In patients with coronary artery disease who are being evaluated for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), procedures can be guided by fractional flow reserve (FFR) or intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) for decision making regarding revascularization and stent implantation. However, the differences in clinical outcomes when only one method is used for both purposes are unclear.

The application of a simple blood test to predict prognosis in acute heart failure (AHF) patients is not well established. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is inexpensive and easy to obtain in hospitalized patients using a routine blood test. We evaluate the prognostic implications of NLR as an independent predictor of in-hospital and long-term mortality in AHF patients. Among 5625 patients enrolled in the Korean Acute Heart Failure registry, 5580 patients were classified into quartiles by their NLR level, and analyzed for in-hospital and post-discharge three-year mortality. Patients in the highest NLR quartile had the highest in-hospital and post-discharge three-year mortality. The same results were seen by dividing the aggravating factor into the infection or ischemia group and the non-infection or non-ischemia group. For patients aggravated from infection or ischemia, a cut-off NLR value was 7.0 that increase the risk of in-hospital and post-discharge three-year mortality. In subgroups of patients not aggravated from infection or ischemia, a cut-off NLR value was 5.0 that increase the risk of in-hospital and post discharge three-year mortality. Elevated NLR in AHF patients at the index hospitalization is an independent predictor for in-hospital and post-discharge three-year mortality. Taken together, NLR is a marker for risk assessment of AHF patients.

To demonstrate the association of the serum creatinine/serum cystatin C ratio (sarcopenia index, SI) with clinical outcomes including cardiovascular and bleeding risk in older patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), we analyzed a multicenter nation-wide pooled registry. A total of 1086 older patients (65 years or older) who underwent PCI with second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) were enrolled. The total population was divided into quartiles according to the SI, stratified by sex. The primary clinical outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE, all-cause death, myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularization) and thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major and minor bleeding during a 3-year follow-up period. In the total population, MACE occurred within 3 years in 154 (14.2%) patients. The lowest SI quartile group (Q1) had a significantly higher 3-year MACE rate (Q1 vs. Q2–4; 23.1% vs. 11.2%, p < 0.001), while bleeding event rates were similar between the groups (Q1 vs. Q2–4; 2.6% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.656). The Cox proportional hazard model showed that lower SI is an independent predictor for MACE events (HR 2.23, 95% CI 1.62–3.07, p < 0.001). The SI, a surrogate for the degree of muscle mass, is associated with cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular death, but not with bleeding in older patients who underwent PCI.

Background: β-Blockers can improve prognosis after acute myocardial infarction. However, it remains unclear how long β-blockers should be prescribed. Methods: We included patients from the prospective, nationwide Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institutes of Health registry and collected data on β-blockers and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 1-year follow-up. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: 1001 patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% and 3007 patients with a 1-year LVEF≥50%. The primary outcome was 2-year all-cause mortality from the 1-year follow-up. Results: A total of 3177 patients received β-blockers at 1 year, and 151 patients died during the 2-year follow-up from 1 year after index hospitalization. β-Blockers showed survival benefits in patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% (log-rank P =0.001) but not in those with a 1-year LVEF≥50% (log-rank P =0.311). After adjusting covariates, β-blockers were associated with a 51% reduction in mortality in patients with a 1-year LVEF<50% ( P =0.020) but not in their counterparts ( P =0.322). Indeed, there was a prognostic interaction between the use of β-blockers at 1 year and 1-year LVEF ( P for interaction=0.004). Conclusions: Use of β-blockers at 1-year follow-up after acute MI was associated with improved outcomes in patients with an LVEF50% at 1 year. This study provides valuable information about differential responsiveness to β-blockers according to 1-year LVEF and might suggest the proper duration of β-blockers after acute MI. Registration: URL: http://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/en/ ; Unique identifier: KCT0000863.

Background: The clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is affected by various clinical and procedural risk factors. We investigated the relative impact of clinical and procedural risks on clinical outcomes after PCI. Methods: A total of 13 172 patients were enrolled from the Grand-DES registry. The population was grouped into tertiles (high-, intermediate-, low-risk) according to the number of prespecified clinical and procedural risk factors, respectively. The primary end point was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) at 3 years post-PCI. Results: MACCE occurred in 1109 (8.4%) patients during the follow-up period (median duration: 1126 days). Compared with procedural risk, clinical risk showed superior predictive power (area under the curve: 0.678 versus 0.570, P <0.001, for clinical and procedural risks, respectively) and greater magnitude of effect in the multivariate analysis for MACCE (Clinical risk: hazard ratio, 1.953 [95% CI, 1.809–2.109], P <0.001; procedural risk: hazard ratio, 1.240 [95% CI, 1.154–1.331], P <0.001). In subgroup analyses within each clinical risk tertile, procedural risk had no significant impact on MACCE in the lowest clinical risk tertile. An annual landmark analysis revealed that clinical and procedural risks were both significant predictors of MACCE, which occurred within the first and second year post-PCI. However, for MACCE occurring in the third year post-PCI, only clinical risk but not procedural risk was a significant predictor of events. Conclusions: Clinical and procedural risks were both significant predictors for ischemic clinical events in patients undergoing PCI. However, clinical risk had a greater and more prolonged effect on outcomes than procedural risk. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT03507205.

The authors investigated the impact of smoking and its cessation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on cardiovascular outcomes. Using a nationwide database from the Korean National Health Insurance System, 74 471 patients undergoing PCI between 2009 and 2016 were classified as non-, ex-, or current smokers, depending on smoking status at the first health check-up within 1 year after PCI. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event (MACCE), a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and stroke. During 4.0 years of follow-up, current smokers had a 19.8% higher rate of MACCE than non-smokers [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.198; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.137–1.263], and ex-smokers tended to have a comparable rate with that of non-smokers (aHR 1.036; 95% CI .992–1.081). For 31 887 patients with both pre- and post-PCI health check-up data, the effects of smoking cessation were analysed. Among quitters who stopped smoking after PCI, quitters with cumulative smoking exposure of <20 pack-years (PYs) tended to have a comparable rate of MACCE with that of persistent non-smokers. However, the rate in quitters with cumulative exposure of ≥20 PYs was comparable with that of persistent smokers [aHR (95% CI) for <10 PY, 1.182 (.971–1.438); 10–20 PYs 1.114 (.963–1.290); 20–30 PYs 1.206 (1.054–1.380); ≥ 30 PYs 1.227 (1.113–1.352); persistent smokers 1.223 (1.126–1.328), compared with persistent non-smokers, respectively, P for interaction <.001]. Smoking is associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes in patients undergoing PCI. Quitters after PCI with <20 PYs were associated with a risk comparable with that of non-smokers. Left upper: a scheme for main analysis of smoking status and clinical outcomes. Left lower: a scheme for sub-analysis of smoking cessation after PCI and clinical outcomes. Right upper: MACCE according to smoking status. Right lower: relationship between accumulated smoking exposure in quitters after PCI and MACCE. CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; MACCE, major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; PY, pack-year.