Combining body mass index with measures of central obesity in the assessment of mortality in subjects with coronary disease: role of "normal weight central obesity".

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the mortality risk of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) based ona combination of body mass index (BMI) with measures of central obesity. BACKGROUND: In CAD patients, mortality has been reported to vary inversely with BMI ("obesity paradox"). In contrast,central obesity is directly associated with mortality. Because of this bidirectionality, we hypothesized that CAD patients with normal BMI but central obesity would have worse survival compared to individuals with other combinations of BMI and central adiposity. METHODS: We included 15,547 participants with CAD who were part of 5 studies from 3 continents. Multivariate stratifiedCox-proportional hazard models adjusted for potential confounders were used to assess mortality risk according to different patterns of adiposity that combined BMI with measures of central obesity. RESULTS: Mean age was 66 years, 60% were men. There were 5,507 deaths over a median follow-up of 2.4 years (IQR: 0.5 to 7.4 years). Individuals with normal weight central obesity had the worst long-term survival: a person with BMI of 22 kg/m2 and waist circumference (WC) of 101 cm had higher mortality than a person with similar BMI but WC of 85 cm (HR: 1.10[95% CI: 1.05 to 1.17]), than a person with BMI of 26 kg/m2 and WC of 85 cm (HR: 1.20 [95% CI: 1.09 to 1.31]), than a person with BMI of 30 kg/m2 and WC of 85 cm (HR: 1.61 [95% CI: 1.39 to 1.86]) and than a person with BMI of 30kg/m2 and WC of 101 cm (HR: 1.27 [95% CI: 1.18 to 1.39), p < 0.0001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with CAD, normal weight with central obesity is associated with the highest risk of mortality [corrected].

Functional assessment of jailed side branches in coronary bifurcation lesions using fractional flow reserve.

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess the functional significance of side branches after stent implantation in main vessels using fractional flow reserve (FFR). BACKGROUND: Little is known about the functional significance of side branches after stent implantation in main vessels in coronary bifurcation lesions. METHODS: Between May 2007 and January 2011, 230 side branches in 230 patients after stent implantation in main vessels were assessed by FFR and were consecutively enrolled. RESULTS: Median FFR at the side branch was 0.91 (interquartile range: 0.85 to 0.95). There was a negative correlation between the diameter stenosis (DS) by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and FFR of side branch (r=-0.21, p=0.002), but only 41 (17.8%) side branches were functionally significant after stent implantation in the main vessel. Among 67 side branches with >50% DS by QCA, 19 (28.4%) had FFR≤0.80, and among 163 side branches with ≤50% DS by QCA, 22 (13.5%) had FFR≤0.80 after stent implantation in main vessels. On the basis of receiver-operating characteristic curves, the optimal cutoff value of DS by QCA of the side branch was 54.9%, and the area under the curve was 0.64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.58 to 0.71, p<0.001) with a 41.5% sensitivity, an 83.1% specificity, a 34.7% positive predictive value, an 86.3% negative predictive value, and a 75.7% accuracy. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis identified DS by QCA (odds ratio [OR]: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.06, p=0.001) and reference vessel diameter (OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.77, p=0.014) before stent implantation as independent predictors of the side branches with FFR≤0.80 after stent implantation. CONCLUSIONS: Most side branch lesions do not have functional significance after stent implantation in the main vessel, and quantitative coronary angiography is unreliable in assessing the functional severity of these lesions.

Gender differences in clinical features and in-hospital outcomes in ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction: from the Korean Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR) study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have suggested that women are biologically different and that female gender itself is independently associated with poor clinical outcome after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). HYPOTHESIS: We analyzed data from the Korean Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR) to assess gender differences in in-hospital outcomes post ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: Between November 2005 and July 2007, 4037 patients who were admitted with STEMI to 41 facilities were registered into the KAMIR database; patients admitted within 72 hours of symptom onset were selected and included in this study. RESULTS: The proportion of patients who had reperfusion therapy within 12 hours from chest pain onset was lower in women. Women had higher rates of in-hospital mortality (8.6% vs 3.2%, P < .01), noncardiac death (1.5% vs 0.4%, P < .01), cardiac death (7.1% vs 2.8%, P < .01), and stroke (1.2% vs 0.5%, P < .05) than men. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified age, previous angina, hypertension, a Killip class > or = II, a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40%, and a thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow (TIMI) grade < or = 3 after angioplasty as independent risk factors for in-hospital death for all patients; however, female gender itself was not an independent risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that although women have a higher in-hospital mortality than men, female gender itself is not an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality.