayer Yakuhin, Nihon Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson and Johnson KK, and Medtronic Japan. Koji Miyamoto: Research grant from Japan LifeLine, Abbott Japan, Speaker honoraria from Daiichi Sankyo, Boerringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Abbott Japan, and Medtronic Japan. Yu‐ki Iwasaki: Research grant from Daiichi Sankyo, Seiji Takatsuki: Research grant from Japan Lifeline, honoraria from Medtronic Japan, Daiichi Sankyo. Morio Shoda: Speaker honorarium from Medtronic Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Biotronik Japan, Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and Abbott Japan. Akihiko Nogami: Speaker honoraria from Abbott, Biosense Webster, and Daiichi‐Sankyo; an endowment from Medtronic and DVX. Wataru Shimizu: Research grant from Daiichi Sankyo Co, Ltd., and Nihon Boehringer Ingelheim, and Speaker honoraria from Daiichi Sankyo Co, Ltd., Bristol‐Myers Squibb Co, Ltd, Bayer Yakuhin Co, Ltd, Nihon Boehringer Ingelheim, Ono Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, Novartis Pharma KK, and Medtronic Japan. None: MT, YMN, M.K, M.N, K.K, K.N, and YM, (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Background: Measuring quality of care is central to quality improvement. Improving outcomes for heart failure (HF) may relate to hospital care delivery. However, there is limited nationwide data on the relationship between hospital-level HF performance measures and clinical outcomes., Methods: From the Japanese Registry of All cardiac and vascular Diseases (JROAD-DPC) database, 83,567 HF patients hospitalised in 731 certificated hospitals in 2014 by the Japanese Circulation Society were analysed. Five performance measures were prescription rate of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker, beta-blocker, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist and measurement rate of echocardiography and B-type natriuretic peptide during hospitalisation. Relationships between these measures and 1-year readmission due to HF were analysed. Composite performance score (CPS) obtained from the five performance measures and outcomes were also analysed. We also investigated the relationships between CPS and hospital structural factors., Results: From the cohort (mean age; 78.2 years, woman 48.4%), HF readmission rate at 1 year was 19.6% (n = 16,368). Readmission rate decreased with higher quartiles of prescription rate in each medication and diagnostic performance rates. The highest CPS group was associated with a 15% risk reduction in HF readmission compared with the lowest CPS group (hazard ratio, 0.85, 95% confidence interval [0.80-0.89], p < 0.001) after covariate adjustment. Several structural factors such as number of cardiology specialists, hospital case volume for HF, and presence of cardiac surgery division were associated with high CPS., Conclusion: Higher hospital performance measures for HF were inversely associated with HF readmissions., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Higher baseline uric acid (UA) was significantly associated with higher atrial fibrillation (AF) incidence in Japanese women. However, no prospective study is evident in the association between UA and incident AF in Japanese urban residents., Methods: A total of 6863 participants (aged 30-79 years; 47% men) without prior AF were followed for 13.9 years on average in the Suita Study. According to the UA categories, cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimating the Hazard Ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident AF., Results: During 95178 person-years of follow-up, we observed 311 cases of incident AF (204 cases in men and 107 cases in women). Compared to the subjects with UA of 4.0-4.9 mg/dL, multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CIs) of incident AF was 1.50 (1.01-2.25) ( P  = .047) for the subjects with UA ≥7.0 mg/dL., Conclusion: High UA was associated with an increased risk for incident AF in the Japanese population., Competing Interests: Nakao has received grants from Bayer and Pfizer., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Aim: To construct a risk prediction model for cardiovascular disease (CVD) based on the Suita study, an urban Japanese cohort study, and compare its accuracy against the Framingham CVD risk score (FRS) model., Methods: After excluding participants with missing data or those who lost to follow-up, this study consisted of 3,080 men and 3,470 women participants aged 30-79 years without CVD at baseline in 1989-1999. The main outcome of this study was incidence of CVD, defined as the incidence of stroke or coronary heart disease. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models with stepwise selection were used to develop the prediction model. To assess model performance, concordance statistics (C-statistics) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a bootstrap procedure. A calibration test was also conducted., Results: During a median follow-up period of 16.9 years, 351 men and 241 women developed CVD. We formulated risk models with and without electrocardiogram (ECG) data that included age, sex, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and urinary protein as risk factors. The C-statistics of the Suita CVD risk models with ECG data (0.782; 95% CI, 0.766-0.799) and without ECG data (0.781; 95% CI, 0.765-0.797) were significantly higher than that of the FRS model (0.768; 95% CI, 0.750-0.785)., Conclusions: The Suita CVD risk model is feasible to use and improves predictability of the incidence of CVD relative to the FRS model in Japan.

