Evaluation of the predictive performance of bleeding risk scores in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation on oral anticoagulants.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Bleeding risk scores (BRSs) aid in the assessment of oral anticoagulant-related bleeding risk in patients with atrial fibrillation. Ideally, the applicability of a BRS needs to be assessed, prior to its routine use in a population other than the original derivation cohort. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of 6 established BRSs to predict major or clinically relevant bleeding (CRB) events associated with the use of oral anticoagulant (OAC) among Malaysian patients. METHODS: The pharmacy supply database and the medical records of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) receiving warfarin, dabigatran or rivaroxaban at two tertiary hospitals were reviewed. Patients who experienced an OAC-associated major or CRB event within 12 months of follow-up, or who have received OAC therapy for at least 1 year, were identified. The BRSs were fitted separately into patient data. The discrimination and the calibration of these BRSs as well as the factors associated with bleeding events were then assessed. RESULTS: A total of 1017 patients with at least 1-year follow-up period, or those who developed a bleeding event within 1 year of OAC use, were recruited. Of which, 23 patients experienced a first major bleeding event, whereas 76 patients, a first CRB event. Multivariate logistic regression results show that age of 75 or older, prior bleeding and male gender are associated with major bleeding events. On the other hand, prior gastrointestinal bleeding, a haematocrit value of less than 30% and renal impairment are independent predictors of CRB events. All the BRSs show a satisfactory calibration for major and CRB events. Among these BRSs, only HEMORR2 HAGES (C-statistic = 0.71, 95% CI 0.60-0.82, P < .001) and ATRIA score (C-statistic = 0.70, 95% CI 0.58-0.82, P < .001) show acceptable discrimination performance for major bleeding events. All the 6 BRSs, however, lack acceptable predictive performance for CRB events. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evaluation study of the predictive performance of these 6 BRSs on clinically relevant bleeding events applied to the same cohort consisting of mainly Asian novel oral anticoagulant users. These BRSs show poor to acceptable predictive performance on OAC-induced major or CRB events. An improvement in the existing BRSs for OAC users is warranted.

Pulmonary hypertension and echocardiogram parameters in obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a growing health hazard in the United States and worldwide. OSA is now recognized as a disorder with systemic manifestations and its association with obesity and adverse cardiovascular consequences. There is increasing evidence that OSA may be associated with systemic hypertension and an increased incidence of stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and arrhythmias. Less information is available about the association between OSA and pulmonary hypertension (PH). We therefore conduct this study to look at the prevalence of the pulmonary hypertension in obstructive sleep apnea patient and to identify risk factors leading to pulmonary hypertension among OSA patient. We studied and analyzed all OSA patient confirmed by polysomnograph in the year 2015. Twenty-five patients with OSA were included in this study with prevalence of pulmonary hypertension of 16%. Univariate analysis of various factors revealed a statistically significant association between having the lowest SpO2 of <70% and pulmonary hypertension (p = 0.016). There were no statistically significant associations between age, gender, smoking status, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), or apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) with occurrence of pulmonary hypertension. AHI is not a good predictor for pulmonary hypertension. The real value of using AHI to predict the health risk of OSA is doubtful. We recommend routine echocardiogram among OSA patient. The objective information in the echocardiogram provides evidence for counseling of patient with disease of OSA and hence hopefully can improve compliance of patient to treatment especially usage of CPAP.

Clinical characteristics, treatment and 2-year outcomes in Malaysian and Bruneian patients with stable coronary artery within the worldwide CLARIFY registry.

INTRODUCTION: The on-going, international, prospective, observational, longitudinal CLARIFY registry is investigating the demographics, clinical profiles, management and outcomes of patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). This paper assesses baseline characteristics, treatment, and clinical outcomes at two years' follow-up of Malaysian/Bruneian patients compared with the overall registry population. METHOD: Between November 2009 and July 2010, outpatients from 45 countries who met the criteria for stable CAD were recruited into the registry. Baseline characteristics were documented at enrolment, and patients were reassessed during their annual visits over a five-year follow-up period. Key outcomes measured were sudden death and cardiovascular (CV) death, non-CV death and CV morbidity. RESULTS: At baseline, 33,283 patients were available for analysis within the registry; 380 and 27 were Malaysians and Bruneians, respectively. The mean ages of Malaysian/Bruneian patients and the rest of the world (RoW) were 57.83 ±9.98 years and 64.23 ± 10.46 years, respectively (p<0.001). The median body mass index values were 26.6 (24.4-29.6) kg/m2 and 27.3 (24.8-30.3) kg/m2, respectively (p=0.014). Malaysian/Bruneian patients had lower rates of myocardial infarction (54.55% versus 59.76%, p=0.033) and higher rates of diabetes (43.24% versus 28.99%, p<0.001) and dyslipidaemia (90.42% versus 74.66%, p<0.001) compared with the RoW. Measured clinical outcomes in Malaysian and Bruneian patients at 2-years follow-up were low and generally comparable to the RoW. CONCLUSION: Malaysian/Bruneian patients with stable CAD tend to be younger with poorer diabetic control compared with the RoW. However, they had similar outcomes as the main registry following two years of treatment.

