Expert recommendations for the management of iron deficiency in patients with heart failure in Asia.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency is a common comorbidity in heart failure (HF) and is independently associated with a worse quality-of-life and exercise capacity, as well as increased risk of hospitalization, regardless of anemia status. Although international guidelines have provided recommendations for the management of iron deficiency in patients with HF, guidelines in Asia are less established, and practical use of guidelines for management of iron deficiency is limited in the region. METHODS: A panel comprising cardiologists from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand convened to share insights and provide guidance for the optimal management of iron deficiency in patients with HF, tailored for the Asian community. RESULTS: Expert opinions were provided for the screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of iron deficiency in patients with HF. It was recommended that all patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction should be screened for iron deficiency, and iron-deficient patients should be treated with intravenous iron. Monitoring of iron levels in patients with HF should be carried out once or twice yearly. Barriers to the management of iron deficiency in patients with HF in the region include low awareness of iron deficiency amongst general physicians, lack of reimbursement for screening and treatment, and lack of proper facilities for administration of intravenous iron. CONCLUSIONS: These recommendations provide a structured approach to the management of iron deficiency in patients with HF in Asia.

Safety and clinical impact of adenosine stress perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance in Asian patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Adenosine stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is increasingly utilized for evaluating patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aims to assess the safety and clinical impact of adenosine stress CMR in a tertiary care setting in Thailand. METHODS: A total of 3,768 consecutive patients aged 18 years and above who underwent adenosine stress CMR between 2017 and 2020 were included in the study. Patient records were reviewed to collect data on clinical characteristics, hemodynamic measurements, complications during or immediately after CMR, and the rates of clinical changes resulting from CMR. RESULTS: Among the included patients, the primary indications for adenosine stress CMR were risk stratification in suspected CAD (70.8%) and the assessment of myocardial ischemia/viability in patients with known CAD (26.5%). There were no reported deaths or acute myocardial infarctions during the procedure. Major complications, specifically acute pulmonary edema requiring hospital observation or admission for further management, occurred in four patients (0.11%), all of whom were elderly (ranging from 75 to 91 years) with a history of heart failure. Non-major complications were observed in 13.7% of patients, with dyspnea (9.8%) and mild chest pain (5.6%) being the most common. CMR provided a completely new diagnosis in 26.2% of patients. Overall, stress CMR resulted in a change in diagnosis or management for 48% of patients. CONCLUSION: Adenosine stress CMR was found to be safe and to have a significant impact on clinical management in Asian patients with known or suspected CAD. These findings support the use of adenosine stress CMR as a valuable tool for evaluating and guiding treatment decisions in this patient population.

Gaps in the Care of Subjects with Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Insights from the Thai Familial Hypercholesterolemia Registry.

AIMS: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is currently underdiagnosed and undertreated. The establishment of a FH registry could facilitate a deeper understanding of this disease. We described the clinical characteristics of subjects with FH from the Thai FH Registry, compared our data with the regional and global data, and identified gaps in the care of these subjects. METHODS: A multicenter, nationwide prospective FH registry was established in Thailand. Our data were compared with those of the European Atherosclerosis Society-FH Studies Collaboration. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed for variables associated with lipid-lowering medication (LLM) use and the attainment of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) goal. RESULTS: The study includes 472 subjects with FH (mean age at FH diagnosis: 46±12 years, 61.4% women). A history of premature coronary artery disease was found in 12%. The percentage of LLM use in subjects with a Dutch Lipid Clinic Network score of ≥ 6 (probable or definite FH) in our registry (64%) was slightly lower than the regional data but higher than the global data. Among those who received statins, 25.2% and 6.4% achieved LDL-C levels of ＜100 mg/dL and ＜70 mg/dL, respectively. Women with FH were less likely to achieve LDL-C ＜70 mg/dL (adjusted odds ratio: 0.22, 95% confidence interval: 0.06-0.71, p=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: FH in Thailand was diagnosed late, and treatment was inadequate for the majority of subjects. Women with FH were less likely to achieve LDL-C goals. Our insights could potentially help raise awareness and narrow the gap in patient care.