Background: To analyze the type of ablation procedure, acute outcomes, and complications related to catheter ablation in Japan during the year of 2018., Method: The Japanese Catheter Ablation (J-AB) registry is a voluntary, nationwide, multicenter, prospective, observational registry, performed by the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society (JHRS) in collaboration with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center using a Research Electronic Data Capture system. The procedural outcome and complications during hospitalizations were collected., Result: A total of 55 525 procedures (mean age of 64.5 years and 66.5% male) from 369 hospitals were collected. The total number of target arrhythmias was 61 610 including atrial fibrillation (AF, 65.6%), atrial flutter (AFL) or atrial tachycardia (16.7%), atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (7.4%), atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (3.5%), premature ventricular contractions (4.1%), and ventricular tachycardia (VT, 2.0%). Over a 90% acute success rate was observed among all arrhythmias except for VT due to structural heart disease, and notably, an over 99% success rate was achieved for pulmonary vein isolation of AF and inferior vena cava-tricuspid valve isthmus block for isthmus-dependent AFL. Acute complications during hospitalization were observed in 1558 patients (2.8%), including major bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium: BARC criteria ≥2) in 1.1%, cerebral or systemic embolisms in 0.2%, and death in 0.1%. Acute complications were more often observed with AF ablation ( P  < .001), especially the first AF ablation session and with structural heart disease ( P  < .001)., Conclusion: The J-AB registry provided real-world data regarding the acute outcomes and complications of ablation for the various types of arrhythmias in Japan., Competing Interests: Kengo Kusano: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Biotronik Japan, and Medtronic Japan, and research grants from Medtronic Japan and EP‐CRSU Co., Ltd. Teiichi Yamane: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Boehringer Ingelheim, Abbott Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Medtronic Japan, and Japan LifeLine, and research grants from Boehringer Ingelheim. Koichi Inoue: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Bayer Yakuhin, Nihon Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson and Johnson KK, and Medtronic Japan. Morio Shoda: Speaker honorarium from Medtronic Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Biotronik Japan, Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and Abbott Japan. Akihiko Nogami: Speaker honoraria from Abbott, Biosense Webster, and Daiichi‐Sankyo; an endowment from Medtronic and DVX. None: MT, YMN, YM. IRB approval number: M28‐114‐7, IRB approved date at Dec 21, 2016 at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Japan., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Background: Transvenous lead extractions (TLEs) in Japan have grown to become the standard therapy since the approval of the laser extraction system in 2008. However, little is known about the current indications, methods, success rate, and acute complications in the real-world setting., Methods: The Japanese Lead EXtraction (J-LEX) registry is a nationwide, multicenter, observational registry, performed by the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society (JHRS) in collaboration with the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center. This study is a nationwide registry ordered by the JHRS and its data are collected prospectively using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. The acute success rate at discharge and complications associated with TLEs will be collected in all cases. Based on the provided information, the annual incidence and predictive factors for the outcomes will be investigated by the Event Assessment Committee (EAC). This registry started in July 2018 and the number of participating medical institutions will be more than 50 hospitals and the target number of procedures will be 500-1000 per year. We will also compare the results with other registries in foreign countries., Result: The results of this study are currently under investigation., Conclusion: The J-LEX registry will provide real-world data regarding the results and complications of TLEs for the various types of indications, methods, and performing hospitals in Japan., Competing Interests: Morio Shoda: Speaker honorarium from Medtronic Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Biotronik Japan, Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and Abbott Japan. Kengo Kusano: Speaker honoraria from DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, Ltd., Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Biotronik Japan, and Medtronic Japan, and research grants from Medtronic Japan and EP‐CRSU Co., Ltd. Masahiko Goya: Speaker hororarium from Japan Lifeline, Medtronic Japan, Johnson and Johnson, and Bayer. Nobuhiro Nishii: Speaker honoraria from Medtronic Japan, Boston Scientific Japan, and financial endowments to our clinical research division from Medtronic Japan. Akihiko Nogami: Speaker honoraria from Abbott and Daiichi‐Sankyo; an endowment from Medtronic and DVX.IRB approved at February 23, 2018 (M29‐146, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Japan)., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Arrhythmia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Heart Rhythm Society.)

