Prognostic Value of Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 5 in Heart Failure Patients With and Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

BACKGROUND: Patients with heart failure (HF) with diabetes mellitus have distinct biomarker profiles compared with those without diabetes mellitus. SFRP5 (secreted frizzled-related protein 5) is an anti-inflammatory adipokine with an important suppressing role on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of SFRP5 in patients with HF with and without T2DM. METHODS: The study included 833 consecutive patients with HF, 312 (37.5%) of whom had T2DM. Blood samples were collected at presentation, and SFRP5 levels were measured. The primary outcome was the composite end points of first occurrence of HF rehospitalization or all-cause mortality during follow-up. RESULTS: During median follow-up of 2.1 years, 335 (40.2%) patients in the cohort experienced the composite primary outcome. After adjustment for multiple risk factors, each doubling of SFRP5 level was associated with a 21% decreased risk of primary outcomes in the overall study population (P<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that the association between level of SFPR5 and primary outcomes may be stronger in patients with T2DM (hazard ratio, 0.69 [95% CI, 0.61-0.79]) than in patients without T2DM (hazard ratio, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.79-1.01]; interaction P=0.006). Similar associations were observed when taking SFRP5 as a categorical variable. Addition of SFRP5 significantly improved discrimination and reclassification of the incident primary outcomes beyond clinical risk factors and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in all patients with HF and those with T2DM (all P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: SFRP5 is an independent novel biomarker for risk stratification in HF, especially in HF with T2DM.

A retrospective cohort study of oral anticoagulant treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome and atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the real-world patterns of oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in Southern China undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and determine the clinical characteristics associated with OAC prescription. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: This study was conducted in the Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University and the second hospital of Zhaoqing, China, from January 2013 to 31 December 2018. PARTICIPANTS: Patients were aged ≥18 years, hospitalised for ACS and received PCI treatment. OUTCOME MEASURES: AF was diagnosed based on an ECG recording or a Holter monitor. Prescription of OACs and antiplatelets were determined from the discharge medication list. RESULTS: A total of 3612 patients with ACS were included: 286 (7.9%) were diagnosed with AF, including 45 (1.2%) with paroxysmal AF, 227 (6.3%) with persistent/permanent AF and 14 (0.4%) with unclassified AF. Although 95.5% of patients with AF were at high risk (CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥2) of stroke, only 21.7% of them were discharged on OACs (10.5% received warfarin and 11.2% received non-vitamin K antagonist OACs). Patients with pre-admission use of OAC, a HAS-BLED score <3, with persistent/permanent AF were more likely to receive OAC treatment at discharge. CONCLUSION: We found that approximately 8% of patients who underwent PCI during ACS hospitalisation also demonstrated AF. Anticoagulant therapy was greatly underused. Patients with paroxysmal AF and an increased risk of bleeding were less likely to receive anticoagulant treatment. Further efforts should be made to increase the adherence to guideline recommendations for OACs.