The safety and efficacy of compression therapy in patients with stable heart failure.

Background: Compression therapy is widely used as a therapeutic option for edema; however, concerns regarding its safety in patients with heart failure (HF) arose, particularly due to increased venous return, which increases pulmonary artery blood pressure. This study aimed to investigate the safety of compression therapy in patients with chronic HF. Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled patients with stable chronic HF who initiated treatment with compression therapy for lower extremity edema. The primary outcome was New York Heart Association (NYHA) class changes after 1 month of compression therapy, and adverse events were evaluated. Results: We analyzed 101 patients who initiated compression therapy. The number of patients continuing compression therapy at one month was 86. Overall, 61.6 % were female and the median age was 81 years. The proportion of patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) was 50.4 %. Brain natriuretic peptide levels were significantly lower than baseline levels at 1 month, (baseline vs 1 month: 486 (360-696) vs 311 (211-511), p < 0.001), with a lower NYHA III prevalence (baseline vs 1 month: 53.5 % vs 32.6 %, p < 0.001), without any adverse events related to compression therapy initiation. Additionally, multivariate logistic analysis indicated an association between HFpEF and significant BNP reduction after compression therapy (odds ratio: 4.70; 95 % confidence interval: 1.63-13.6). Conclusions: Compression therapy was associated with decreased BNP levels and improved symptoms, especially in HFpEF, without any adverse events in stable chronic HF. These findings indicate that compression therapy is safe for patients with stable chronic HF.

Association between vascular endothelial dysfunction and stroke incidence in the general Japanese population: Results from the tohoku medical megabank community-based cohort study.

Background: Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) measures vascular endothelial function by evaluating the vasodilatory response of blood vessels to increased blood flow. Nevertheless, the association between FMD and stroke incidence in a general population remains unclear. This study investigated the association between vascular endothelial function and stroke incidence in the general Japanese population. Methods: Based on cohort data from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Community-based Cohort Study, participants aged ≥18 years were recruited from Iwate Prefecture, with the final sample comprising 2952 subjects. Results: The FMD level was 0.5%-27.1%, with a median of 5.0% (interquartile, 4.2%-11.3%). The mean follow-up period was 5.5 ± 1.8 years (range, 0.6-6.9 years). After dividing the participants into two subgroups according to the median FMD value, a multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusting for gender, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T and hemoglobin A1c revealed that a lower FMD value was strongly associated with incidences of total stroke (hazard ratio[HR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval[CI] = 1.48-3.07, p < 0.001), ischemic stroke (HR = 3.33, 95%CI = 2.00-5.52, p < 0.001), nonlacunar stroke (HR = 2.77, 95%CI = 1.49-5.16, p = 0.001), and lacunar stroke (HR = 5.12, 95%CI = 1.74-16.05, p = 0.003). Conclusions: This study showed that a low FMD value might reflect vascular endothelial dysfunction and then was associated with ischemic stroke incidence in the general Japanese population, suggesting that FMD can be used as a tool to identify future stroke risk.