Background: Left atrial dimension (LAD) and other parameters of echocardiography have been reported to be associated with the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, few studies have investigated the associations between echocardiographic parameters and the risk of AF in the Asian general population, which has a low AF incidence., Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed in 1,424 individuals in the Suita study with echocardiographic parameters, including LAD, and no history of AF. After echocardiography, the participants were followed using 12-lead electrocardiography and questionnaires to detect AF incidence. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of echocardiographic parameters for AF incidence were estimated after adjustment for the risk factors of the AF risk score., Results: During the median 6.0 years of follow-up, 31 AF cases occurred. The multivariable-adjusted HR of a 1-mm increase in LAD for AF was 1.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.28). The multivariable-adjusted HR for AF of a 1-standard-deviation increase in LAD was higher than that of left ventricular internal dimensions in diastole, left ventricular mass, ejection fraction, and percent fractional shortening, and it was the only significant factor. In 667 participants with both LAD and LA volume (LAV) measurements, LAD and LAV were independently associated with the risk of AF incidence., Conclusions: LAD on echocardiography was an independent risk factor of incident AF in the Japanese population. LAD might be useful for identifying individuals with a high risk of AF in health check-ups of the general population.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) due to an unprotected left main coronary artery (LMCA) lesion is a critical condition, but there are limited data available on in-hospital outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results: The Japan Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry is a nationwide, real-world database. The clinical data on 13,548 ACS patients hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2013 were retrospectively collected from 10 representative regional ACS registry groups. We compared the 404 patients (3.0%) with LMCA ACS with the remaining 13,144 patients with non-LMCA ACS. The LMCA group was characterized by older age, lower rate of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and higher rate of advanced Killip class. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in patients with LMCA ACS than in those with non-LMCA ACS (23.3% vs. 5.5%, respectively; P<0.001). Primary PCI for non-LMCA lesions was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (OR, 0.48; 95% CI: 0.34-0.66), but that for LMCA lesions was not (OR, 2.89; 95% CI: 1.13-7.40). Longer door-to-balloon time was associated with Killip class ≥2 and higher in-hospital mortality in the non-LMCA group but not in the LMCA group. Conclusions: Primary PCI in patients with LMCA ACS is still challenging; therefore, effective strategies are needed., Competing Interests: H.S., S.Y. are members of Circulation Reports’ Editorial Team. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2019, THE JAPANESE CIRCULATION SOCIETY.)