Causes of death of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation in Asians.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the causes of death among Asian non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) patients who were registered in a nationwide AF registry, and to investigate the differences in the causes of death in AF patients compared between those who were taking and not taking oral anticoagulant (OAC). METHODS: The COhort of antithrombotic use and Optimal INR Level in patients with non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation in Thailand (COOL-AF) study enrolled non-valvular AF patients from 27 centers in Thailand during 2014-2017 to create the COOL-AF Thailand registry. Cause of death was classified as cardiovascular (CV) death, non-CV death, or undetermined cause of death. All events were evaluated and verified by an independent adjudication committee. RESULTS: There was a total of 3,405 patients (mean age: 67.8 years, 41.8% female), and the mean follow-up duration was 31.8±8.7 months. Three hundred and eighty patients (11.2%) died during follow-up. CV death, non-CV death, and undetermined cause accounted for 121 (31.8%), 189 (49.7%), and 70 (18.4%) patients, respectively. Of those with a known cause of death, heart failure (10%), intracranial hemorrhage (ICH; 10%), sudden cardiac death (6.8%), and ischemic stroke (5.8%) were the most often observed causes of death. Concerning non-CV death, infection/sepsis (27.7%), cancer (5.5%), respiratory (5.2%), and major bleeding (4.5%) were the most prevalent causes of death. The use and type of OAC were found to be major determinants of ICH and major bleeding incidence. CONCLUSION: Death due to ischemic stroke was responsible for only 4.7% of all deaths in Asian AF patients. Non-CV death, such as infection/sepsis or malignancy, was more far more prevalent than CV death in Asian AF patients. An improved integrated care approach is needed to reduce the prevalence of non-CV death in Asian AF patients.

Outcomes of Patients With Breast Cancer Treated With or Without Internal Mammary Irradiation: A Single-Center, Retrospective Propensity Score-Matched Study.

Purpose: Internal mammary lymph node radiation therapy (IMN-RT) has unclear benefits. Historical data were based on only conventional (2-dimensional) radiation techniques. In this 3-dimensional radiation therapy era, we compared the distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates of patients receiving IMN-RT with those who did not include coverage of the IMN (non-IMN-RT). This study aimed to determine the relationship between IMN-RT and distant metastasis control in patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer. Methods and Materials: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study. Patients were divided into 2 groups: IMN-RT and non-IMN-RT. The criterion of the IMN-RT group was that 80% of the prescribed dose covered ≥98% of the Clinical Target Volume of IMN. The primary outcome was 4-year DMFS, and the secondary outcomes were 4-year overall survival, 4-year disease-free survival, and cardiac toxicity. Results: From January 2012 to December 2018, 570 patients were evaluated (IMN-RT, 143 patients; non-IMN-RT, 427 patients). Propensity score matching decreased the number of patients in each group to 139. The median follow-up was 4.3 years. The 4-year DMFS rates were as follows: IMN-RT, 79.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 70.1%-85.6%), and non-IMN-RT, 82.8% (95% CI, 74.2%-88.7%; P = .43). The groups' 4-year overall survival and disease-free survival rates did not differ. The 4-year overall survival rates were 84.3% (95% CI, 76.4%-89.8%) for IMN-RT and 88.1% (95% CI, 81.0%-92.7%; P = .39) for non-IMN-RT. The 4-year disease-free survival rates were 77.1% (95% CI, 68.1%-83.8%) for IMN-RT and 82.1% (95% CI, 73.6%-88.1%; P = .29) for non-IMN-RT. There was no significant difference in cardiac toxicity (IMN-RT, 1.4%; non-IMN-RT, 1.4%; P = 1.0). Conclusions: In the modern radiation technique era with real-world data, we could not find a benefit of internal mammary irradiation.

