Inter-Ethnic Differences in Cardiovascular Disease

Aortic root parameter analysis for transcatheter aortic valve implantation in the Pakistani population: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a growing treatment for aortic stenosis, but anatomical variations exist across populations. Asians tend to have smaller aortic annuli and higher bicuspid valve morphology compared to Westerners, potentially impacting TAVI valve selection and outcomes. This study analyzes aortic root parameters in Pakistani patients undergoing TAVI.

RESULTS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 78 patients who underwent TAVI at the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology from January 2021 to March 2024. Pre-procedural CT scans were analyzed for aortic annulus diameters, area, and other relevant parameters. The mean age was 72.41 years (SD ± 11.99), and 61.5% were male. Aortic annulus diameters (minimum, mean, maximum) were 21.18 mm (SD ± 3.99), 24.21 mm (SD ± 3.93), and 27.49 mm (SD ± 4.43), respectively. Bicuspid aortic valves were present in 34.61% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that Pakistani patients undergoing TAVI may have aortic root dimensions comparable to Western populations, with a substantial prevalence of bicuspid valves. However, coronary heights were similar to those reported in Asian populations with smaller annuli. Further studies are needed to assess TAVI outcomes in Pakistani patients and determine if tailored valve sizing strategies are required.

Multi-year population-based analysis of Asian patients with acute decompensated heart failure and advanced chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND

Data on disparities in outcomes and risk factors in Asian patients with advanced chronic kidney disease admitted for heart failure are scare.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort study that utilized data from the National Inpatient Sample between January 2016 and December 2019. Patients who had a primary diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure and a concomitant diagnosis of advanced CKD were included. The primary outcome of interest was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes include hospital cost, length of stay, and other clinical outcomes. Weighted multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for comorbidities.

RESULTS

There were 251,578 cases of ADHF with advanced CKD, out of which 2.6 % were from individuals of Asian ethnicity. Asian patients exhibited a higher burden of comorbidities in comparison to other UREM patients, but a lower burden than White patients. Regardless of differences in comorbidity burden, Asian patients exhibited a higher likelihood of experiencing severe consequences. After adjusting for comorbidies, White (OR:1.11; 95 % CI 1.03-1.20;0.009) patients had higher odds of mortality than Asian patients. However, Blacks (OR: 0.58; 95 % CI 0.53 to 0.63; p < 0.001) and Hispanics (OR: 0.69; 95 % CI 0.62 to 0.78; p < 0.001) had lower odds of mortality.

CONCLUSION

This first population-based studies shows that Asian patients with advanced CKD admitted for ADHF have greater comorbidity burden and poorer outcomes Black and Hispanic patients. This data underscores the importance of comprehensive approaches in phenotyping, and ethnic specific interventions.

Agreement between ten-years cardiovascular disease risk assessment tools: An application to Iranian population in Shahedieh Cohort Study

Background and aim

Cardiovascular risk-prediction models are efficient primary prevention tools to detect high-risk individuals. The study aims to use three tools to estimate the 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and investigate their agreement in an Iranian adult population.

Methods

The current cross-sectional study was carried out on 8569 adults between 35 and 70 who participated in the first phase of the Shahedieh cohort study in Yazd, Iran, and were free of CVDs (cardiac ischemia or myocardial infarction or stroke). World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) chart, Laboratory-Based (LB) and Non-Laboratory-Based (NLB) Framingham Risk Score (FRS) were used to predict the 10-year risk of developing CVD. The agreement across tools was determined by Kappa.

Results

WHO/ISH chart indicated the highest prevalence of low CVD risk for males (96.10%) and females (96.50%), while NLB Framingham had the highest prevalence of high CVD risk for males (19.40%) and females (5.30%). In total, there was substantial agreement between both FRS models (Kappa = o.70), while there was a slight agreement between WHO/ISH and both FRS tools. For under 60 years males and females, substantial agreements were observed between FRS methods (kappa = 0.73 and kappa = 0.68). For males and females over 60 years, this agreement was moderate and substantial, respectively (kappa = 0.54 and kappa = 0.64). WHO/ISH and LB Framingham model had substantial agreement for over 60 years females (kappa = 0.61).

Conclusions

Framingham models classified more participants in the high-risk category than WHO/ISH. Due to the lethality of CVDs, categorizing individuals based on FRS can ensure that most of the real high-risk people are detected. Remarkable agreement between FRS methods in all sex-age groups suggested using the NLB Framingham model as a primary screening tool, especially in a shortage of resources condition.

Circulating Metabolites and Cardiovascular Disease in Asians with Chronic Kidney Disease

INTRODUCTION

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health problem, with significant burden of cardiovascular disease and mortality. The risk of cardiovascular disease in CKD is elevated beyond that predicted by traditional cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting that other factors may account for this increased risk. Through metabolic profiling, this study aimed to investigate the associations between serum metabolites and prevalent cardiovascular disease in Asian patients with CKD to provide insights into the complex interactions between metabolism, cardiovascular disease and CKD.