Background: We aimed to quantify contributions of changes in risks and uptake of evidence-based treatment to coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality trends in Japan between 1980 and 2012., Methods: We conducted a modelling study for the general population of Japan aged 35 to 84 years using the validated IMPACT model incorporating data sources like Vital Statistics. The main outcome was difference in the number of observed and expected CHD deaths in 2012., Results: From 1980 to 2012, age-adjusted CHD mortality rates in Japan fell by 61%, resulting in 75,700 fewer CHD deaths in 2012 than if the age and sex-specific mortality rates had remained unchanged. Approximately 56% (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 54-59%) of the CHD mortality decrease, corresponding to 42,300 (40,900-44,700) fewer CHD deaths, was attributable to medical and surgical treatments. Approximately 35% (28-41%) of the mortality fall corresponding to 26,300 (21,200-31,000) fewer CHD deaths, was attributable to risk factor changes in the population, 24% (20-29%) corresponding to 18,400 (15,100-21,900) fewer and 11% (8-14%) corresponding to 8400 (60,500-10,600) fewer from decreased systolic blood pressure (8.87 mm Hg) and smoking prevalence (14.0%). However, increased levels of cholesterol (0.28 mmol/L), body mass index (BMI) (0.68 kg/m 2 ), and diabetes prevalence (1.6%) attenuated the decrease in mortality by 2% (1-3%), 3% (2-3%), and 4% (1-6%), respectively., Conclusions: Japan should continue their control policies for blood pressure and tobacco, and build a strategy to control BMI, diabetes, and cholesterol levels to prevent further CHD deaths., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background Few previous studies used information on changes in fasting plasma glucose ( FPG ) assessed at multiple points in time in relationship to cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) incidence. The present study aimed to identify subgroups of FPG trajectories with assessing CVD incidence. Methods and Results The present study was based on the Suita study, a population-based cohort study in Japan. The primary outcome was incidence of the first CVD events consisting of stroke and coronary heart diseases between 1989 and 2013. The main exposure was FPG assessed every 2 years. We used joint latent class mixed models to derive FPG trajectories over time while evaluating cumulative incidence of CVD , and categorized participants into several subgroups based on those trajectories and cumulative incidence. We observed 356 and 243 CVD events during the median follow-up of 17.2 and 20.2 years among 3120 men and 3482 women, respectively. The joint latent mixed models found 3 subgroups in men and 2 subgroups in women. Of the 3 subgroups in men, 1 subgroup had FPG levels that increased sharply (96.5-205.0 mg/dL from aged 40 to 80 years) and higher CVD cumulative incidence. Of the 2 subgroups in women, 1 subgroup had FPG levels that increased sharply (97.7-190.5 mg/dL from aged 40 to 80 years) and tended to have slightly higher CVD incidence compared with the other subgroup. Conclusion It can be important to manage CVD risk factors especially for people whose FPG trajectories sharply increased to prevent CVD .

Background: Catheter ablation has become a popular interventional treatment for cardiac tachyarrhythmias and the number has been on the rise year by year. However, little is known about its efficacy and safety in the real-world settings., Method: Japanese Catheter Ablation (J-AB) Registry is a nationwide, multicenter, observational registry, performed by Japanese Heart Rhythm Society (JHRS), collaborated with National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center. This study is a voluntary nationwide registry and data are collected prospectively using a Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. Detailed data collection including antiarrhythmic medication is also performed every September. The acute success rate at discharge and the complications associated with ablation procedure will be collected in all cases. Major bleeding events are defined according to Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria. Based on the provided information, the annual incidence and predictive factors for outcome will be investigated by the Event Assessment Committee. This registry started in August 2017 and the number of participating medical instructions will be more than 250 hospitals and the target procedure number will be 70 000 per year. We will also compare the results with other registries in foreign countries., Result: The results of this study are currently under investigation., Conclusion: The J-AB registry will provide a real-world data regarding the acute success and complications in Japan, focusing on various types of catheter ablation for cardiac arrhythmias., Competing Interests: T.Y.: Daiichi‐Sankyo, Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim, Abbott Japan, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Bayer Pharmaceutical Company, Medtronic Japan. K.I. receives honorarium and consulting fee from Medtronic Japan, Johnson and Johnson KK, Bayer Pharmaceutical Company, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi‐Sankyo, and Bristol‐Myers Squibb. K.K.: Daiichi‐Sankyo, Bristol‐Myers Squibb, Bayer Pharmaceutical Company, Medtronic Japan, Biotronic, Boston Scientific, Pfizer, EP‐CRSU Co. M.G. Daiichi‐Sankyo, Japan Lifeline, Johnson and Johnson KK. A.N. receives honoraria from Abbott and Daiichi‐Sankyo; and an endowment from Medtronic Japan. None: M.T., Y.M.N, Y.M. (Yoshihiro Miyamoto), K.U., M.S., Y.M.