Prediction of cardiovascular outcome by estimated glomerular filtration rate among high-risk patients: a Thai nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Decline of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality, but the predictive value of different eGFR on CV outcomes is limited in Southeast Asian populations. AIMS: We aimed to stratify CV outcomes according to renal function among Thai patients with high atherosclerosis risk. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis in a 5-year national cohort entitled "CORE-Thailand study." Subjects were classified in 6 groups according to baseline kidney function: group I, eGFR ≥ 90; group II, eGFR 60-89; group IIIa, eGFR 45-59; group IIIb, eGFR 30-44; group IV, eGFR 15-29; group V, eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m2 or receiving renal replacement therapy. The primary outcome was 4-point major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality, CV mortality, hospitalization for heart failure, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke. RESULTS: A total of 6376 subjects (3467 men and 2909 women) were categorized in 6 groups. After adjusting covariates in the Cox proportional hazards model, compared to group I, subjects in groups II-V had a 1.65-fold, 2.17-fold, 2.67-fold, 4.24-fold, and 4.87-fold risk for 4-point MACE, respectively, with statistical significance at P < 0.05 in all groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis illustrated stepwise lower survivals from 4-point MACE following the groups with lower baseline eGFR (log-rank test with P < 0.001). All secondary outcomes showed similar trends as the primary outcome, except nonfatal stroke. CONCLUSION: Lower baseline kidney function was independently associated with increased risk of CV events and all-cause mortality in Thai populations at high CV risk.

No Paradoxical Effect of Smoking Status on Recurrent Cardiovascular Events in Patients Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Thai PCI Registry.

Background: "Smoker's paradox" is a controversial phenomenon that describes an unexpectedly favorable short-term outcome of smokers post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of smoking status on recurrent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients who recently underwent PCI and to determine whether it was paradoxical. Methods: This study utilized data from the nationwide Thai PCI registry, enrolling patients during 2018-2019. Our study factor was smoking status, classified as current smokers, ex-smokers, and nonsmokers. The outcome of interest was the time to occurrence of a composite of MACEs (i.e., all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and unplanned revascularization) evaluated at about 1-year post-PCI. A propensity score (PS) model using inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment was used to estimate the effect of smoking on the occurrence of MACE. Results: Current smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers accounted for 23, 32, and 45% of the 22,741 subjects, respectively. Smokers were younger, more frequently male, and had fewer traditional atherosclerotic risk factors. Current smokers presented more frequently with ST-elevation MIs (STEMIs) and cardiogenic shock (54 and 14.6%, respectively) than non-smokers. MACE rates were 1.9, 1.2, and 1.6 per 100 patients per month in the current smokers, ex-smokers, and non-smokers, respectively. After applying a PS, patients with a history of current smoking and ex-smoking developed the onset of recurrent MACEs significantly sooner than non-smokers, with a median time of 4.4 vs. 4.9 vs. 13.5 months (p < 0.001), respectively. Conclusions: "Smoker's paradox" was not observed in our patient population. Current smokers and ex-smokers were prone to develop an earlier onset of a post-PCI MACEs than nonsmokers and need a smoke cessation program for further prevention.

Dark-blood late gadolinium-enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for myocardial scar detection based on simplified timing scheme: single-center experience in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to examine scar detectability using dark-blood late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with simplified timing scheme and fixed parameters comparing to two conventional bright-blood approaches in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. METHODS: Three LGE techniques were performed in all patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease at 3 T: dark blood two-dimensional (2D) phase-sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR) preceded with a T2-preparation pulse (DB-LGE), conventional three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo inversion recovery (3D-IR) and conventional 2D PSIR. Timing parameters in DB-LGE were tested in five clinically confirmed coronary artery disease patients with scars and fixed for the rest of the study. Two independent readers evaluated images at both patient and segment levels. Image quality and contrast ratio between scar and adjacent tissues were assessed. Concordance between the three techniques and detection rate based on expert consensus were reported. RESULTS: Forty-six patients were recruited in the study (average age 66.8 years, 69.6% male). DB-LGE demonstrated superior image quality (P=0.001 vs. 3D-IR) and scar-to-blood contrast ratio (P<0.001 vs. 3D-IR and PSIR). Among 41 patients with suspected coronary artery disease, myocardial scar was present in 30 patients (73.2%), all detected by DB-LGE, yielding a detection rate of 100% compared to 93.3% and 96.7% for bright-blood 3D-IR and PSIR. For subendocardial scar detection among 656 segments, DB-LGE had a detection rate of 99.4% compared to 57.8% for 3D-IR and 61.0% for PSIR (both P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: DB-LGE improves detection of myocardial scar compared with conventional bright-blood LGE techniques, particularly of subendocardial scar.