METHODS

This was a single-center cross-sectional study of 1,122 individuals from three ethnic cohorts in the population-based Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Disease (SEED) study (153 Chinese, 262 Indians, and 707 Malays) aged 40-80 years with CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to quantify 228 metabolites from the participants' serum or plasma. Prevalent cardiovascular disease was defined as self-reported myocardial infarction, angina, or stroke. Multivariate logistic regression identified metabolites independently associated with cardiovascular disease in each ethnic cohort. Metabolites with the same direction of association with cardiovascular disease in all three cohorts were selected and subjected to meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Cardiovascular disease was present in 275 (24.5%). Participants with cardiovascular disease tend to be male; of older age; with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes; with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP); lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol than those without cardiovascular disease. After adjusting for age, sex, systolic BP, diabetes, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol, 10 lipoprotein subclass ratios and 6 other metabolites were significantly associated with prevalent cardiovascular disease in at least one cohort. Meta-analysis with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons found that lower tyrosine, leucine, and valine concentrations and lower cholesteryl esters to total lipid ratio in intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) were associated with cardiovascular disease.

CONCLUSION

In Chinese, Indian, and Malay participants with CKD, prevalent cardiovascular disease was associated with tyrosine, leucine, valine, and cholesteryl esters to total lipid ratios in IDL. Increased cardiovascular risk in CKD patients may be contributed by altered amino acid and lipoprotein metabolism. The presence of CKD and ethnic differences may affect interactions between metabolites in health and disease, hence greater understanding will allow us to better risk stratify patients, and also individualize care with consideration of ethnic disparities.

10 Years of SYNTAX: Closing an Era of Clinical Research After Identifying New Outcome Determinants

The SYNTAX trial randomized patients equally eligible for coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous coronary intervention using the Heart Team approach. The SYNTAXES study achieved a follow-up rate of 93.8% and reported the 10-year vital status. Factors associated with increased mortality at 10 years were pharmacologically treated diabetes mellitus, increased waist circumference, reduced left ventricular function, prior cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular disease, western Europe and North American descent, current smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, elevated C-reactive protein, anemia, and an increase in HbA1c. Procedural factors associated with higher 10 years mortality include periprocedural myocardial infarction, extensive stenting, small stents, ≥1 heavily calcified lesion, ≥1 bifurcation lesion, residual SYNTAX score >8, and staged percutaneous coronary intervention. Optimal medical therapy at 5 years, use of statins, on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting, multiple arterial grafts, and higher physical component score and mental component score were associated with lower mortality at 10 years. Numerous scores and prediction models were developed to help individualize risk assessment. Machine learning has emerged as a novel approach for developing risk models.

Anemia and risk of periprocedural cerebral injury detected by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement

BACKGROUND

Anemia is prevalent in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and has been linked to impaired outcomes after the procedure. Few studies have evaluated the impact of anemia and new ischemic lesions post TAVR.

METHODS

We prospectively enrolled 158 patients who received TAVR in our center. Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization criteria as hemoglobin <12 g/dL in women and <13 g/dL in men. All patients underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) procedure before and within 4-7 days after TAVR.

RESULTS

Anemia was present in 85 (53.8%) patients who underwent TAVR, and 126 (79.7%) patients had 718 new DW-MRI positive lesions with a mean of 4.54±5.26 lesions per patient. The incidence of new ischemic lesions was 81.2% in patients with anemia versus 78.1% in patients without anemia (P=0.629). Moreover, anemic patients had bigger total volume/lesions in the anterior cerebral artery/middle cerebral artery (ACA/MCA) and MCA regions compared to the non-anemic patients (31.89±55.78 mm3 vs. 17.08±37.39 mm3, P=0.049; and 54.54±74.72 mm3 vs. 33.75±46.03 mm3, P=0.034). Anemia was independently associated with the volume/lesion in the ACA/MCA (β=16.796, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.001 to 31.591, P=0.026) and in the MCA zone (β=0.020, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.040, P=0.041).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with pre-procedural anemia may have bigger total volume/lesions in the ACA/MCA and MCA regions compared to the non-anemic patients. Whether the consequences of bigger total volume/lesions impact neurological and cognitive outcomes remains to be investigated.

Changes and significance of serum troponin in trauma patients: A retrospective study in a level I trauma center

BACKGROUND

Elevated troponin I (TnI) is common among trauma patients. TnI is an indicator of myocardial injury, but clinical diagnosis of blunt cardiac injury cannot be based solely on an increase in TnI. Therefore, this study aims to explore the changes and clinical significance of serum TnI in trauma patients.

METHODS

The clinical data of consecutive trauma patients admitted to our trauma center between July 1, 2017 and July 31, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to TnI levels within 24 hours of admission, patients were divided into the elevated and normal TnI groups. According to the TnI levels after 7 days of admission, a graph depicting a change in trend was drawn and then analyzed whether TnI was related to in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

A total of 166 patients (69 and 97 cases with elevated and normal TnI, respectively) were included in this study. The average hospital stay, intensive care time, mechanical ventilation time, and in-hospital mortality were higher in the elevated TnI group than in the normal TnI group (P<0.05). The TnI level of trauma patients gradually increased after admission and peaked at 48 hours (7.804±1.537 ng/mL). Subsequently, it decreased, and then recovered to normal within 7 days. However, 13 patients did not recover. Logistic regression analysis revealed that abnormal TnI at 7 days was independently related to in-hospital mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Trauma patients with elevated TnI levels may have a worse prognosis. Monitoring the changes in serum TnI is important, which can reflect the prognosis better than the TnI measured immediately after admission.