Objective: To assess sex-specific differences regarding use of conventional risks and coronary artery calcification (CAC) to detect coronary artery disease (CAD) using coronary CT angiography (CCTA)., Methods: The Nationwide Gender-specific Atherosclerosis Determinants Estimation and Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease Prospective Cohort study is a prospective, multicentre, nationwide cohort study. Candidates with suspected CAD aged 50-74 years enrolled from 2008 to 2012. The outcome was obstructive CAD defined as any stenosis ≥50% by CCTA. We constructed logistic regression models for obstructive CAD adjusted for conventional risks (clinical model) and CAC score. Improvement in discrimination beyond risks was assessed by C-statistic; net reclassification index (NRI) for CAD probability of low (<30%), intermediate (30%-60%) and high (≥60%); and risk stratification capacity., Results: Among 991 patients (456 women, 535 men; 65.2 vs 64.4 years old), women had lower CAC scores (median, 4 vs 60) and lower CAD prevalence (21.7% vs 37.0%) than men. CAC significantly improved model discrimination compared with clinical model in both sexes (0.66-0.79 in women vs 0.61-0.83 in men). The NRI for women was 0.33, which was much lower than that for men (0.71). Adding CAC to clinical model had a larger benefit in terms of moving an additional 43.3% of men to the most determinant categories (high or low risk) compared with -1.4% of women., Conclusions: The addition of CAC to a prediction model based on conventional variables significantly improved the classification of risk in suspected patients with CAD, with sex differences influencing the predictive ability., Trial Registration Number: UMIN-CTR Clinical Trial: UMIN000001577., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Background: Cardiovascular diseases, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), are leading causes of death among the Japanese, who have the longest life expectancy in the world. Over the past 50 years in Japan, the percentage of elderly individuals has increased 4-fold, from 5.7% in 1960 to 23.1% in 2010. To explore medical practices and emergency care for AMI in this aging society, the Japan Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (JAMIR) was established as a nationwide real-world database., Methods: JAMIR conducted retrospective analysis of 20,462 AMI patients (mean age, 68.8 ± 13.3 years; 15,281 men [74.7%]) hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2013., Results: The rates of ambulance use and emergency PCI were 78.9% and 87.9%, respectively. The median door-to-balloon time was 80 min (interquartile range, 53-143 min). Overall in-hospital mortality was 8.3%, including 6.6% due to cardiac death. JAMIR included 4837 patients aged ≥80 years (23.6%). In this age group, patients who underwent PCI (79.9%) had significantly lower in-hospital mortality than those who did not (11.1% vs. 36.9%, P  < 0.001)., Conclusions: The large JAMIR database, with 24% of AMI patients aged ≥80 years, could provide useful information about medical care in an aging society. The reasonable in-hospital outcomes observed may justify consideration of PCI for patients with AMI aged ≥80 years.