Ankle-brachial index predicts renal outcomes and all-cause mortality in high cardiovascular risk population: a nationwide prospective cohort study in CORE project.

BACKGROUND: Low ankle-brachial index (ABI) related ischemic events are common among individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is also associated with an increased risk of rapid renal function decline. The presence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) with low ABI among patients with high cardiovascular (CV) risk increases limb loss and mortality. AIMS: To estimate the association between abnormal ABI and renal endpoints and all-cause mortality. METHODS: A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted among subjects with high CV risk or established CV diseases in Thailand. The subjects were divided into 3 groups based on ABI at baseline > 1.3, 0.91-1.3, and ≤ 0.9, respectively. Primary composite outcome consisted of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline over 40%, eGFR less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m2, doubling of serum creatinine and initiation of dialysis. The secondary outcome was all-cause mortality. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier curve were performed. RESULTS: A total of 5543 subjects (3005 men and 2538 women) were included. Cox proportional hazards model showed a significant relationship of low ABI (ABI ≤ 0.9) and primary composite outcome and all-cause mortality. Compared with the normal ABI group (ABI 0.91-1.3), subjects with low ABI at baseline significantly had 1.42-fold (95% CI 1.02-1.97) and 2.03-fold (95% CI 1.32-3.13) risk for the primary composite outcome and all-cause mortality, respectively, after adjusting for variable factors. CONCLUSION: Our study suggested that PAD independently predicts the incidence of renal progression and all-cause mortality among Thai patients with high CV risk.

Cardio-ankle vascular index with renal progression and mortality in high atherosclerosis risk: a prospective cohort study in CORE-Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Increased arterial stiffness is linked to markers of endothelial dysfunction and vasculopathy such as albuminuria, vascular calcification, left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiovascular (CV) diseases. Studies of arterial stiffness on renal progression are limited. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate the association between high cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and renal endpoint and all-cause mortality in a Thai population with high atherosclerosis risk. METHODS: A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted among subjects with high CV risk or established CV diseases in Thailand. Subjects were divided into 3 groups with mean CAVI < 8, 8-8.9, and ≥ 9, respectively. Primary composite outcome consisted of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline over 40%, eGFR less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m2, doubling of serum creatinine, initiation of dialysis and death related to renal causes. The secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality, CV mortality and eGFR decline. RESULTS: A total of 4898 subjects (2743 men and 2155 women) were enrolled. Cox proportional hazards model showed a significant relationship of high CAVI (CAVI ≥ 9) and primary composite outcome. Subjects with high CAVI at baseline had a 1.45-fold (95% CI 1.13-1.84) significant risk for the primary composite outcome and 1.72-fold (95% CI 1.12-2.63) risk for all-cause mortality, compared with normal CAVI (CAVI < 8). After stepwise multivariate analysis, the high CAVI group was only positively associated with primary composite outcome. Kaplan-Meier curve of the primary composite outcome and all-cause mortality demonstrated the worst survival in the high CAVI group (log-rank test with P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In a Thai cohort with high atherosclerosis risk, increased arterial stiffness was a risk factor for worsening renal function, including end-stage renal disease and initiation of dialysis.

An automated liver segmentation in liver iron concentration map using fuzzy c-means clustering combined with anatomical landmark data.

