Risk factors and prediction models for incident heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction.

AIMS: This study aims to develop the first race-specific and sex-specific risk prediction models for heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We created a cohort of 1.8 million individuals who had an outpatient clinic visit between 2002 and 2007 within the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System and obtained information on HFpEF, HFrEF, and several risk factors from electronic health records (EHR). Variables were selected for the risk prediction models in a 'derivation cohort' that consisted of individuals with baseline date in 2002, 2003, or 2004 using a forward stepwise selection based on a change in C-index threshold. Discrimination and calibration were assessed in the remaining participants (internal 'validation cohort'). A total of 66 831 individuals developed HFpEF, and 92 233 developed HFrEF (52 679 and 71 463 in the derivation cohort) over a median of 11.1 years of follow-up. The HFpEF risk prediction model included age, diabetes, BMI, COPD, previous MI, antihypertensive treatment, SBP, smoking status, atrial fibrillation, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), while the HFrEF model additionally included previous CAD. For the HFpEF model, C-indices were 0.74 (SE = 0.002) for white men, 0.76 (0.005) for black men, 0.79 (0.015) for white women, and 0.77 (0.026) for black women, compared with 0.72 (0.002), 0.72 (0.004), 0.77 (0.017), and 0.75 (0.028), respectively, for the HFrEF model. These risk prediction models were generally well calibrated in each race-specific and sex-specific stratum of the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our race-specific and sex-specific risk prediction models, which used easily obtainable clinical variables, can be a useful tool to implement preventive strategies or subtype-specific prevention trials in the nine million users of the VA healthcare system and the general population after external validation.

Core biopsies of the breast: diagnostic pitfalls.

The incidence of breast cancer is increasing worldwide. In this review article, the authors compare and contrast the incidence of breast cancer, and the inherent differences in the United States (US) and India in screening techniques used for diagnosing breast cancer. In spite of these differences, core biopsies of the breast are common for diagnosis of breast cancer in both countries. The authors describe "Best Practices" in the reporting and processing of core biopsies and in the analysis of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (Her2/neu). The pitfalls in the diagnosis of fibroepithelial lesions of the breast on core biopsy are discussed, as also the significance of pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia of the breast (PASH) is discussed in core biopsy. In this review, the management and diagnosis of flat epithelial atypia and radiation atypia are elaborated and the use of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in papillary lesions, phyllodes tumor, and complex sclerosing lesions (radial scars) is illustrated. Rarer lesions such as mucinous and histiocytoid carcinoma are also discussed.