Background: No prospective study of the relationship between intima-media thickness (IMT) progression and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been performed., Methods and Results: We studied 4724 participants (mean age: 59.7±11.9 years; without CVD at the baseline) who had carotid ultrasonographic measurement of IMT on both sides of the entire carotid artery area (ie, the entire scanned common carotid artery [CCA], carotid artery bulb, internal carotid artery, and external carotid artery areas for both sides) between April 1994 and August 2001. Carotid ultrasonographic follow-up was performed every 2 years between April 1994 and March 2005 in 2722 of these participants, newly revealing 193 CCA plaques (maximum IMT in the CCA >1.1 mm). We followed up for incident CVD until December 2013. Statistical analyses were performed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model, evaluated using C statistics, and net reclassification improvement. During the 59 909 person-years of follow-up, we observed 221 strokes and 154 coronary heart disease events. CCA plaque and maximum IMT in the whole carotid artery area >1.7 mm were risk factors for CVD. CCA plaque presented an increased risk of CVD based on C statistics and the reclassification improvement of the current risk prediction model. After adding the new incident CCA plaques, during the 23 702 person-years of follow-up, 69 strokes and 43 coronary heart disease events occurred. The adjusted hazard ratios for incident CCA plaque were 1.95 (95% confidence interval, 1.14-3.30) in CVD and 2.01 (95% confidence interval, 1.01-3.99) in stroke., Conclusions: Maximum IMT in the CCA contributed significantly but modestly to the predictive power of incident CVD used in calculating traditional risk factors. This study provides the first demonstration that new progression of incident CCA plaque is a CVD risk., (© 2018 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.)

Background: The European Society of Cardiology recommends a risk-based antithrombotic strategy for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) based on CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc and HAS-BLED scores. However, because it is unclear if that strategy can be generalized to Asians, we aimed to describe antithrombotic therapies among Japanese patients., Methods and results: Using a nationwide claims database in Japan, this retrospective cohort study identified AF patients who underwent PCI from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. The primary outcome was utilization of anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents before PCI, at discharge, and 6, 9, and 12 months after PCI. The secondary outcome was incidence of stroke after PCI. We identified 10,862 patients and 87.5% of them had high CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc and HAS-BLED scores. There were no significant differences in antithrombotic therapies across the risk strata. More than 30% of patients at high risk of thrombosis did not receive oral anticoagulant prescriptions at discharge. The hazard ratio of incidence of stroke in patients with prior stroke compared with patients without prior stroke was 9.09 (95% confidence interval 7.86-10.50, P<0.01)., Conclusions: Among Japanese AF patients who underwent PCI, prescriptions for antiplatelet agents were more common than those for anticoagulant agents. The majority of study participants were classified as high risk, suggesting a need for a new risk classification that reflects the risk profiles of Japanese patients.

Background: Lifestyle interventions can substantially improve obesity and cardiometabolic risks. However, evidence of long-term benefits of national intervention is sparse. We aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a nationwide program for abdominal obesity., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using a longitudinal nationwide individual data in subjects aged 40-74 years who underwent checkups in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Lifestyle interventions were provided via interview in subjects with abdominal obesity and at least one cardiometabolic risk factor. Subjects who attended the lifestyle intervention (participants) were compared to those who did not attend (non-participants). Outcomes were waist circumferences (WC) and body mass index (BMI) reduction, reversal of metabolic syndrome (MetS), and changes in cardiometabolic risks. We used a three-step process with robust analytic approaches to account for selection bias that included traditional multivariate analysis, propensity-score matching and instrumental variable (IV) analyses., Results: Of 19,969,722 subjects, 4,370,042 were eligible for analyses; 111,779 participants and 907,909 non-participants. A higher percentage of participants had ≥5% reductions in obesity profiles at year 3, compared to non-participants (WC, 21.4% vs 16.1%; BMI, 17.6% vs 13.6%; p<0.001 each). Participants also had higher reversal for MetS (adjusted odds ratio 1.31; 95% confidence interval: 1.29-1.33; p<0.001). Greater reductions in cardiometabolic risks were observed in participants. Those results were confirmed in analyses using a propensity score-matched cohort (n = 75,777, each) and IV analyses. Limitations of this work include the use of non-randomized national data in Japan to assess the effectiveness of the nationwide preventive program., Conclusions: In the nationwide lifestyle intervention for abdominal obesity, the at-risk population achieved significant reductions in WC, BMI, and cardiometabolic risks in 3 years. This study provides evidence that the nationwide program effectively achieved long-term improvement in abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risks.