BACKGROUND: To estimate median liver iron concentration (LIC) calculated from magnetic resonance imaging, excluded vessels of the liver parenchyma region were defined manually. Previous works proposed the automated method for excluding vessels from the liver region. However, only user-defined liver region remained a manual process. Therefore, this work aimed to develop an automated liver region segmentation technique to automate the whole process of median LIC calculation. METHODS: 553 MR examinations from 471 thalassemia major patients were used in this study. LIC maps (in mg/g dry weight) were calculated and used as the input of segmentation procedures. Anatomical landmark data were detected and used to restrict ROI. After that, the liver region was segmented using fuzzy c-means clustering and reduced segmentation errors by morphological processes. According to the clinical application, erosion with a suitable size of the structuring element was applied to reduce the segmented liver region to avoid uncertainty around the edge of the liver. The segmentation results were evaluated by comparing with manual segmentation performed by a board-certified radiologist. RESULTS: The proposed method was able to produce a good grade output in approximately 81% of all data. Approximately 11% of all data required an easy modification step. The rest of the output, approximately 8%, was an unsuccessful grade and required manual intervention by a user. For the evaluation matrices, percent dice similarity coefficient (%DSC) was in the range 86-92, percent Jaccard index (%JC) was 78-86, and Hausdorff distance (H) was 14-28 mm, respectively. In this study, percent false positive (%FP) and percent false negative (%FN) were applied to evaluate under- and over-segmentation that other evaluation matrices could not handle. The average of operation times could be reduced from 10 s per case using traditional method, to 1.5 s per case using our proposed method. CONCLUSION: The experimental results showed that the proposed method provided an effective automated liver segmentation technique, which can be applied clinically for automated median LIC calculation in thalassemia major patients.

Native T1 mapping and extracellular volume fraction for differentiation of myocardial diseases from normal CMR controls in routine clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine native T1 and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) in distinct types of myocardial disease, including amyloidosis, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), myocarditis and coronary artery disease (CAD), compared to controls. METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled patients with distinct types of myocardial disease, CAD patients, and control group (no known heart disease and negative CMR study) who underwent 3.0 Tesla CMR with routine T1 mapping. The region of interest (ROI) was drawn in the myocardium of the mid left ventricular (LV) short axis slice and at the interventricular septum of mid LV slice. ECV was calculated by actual hematocrit (Hct) and synthetic Hct. T1 mapping and ECV was compared between myocardial disease and controls, and between CAD and controls. Diagnostic yield and cut-off values were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 1188 patients were enrolled. The average T1 values in the control group were 1304 ± 42 ms at septum, and 1294 ± 37 ms at mid LV slice. The average T1 values in patients with myocardial disease and CAD were significantly higher than in controls (1441 ± 72, 1349 ± 59, 1345 ± 59, 1355 ± 56, and 1328 ± 54 ms for septum of amyloidosis, DCM, HCM, myocarditis, and CAD). Native T1 of the mid LV level and ECV at septum and mid LV with actual and synthetic Hct of patients with myocardial disease or CAD were significantly higher than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Although native T1 and ECV of patients with cardiomyopathy and CAD were significantly higher than controls, the values overlapped. The greatest clinical utilization was found for the amyloidosis group.

Oral anticoagulation and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease in Asian Population, Data from the COOL-AF Thailand registry.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Patients with AF and chronic kidney disease(CKD) encountered increased risks of stroke, bleeding, morbidity, and overall mortality. Oral anticoagulation in these populations definitely enhances major bleeding but the benefit of stroke reduction remained inconclusive.The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of oral anticoagulation (OAC) on the 2-year cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AF and CKD. METHOD: NVAF patients were consecutively enrolled from 27 hospitals located all across Thailand.Baseline demographic and clinical data were collected within 6 months from enrollment.GFR was calculated using CKD-EPI formula. CKD patients were defined as GFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 according to KDOQI of the National Kidney Foundation. Clinical outcomes included ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and major bleeding. RESULTS: At 25.7 ± 10.6 months of follow up, we identified 2538 patients with complete renal follow-up data. Among these were 1594 patients with CKD (stage 3-5) and 944 patients without CKD. The rate of ischemic stroke in patients with and without CKD were 3.7% and 1.7% respectively (p = 0.004),the rate of major bleeding was 5.6 and 3.5% accordingly (p = 0.015) and, likewise, the death rate was substantially high in patients with CKD (10.0% and 6.5%, p = 0.02). The rate of ischemic stroke/TIA in patients with CKD who were and were not on OAC did not differ significantly, 3.6% and 4.2% respectively (p = 0.602). NOAC and warfarin did not differ significantly in the propensity score-matched rate of both ischemic stroke/TIA (0 and 1.2%, p = 0.554) and major bleeding (3.3% and 7.4%, p = 0.122).The net clinical benefit of NOAC over warfarin was 2.153 per 100-patient years. CONCLUSIONS: COOL AF registry demonstrated that AF patients with CKD had increased risks of ischemic stroke/TIA, major bleeding and death. The benefit of stroke/TIA reduction was not significantly evident for either warfarin or NOAC. However, NOAC was associated with the positive net clinical benefit over no OAC.