Experience of a rapid access falls and syncope service at a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

No abstract available.

Impact of atrial fibrillation among stroke patients in a Malaysian teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVES: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a well-recognised, major risk factor for ischaemic stroke. The presence of atrial fibrillation in a stroke patient translates into higher mortality rates and significant disability. There is lack of data on the impact of atrial fibrillation on stroke patients in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of AF in a hospital setting and determine the risk factors, clinical profile and discharge outcomes in ischaemic stroke patients with and without atrial fibrillation from a tertiary centre in Malaysia. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of patients admitted consecutively to the University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur with the diagnosis of stroke during the first six months of 2009. The presence of AF was confirmed with a 12- lead ECG. All patients had neuroimaging with either cranial computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Other variables such as clinical features, risk factors, stroke subtypes, length of acute ward stay, complications and evaluation at discharge (mortality) with modified Rankin scale (mRS) were also recorded. RESULTS: A total of 207 patients were admitted with stroke during the study duration. Twenty two patients (10.6%) were found to have non valvular AF. Patients with AF were found to be older with a mean age of 71.0 ± 2.2 than those without AF with a mean age of 63.6 ± 0.89 (p<0.05). Risk factors for stroke such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension were equally common between the two groups while the proportion of patients with ischaemic heart disease was higher among patients with AF (p<0.005). Most of the stroke subtypes among patients with AF were of ischaemic type (n=192; 92.8%) while haemorrhagic stroke was uncommon (n=15; 6.2%). Patients with AF had a longer median hospital stay, higher mortality rate and greater functional disability on hospital discharge compared to non AF patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of AF among stroke patients in a tertiary centre in Malaysia was 10.6%. Stroke patients with AF were observed to have a higher mortality rate and disability on hospital discharge.

Prevalence and outcome of peripartum cardiomyopathy in Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is an uncommon form of congestive heart failure, afflicting obstetric patients around the time of delivery. The epidemiology of PPCM is infrequently reported. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no report from Asia. OBJECTIVE: To define the prevalence, presentation and outcome of PPCM in a major referral centre in Malaysia. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective case record analysis of all patients admitted and diagnosed with PPCM at the University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, over 5 years from 1st January, 2001 to 31st December, 2004. RESULTS: Eight patients were diagnosed with PPCM over the study period reflecting a prevalence of 34: 100,000 life births. Five were diagnosed within 5 months after delivery. Three were associated with twin pregnancies. There was one death (12.5% mortality). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at the time of diagnosis was 27.1 +/- SD 6.4% (range: 17-35%). Following the index event, the left ventricular function recovered in three of the eight patients (37.5%) with restoration of normal LVEF (LVEF > 50%). Two patients had subsequent pregnancies. One was terminated at 7 weeks, and the other delivered uneventfully with a normal LVEF. CONCLUSIONS: Peripartum cardiomyopathy is uncommon in Malaysia. It appears to be associated with twin pregnancy. The outcome is variable with 37.5% recovering normal left ventricular function, 12.5% mortality and persistently impaired left ventricular function in the remainder.

Motion corrected LV quantification based on 3D modelling for improved functional assessment in cardiac MRI.

Cine MRI is a clinical reference standard for the quantitative assessment of cardiac function, but reproducibility is confounded by motion artefacts. We explore the feasibility of a motion corrected 3D left ventricle (LV) quantification method, incorporating multislice image registration into the 3D model reconstruction, to improve reproducibility of 3D LV functional quantification. Multi-breath-hold short-axis and radial long-axis images were acquired from 10 patients and 10 healthy subjects. The proposed framework reduced misalignment between slices to subpixel accuracy (2.88 to 1.21 mm), and improved interstudy reproducibility for 5 important clinical functional measures, i.e. end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, ejection fraction, myocardial mass and 3D-sphericity index, as reflected in a reduction in the sample size required to detect statistically significant cardiac changes: a reduction of 21-66%. Our investigation on the optimum registration parameters, including both cardiac time frames and number of long-axis (LA) slices, suggested that a single time frame is adequate for motion correction whereas integrating more LA slices can improve registration and model reconstruction accuracy for improved functional quantification especially on datasets with severe motion artefacts.