Aims: To investigate the influence of comorbidities on undergoing a diabetic eye examination in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)., Design: Retrospective cohort study METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study using data from health insurance claims made between January 2005 and March 2013 in Japan. The primary outcome was implementation of the fundus examination that includes fundus photography, ophthalmoscopy and optical coherence tomography by a doctor within one year of initial drug therapy for Type2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). We used multivariable logistic regression models with adjustment for demographic parameters to investigate the influence of comorbidities (hypertension and/or hyperlipidemia) on patients with T2DM receiving fundus examinations. We conducted an additional analysis to investigate whether the site of treatment might influence the performance of fundus examinations in patients with T2DM., Results: A total of 6,492 patients were eligible for this analysis, of which 1,044 (16.1%) had comorbidities and 2,212 (34.1%) received the fundus examination. In the multivariable analysis, there was a significant association between comorbidities and a lower proportion of examination implementation (odds ratio [OR], 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-0.68; P<0.001). The implementation proportion for patients treated for comorbidities and T2DM in the same facility was also low (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.43-0.63; P<0.001)., Conclusions: These results suggest that the proportion of taking fundus examination is low among patients with comorbidities, especially in patients treated at the same facility for comorbidities and T2DM. This may help to increase the proportion of T2DM patients receiving fundus examinations.

Background: An atrial fibrillation (AF) risk score for a non-Western general population has not been established., Methods and results: A total of 6,898 participants (30-79 years old) initially free of AF have been prospectively followed for incident AF since 1989. AF was diagnosed when AF or atrial flutter was present on ECG at a biannual health examination; was indicated as a current illness; or was in the medical records during follow-up. Cox proportional hazard ratios were analyzed after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors at baseline. During the 95,180 person-years of follow-up, 311 incident AF events occurred. We developed a scoring system for each risk factor as follows: 0/-5, 3/0, 7/5, and 9/9 points for men/women in their 30 s-40 s, 50 s, 60 s, and 70 s, respectively; 2 points for systolic hypertension, overweight, excessive drinking, or coronary artery disease; 1 point for current smoking; -1 point for moderate non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol; 4 points for arrhythmia; and 8, 6, and 2 points for subjects with cardiac murmur in their 30 s-40 s, 50 s, and 60 s, respectively (C-statistic 0.749; 95% confidence interval, 0.724-0.774). Individuals with score ≤2, 10-11, or ≥16 points had, respectively, ≤1%, 9%, and 27% observed probability of developing AF in 10 years., Conclusions: We developed a 10-year risk score for incident AF using traditional risk factors that are easily obtained in routine outpatient clinics/health examinations without ECG.

Introduction: Epidemiological estimate lifetime risk (LTR) is a measure that expresses the probability of disease in the remaining lifetime for individuals of a specific index age. These estimates can be useful for general audience targeted knowledge translation activities against diabetes. There are only a few reports on lifetime of impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease (CHD) events., Methods: The Suita Study, a cohort study of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), was established in 1989. We included all participants who were CVD free at baseline. Age (in years) was used as the time scale. Age-specific incidence rates were calculated with person-year method within ten-year bands. We estimated the sex and index-age specific LTR of first-ever CHD with taking the competing risk of death into account., Results: We followed 5559 participants without CHD history during 1989-2007 for 71,745.4 person-years. At age 40 years the competing risk of death adjusted LTR for all CHD were 16.61% for men without diabetes and 21.06% for men with diabetes. Therefore the LTD for CHD was higher by 4.45% for men with diabetes compared to men without. The competing risk adjusted LTR of CHD at 40 years of aged women was 9.18% for without diabetes and 14.21% for with diabetes. This increased LTR of CHD for diabetic patients were observed among both men and women across all index ages., Conclusion: In this urban community based population we observed that diabetes has significant effect on the residual LTR of CHD among both men and women of middle age. This easy understandable knowledge can be used as important indexes to assist public health education and planning., (Copyright © 2017 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)