Clinical assessment of adenosine stress and rest cardiac magnetic resonance T1 mapping for detecting ischemic and infarcted myocardium.

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) may be influenced by pathologic conditions due to changes in myocardial water content. We aimed to validate the principle and investigate T1 mapping at rest and adenosine stress to differentiate ischemic and infarcted myocardium from controls. Patients with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent CMR were prospectively recruited. Native rest and adenosine stress T1 maps were obtained using standard modified Look-Locker Inversion-Recovery technique. Among 181 patients included, T1 values were measured from three groups. In the control group, 72 patients showed myocardium with a T1 profile of 1,039 ± 75 ms at rest and a significant increase during stress (4.79 ± 3.14%, p < 0.001). While the ischemic (51 patients) and infarcted (58 patients) groups showed elevated resting T1 compared to controls (1,040 ± 90 ms for ischemic; 1,239 ± 121 ms for infarcted, p < 0.001), neither of which presented significant T1 reactivity (1.38 ± 3.02% for ischemic; 1.55 ± 5.25% for infarcted). We concluded that adenosine stress and rest T1 mapping may be useful to differentiate normal, ischemic and infarcted myocardium.

An Automated Segmentation of R2* Iron-Overloaded Liver Images Using a Fuzzy C-Mean Clustering Scheme.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to develop and test an automated segmentation of R2* iron-overloaded liver images using fuzzy c-mean (FCM) clustering and to evaluate the observer variations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Liver R2* images and liver iron concentration (LIC) maps of 660 thalassemia examinations were randomly separated into training (70%) and testing (30%) cohorts for development and evaluation purposes, respectively. Two-dimensional FCM used R2* images, and the LIC map was implemented to segment vessels from the parenchyma. Two automated FCM variables were investigated using new echo time and membership threshold selection criteria based on the FCM centroid distance and LIC levels, respectively. The new method was developed on a training cohort and compared with manual segmentation for segmentation accuracy and to a previous semiautomated method, and a semiautomated scheme was suggested to improve unsuccessful results. The automated variables found from the training cohort were assessed for their effectiveness in the testing cohort, both quantitatively and qualitatively (the latter by 2 abdominal radiologists using a grading method, with evaluations of observer variations). A segmentation error of less than 30% was considered to be a successful result in both cohorts, whereas, in the testing cohort, a good grade obtained from satisfactory automated results was considered a success. RESULTS: The centroid distance method has a segmentation accuracy comparable with the previous-best, semiautomated method. About 94% and 90% of the examinations in the training and testing cohorts were automatically segmented out successfully, respectively. The failed examinations were successfully segmented out with thresholding adjustment (3% and 8%) or by using alternative results from the previous 1-dimensional FCM method (3% and 2%) in the training and testing cohorts, respectively. There were no failed segmentation examinations in either cohort. The intraobserver and interobserver variabilities were found to be in substantial agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Our new method provided a robust automated segmentation outcome with a high ease of use for routine clinical application.

Prevalence and predictors of cardiac and liver iron overload in patients with thalassemia: A multicenter study based on real-world data.

