Sex-differences in the management and clinical outcome among patients with acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The current study was to compare the management and clinical outcome between women and men with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHOD: This was a retrospective study. Patients with ACS presented to the emergency department were enrolled. Management and clinical outcomes (including mortality and acute decompensated heart failure [ADHF]) were compared between women and men. RESULTS: A total of 686 patients were included and women accounted for 38.5% (n = 264). Women were less likely to receive ticagrelor at the emergency department (18.2% vs 25.1%). Duration from arrival at the emergency department to undergo electrocardiogram was longer in women (7.5 min vs 5.3 min). The duration from symptom onset to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention was longer in women (14.4 h vs 7.2 h). After adjusting for covariates, odds ratio (OR) for cardiovascular mortality was 0.42 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.37-1.02) and ADHF was 0.63 (95% CI 0.55-1.01) for women vs men. Socioeconomic status, duration from symptom onset to arrive at the emergency department, and management at the emergency department were the important factors contributing to the sex-differences in clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Among ACS patients undergoing PCI, there was no sex-difference in in-hospital clinical outcome after adjusting for covariates. Future studies are needed to evaluate whether improving management at the emergency department can improve clinical outcomes in women and men with ACS.

Associations of dipping and non-dipping hypertension with cardiovascular diseases in patients with dyslipidemia.

INTRODUCTION: Dyslipidemia combined with hypertension increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current study aimed to investigate the association of dipping and non-dipping hypertension with CVD in patients with dyslipidemia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 243 documented dyslipidemia patients with hypertension were enrolled. Clinical characteristics and clinic and 24-hour blood pressure (BP) parameters were compared between dipping and non-dipping groups based on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association of dipping and non-dipping hypertension with CVD. RESULTS: Compared to the dipping group, patients in the non-dipping group were older, more likely to be male and smokers, had higher serum creatinine levels, and were more likely to have chronic kidney disease and CVD (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). No significant between-group differences in clinic systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) were observed. However, compared to the dipping group, 24-hour SBP, nighttime SBP and DBP, and night-day ratio of SBP and DBP were all significantly higher in the non-dipping group (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). In the dipping group, only night-day ratio of SBP was significantly associated with CVD, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.09 (95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.02-1.34). In the non-dipping group, both night-day ratio of SBP and DBP were significantly associated with CVD, with an OR of 1.72 (95% CI: 1.33-2.06) and 1.23 (95% CI: 1.05-1.66), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with dyslipidemia, non-dipping hypertension is more closely related to CVD compared to dipping hypertension.

The HEART score is useful to predict cardiovascular risks and reduces unnecessary cardiac imaging in low-risk patients with acute chest pain.

The present study was to investigate whether the HEART score can be used to evaluate cardiovascular risks and reduce unnecessary cardiac imaging in China.Acute coronary syndrome patients with the thrombosis in myocardial infarction risk score < 2 were enrolled in the emergency department. Baseline data were collected and a HEART score was determined in each participant during the indexed emergency visit. Participants were follow-up for 30 days after discharge and the studied endpoints included acute myocardial infarction, cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality.A total of 244 patients were enrolled and 2 was loss of follow-up. The mean age was 50.4 years old and male patients accounted for 64.5%. Substernal pain and featured as pressure of the pain accounted for 34.3% and 39.3%, respectively. After 30 days' follow-up, no patient in the low-risk HEART score group and 2 patients (1.5%) in the high risk HEART score group had cardiovascular events. The sensitivity of HEART score to predict cardiovascular events was 100% and the specificity was 46.7%. The potential unnecessary cardiac testing was 46.3%. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that per one category increase of the HEART score was associated with nearly 1.3-fold risk of cardiovascular events.In the low-risk acute chest pain patients, the HEART score is useful to physicians in evaluating the risk of cardiovascular events within the first 30 days. In addition, the HEART score is also useful in reducing the unnecessary cardiac imaging.

Spironolactone is superior to hydrochlorothiazide for blood pressure control and arterial stiffness improvement: A prospective study.

The present study is to investigate whether spironolactone is better than hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) for blood pressure (BP) control and arterial stiffness improvement. Five-hundred-sixty-six uncontrolled hypertensive patients with 2 different classes of antihypertensive medications treatment were enrolled. Spironolactone or HCTZ was randomly prescribed for 4 weeks. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) was measured at baseline and after 4 weeks' of spironolactone or HCTZ treatment. Between-group differences were evaluated, and logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association of cf-PWV increase and incident resistant hypertension. No significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed between spironolactone and HCTZ groups. After 4 weeks' treatment, both systolic BP and cf-PWV were reduced more profoundly in spironolactone group versus HCTZ group (P < .05). Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis showed that age, diabetes mellitus, and HCTZ were positively correlated with cf-PWV, while spironolactone was negatively with cf-PWV. Logistic regression analysis indicated that per 1-standard deviation increase in cf-PWV was associated with 92% higher incidence of resistant hypertension. After adjusted for spironolactone, no significant association between cf-PWV increase and incident resistant hypertension was observed, indicating that the adverse effect of arterial stiffness on resistant hypertension development might be reversed by spironolactone treatment. In summary, uncontrolled hypertensive patients with spironolactone treatment appear to have better BP control and arterial stiffness improvement.