Symptomatic anaemia 17 years after double valve replacement.

A 40-year-old Malay woman presented with increasing lethargy, palpitation and shortness of breath, 17 years after a mitral and aortic valve replacement. A Starr-Edwards prosthetic valve replaced the mitral valve, and a Bjork-Shiley prosthetic valve replaced the aortic valve. Biochemical parameters demonstrated intravascular haemolysis, as evidenced by haemoglobin 7.8 g/dL, reticulocyte count 8.4%, lactate dehydrogenase 2,057 IU/L and low haptoglobulin levels (less than 6 mg/dL). Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed a paravalvular leakage over the mitral valve. The haemoglobin levels remained persistently low despite frequent blood transfusions. She successfully underwent a second mitral valve replacement. Her anaemia resolved subsequently.

Clinical experience in coronary stenting with the Vivant Z Stent.

This single centre study was designed to demonstrate feasibility, safety and efficacy of the Vivant Z stent (PFM AG, Cologne, Germany). Patients with de novo lesion were recruited. Coronary angioplasty was performed with either direct stenting or after balloon predilatation. Repeated angiogram was performed 6 months later or earlier if clinically indicated. Between January to June 2003, a total of 50 patients were recruited (mean age 55.8 +/- 9 years). A total of 52 lesions were stented successfully. Mean reference diameter was 2.77 mm (+/-0.59 SD, range 2.05-4.39 mm) with mean target lesion stenosis of 65.5% (+/-11.6 SD, range 50.1-93.3%). Forty-six lesions (88.5%) were American College of Cardiologist/American Heart Association class B/C types. Direct stenting was performed in 18 (34.6%) lesions. Mean stent diameter was 3.18 mm (+/-0.41 SD, range 2.5-4 mm), and mean stent length was 14.86 mm (+/-2.72 SD, range 9-18 mm). The procedure was complicated in only one case which involved the loss of side branch with no clinical sequelae. All treated lesions achieved Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction 3 flow. Mean residual diameter stenosis was 12.2% (+/-7.55 SD, range 0-22.6%) with acute gain of 1.72 mm (+/-0.50 SD, range 0.5-2.8). At 6 months, there was no major adverse cardiovascular event. Repeated angiography after 6 months showed a restenosis rate of 17% (defined as >50% diameter restenosis). Mean late loss was 0.96 mm (+/-0.48 SD) with loss index of 0.61 (+/-0.38 SD). The restenosis rate of those lesions less than 3.0 mm in diameter was 22.2% compared with 6.25% in those lesions more than 3.0 mm in diameter. The Vivant Z stent was shown to be safe and efficacious with low restenosis rate in de novo coronary artery lesion.

Prevalence of peripheral artery disease in urban high-risk Malaysian patients.

Atherosclerosis is a progressive, disseminated condition that affects all the vascular beds. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a manifestation of atherosclerosis, measured non-invasively in the legs by ankle-brachial index (ABI) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Though several studies in the western industrialised countries have shown that PAD is widely prevalent in the general older population at risk, not much data are available in the South East Asian developing countries. We have conducted an epidemiological survey on the prevalence of PAD in high-risk patients at an urban hospital in Malaysia. A total of 301 consecutive patients aged 32-90 years were recruited during their follow-up clinic visits for established cardiovascular disease, ischaemic stroke or diabetes mellitus > or = 5 years. All participants underwent ABI measurement and were subjected to the Edinburgh claudication questionnaire to assess leg symptoms. The prevalence of PAD in our high-risk population was 23%, of which only 27% were symptomatic with the classical intermittent claudication. All the patients with PAD were diagnosed at the time of the study. PAD was found in 33% of patients with pre-existent cardiovascular disease, 28% in patients with ischaemic stroke and 24% in diabetic patients. PAD was also highly prevalent among the younger patients. Our study has shown that PAD is highly prevalent among high-risk Malaysian patients and is not necessarily a disease of older age. Only 27% of these patients were symptomatic. All the subjects with PAD were diagnosed at the time of the study, which would suggest it is an unrecognised and underdiagnosed condition, even in patients with atherosclerotic risk factors.