Prevalence of cardiac and liver iron overload in patients with thalassemia in real-world practice may vary among different regions especially in the era of widely-used iron chelation therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cardiac and liver iron overload in and the management patterns of patients with thalassemia in real-world practice in Thailand. We established a multicenter registry for patients with thalassemia who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of their clinical evaluation. All enrolled patients underwent cardiac and liver MRI for assessment of iron overload. There were a total of 405 patients enrolled in this study. The mean age of patients was 18.8±12.5years and 46.7% were male. Two hundred ninety-six (73.1%) of patients received regular blood transfusion. Prevalence of cardiac iron overload (CIO) and liver iron overload (LIO) was 5.2% and 56.8%, respectively. Independent predictors for iron overload from laboratory information were serum ferritin and transaminase for both CIO and LIO. Serum ferritin can be used as a screening tool to rule-out CIO and to diagnose LIO. Iron chelation therapy was given in 74.6%; 15.3% as a combination therapy.

Detection of cardiac iron overload with native magnetic resonance T1 and T2 mapping in patients with thalassemia.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the diagnostic performance of native cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) T1 and T2 mapping for cardiac iron overload (CIO) in thalassemia patients. METHODS: All thalassemia patients who underwent CMR were enrolled on a clinical 1.5T scanner. Native T1 mapping with the Modified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI) technique, T2 mapping using a black-blood multi-echo spin-echo technique, and conventional T2* mapping using multi-echo gradient-echo techniques were performed. CIO was defined by a T2* of <20ms; while severe CIO was considered as <10ms. RESULTS: A total of 200 patients were enrolled in the study (23.9±14.6years old [mean±SD], 102 male). Among these, 8 patients (4.0%) had CIO. Both native T1 and T2 times were significant different among patients with no CIO, mild-to-moderate CIO, and severe CIO (1012.7±57.7 vs. 846.4±34.4 vs 601.3±34.6ms for T1, p<0.05; 59.6±6.5 vs. 48.7±2.5 vs. 32.8±1.2ms for T2, p<0.05). The best cut-off values for detection of CIO were 887 and 52ms for T1 and T2, respectively. This yielded a sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) of 100%, 98.4% and 0.997 respectively for T1, in comparison to 100%, 88.8% and 0.961 respectively for T2. CONCLUSIONS: Native T1 mapping can differentiate between severe, mild-to-moderate, and no CIO, which appears to be a promising technique for detection and assessment of myocardial iron.

Data Sharing: A New Editorial Initiative of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Implications for the Editors' Network / Compartir los datos de los estudios: Una nueva iniciativa editorial del Comité Internacional de Editores de Revistas Médicas. Implicaciones para la red europea de editores cardiovasculares

Abstract: The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides recommendations to improve the editorial standards and scientific quality of biomedical journals. These recommendations range from uniform technical requirements to more complex and elusive editorial issues including ethical aspects of the scientific process. Recently, registration of clinical trials, conflicts of interest disclosure, and new criteria for authorship - emphasizing the importance of responsibility and accountability -, have been proposed. Last year, a new editorial initiative to foster sharing of clinical trial data was launched. This review discusses this novel initiative with the aim of increasing awareness among readers, investigators, authors and editors belonging to the Editors' Network of the European Society of Cardiology.

Resumen: El Comite internacional de editores de revistas medicas (CIERM) propone recomendaciones para mejorar los standares editoriales y la calidad científica de las revistas biomédicas. Estas recomendaciones abarcan desde requerimeintos ténicos uniformados a temas editoriales mas complejos y evasivos, como los aspectos bioéticos relacionados con el proceso científico. Recientemente se han propuesto algunas iniciativas editoriales, como el registro de los ensayos clinicos, la declaración de los conflictos de interés y los nuevos criterios para autoría (que destacan la responsabilidad de los autores sobre el estudio). El año pasado se presentó una nueva iniciativa editorial para resaltar la importancia de compartir los datos generados en los estudios clinicos. En este artículo se discute esta nueva iniciativa editorial, con la idea de difundir su conocimiento entre los lectores, investigadores, autores y editores de la red de editores de revistas cardiovasculares nacionales de la Sociedad Europea de Cardiología.