Special Issue:Myocardial injury
The prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are increasing in Chinese residents due to ever-deepening influence of associated risks caused by socioeconomic factors (such as the acceleration of population aging and urbanization) and lifestyle changes (such as recently emerged unhealthy lifestyle factors) . In 2019, CVD-related death accounted for 46.74% and 44.26% of all deaths occurring in China's rural and urban areas, respectively. Two out of every five deaths were due to CVD. It is estimated that about 330 million individuals suffer from CVD in China, among whom the number of those suffering from stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure, pulmonary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, lower extremity artery disease and hypertension is 13 million, 11.39 million, 8.9 million, 5 million, 4.87 million, 2.5 million, 2 million, 45.3 million and 245 million, respectively. In 2019, the total hospitalization costs were 313.366 billion yuan for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The burden of CVD is continually increasing, especially in rural areas. The mortality of coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease consistently exceeded the urban level in recent years due to unequal allocation of healthcare resources, low awareness of such diseases and poor compliance to the treatment. In the meantime, great progresses have been made in CVD prevention and control, such as decreased smoking prevalence, improved hypertension control rate, significantly improved clinical diagnosis, treatment and basic research, and enhanced community-based containment of CVD. Moreover, relevant rehabilitation has been increasingly valued, and the research and development of medical devices are in a rapid stage of progress.
Due to the acceleration of population aging and the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles, the huge population with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, the burden of CVD continues to increase in China. CVD is still the leading cause of death among urban and rural residents in China. In 2020, CVD accounted for 48.00% and 45.86% of the causes of death in rural and urban areas, respectively, and two out of every five deaths were due to CVD. It is estimated that the number of current CVD patients in China is 330 million, including 13 million cases of stroke, 11.39 million cases of coronary heart disease, 8.9 million cases of heart failure, 5 million cases of pulmonary heart disease, 4.87 million cases of atrial fibrillation, 2.5 million cases of rheumatic heart disease, 2 million cases of congenital heart disease, 45.3 million cases of peripheral artery disease, and 245 million cases of hypertension. The total hospitalization costs were 270.901 billion yuan for CVD in China in 2020. The prevention and treatment of CVD in China still has a long way to go. In general, we should not only do a good job in secondary prevention and treatment of CVD, but also further strengthen the upstream treatment of modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia starting with both preventive treatment and treatment diseases. In addition, attention should be paid to the allocation and prioritization of health care and public health resources, so as to reach the inflection point of CVD prevention and treatment as early as possible.
With the development of society and economy and the acceleration of population aging and urbanization, the prevalence of hypertension in China is gradually increasing, and the growth is more obvious in rural areas. The rates of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Chinese adults have not reached a satisfactory status despite recent improvements. The number of Chinese people suffering from hypertension is 245 million, and that of those with high normal blood pressure keeps growing, imposing a growing financial burden on residents and society. Hypertension has become a major public health problem, so it is urgent to strengthen the government-led prevention and control of hypertension.
The American Heart Association (AHA) , American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) jointly released the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure (hereinafter referred to as the 2022 Guideline) . In the light of the latest evidence, the essentials updated in the 2022 Guideline encompass the prevention, stages, classification, drug treatment and device-based treatment of heart failure. The 2022 Guideline is content-enriched, evidence-based, practical, and easily operable, which may greatly contribute to clinical practice in China. In response to the most concerns of clinicians, we overviewed and discussed the updates in stages, classification and drug treatment of heart failure in the new guideline.
Cardiovascular disease is a major chronic disease that seriously endangers human health, and remains a public health problem to be solved in China and even globally.
To explore the epidemic characteristics and disease burden of cardiovascular diseases in China from 1990 to 2019, forecast the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in China from 2020 to 2050, and provide a reference for the formulation of relevant prevention and treatment strategies of cardiovascular diseases.
The 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD 2019) database was searched to extract and analyze relevant data on cardiovascular disease burden and risk factors in China and globally from 1990 to 2019. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases was quantified by using the publicly available incidence, prevalence, mortality, and corresponding age-standardized rate (referred to as standardized rate) based on GBD 2019 database, and the burden of diseases was quantified by years lived with disability (YLD), years of life lost (YLL) and disability adjusted life year (DALY), and the ARIMA model was constructed to predict the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in China from 2020 to 2050.
Compared with 1990, the incidence, prevalence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases in China showed an increasing trend by year up to 2019, in which the incidence, prevalence and mortality increased by 93.75%, 99.75% and 57.39%, respectively. The standardized incidence and prevalence of females were higher than those of males, while the standardized mortality was lower than that of males (P<0.05). According to the data in 2019, the overall incidence of cardiovascular diseases in China showed an increasing trend with age, reaching its highest value in the age group of 95 years and above. Incidence trends for both men and women were similar to the overall trend, with slight differences. The overall prevalence also increases with age and is higher in women than men. There is an increasing trend in cardiovascular disease mortality after the age of 45, with males having a higher mortality rate than females at all ages. Compared with 1990, the rates of YLL, YLD and DALY in Chinese men increased by 36.99%, 102.42% and 40.78%, respectively, and increased by 2.79%, 107.13% and 11.50% in women in 2019. According to the data in 2019, the YLL rate, YLD rate and DALY rate of cardiovascular diseases in Chinese population showed an upward trend with the increase of age, with no inflection point. YLL rate and DALY rate of males gradually increased with the progress of population aging and were much higher than females, YLD rate gradually increased in the age group of 55-59 years and was much higher than males. From 1990 to 2019, the global standardized incidence, standardized prevalence and standardized mortality of cardiovascular diseases showed a downward trend by year, while the standardized morbidity and standardized mortality still increased in China, the standardized incidence and prevalence decreased, but that was still higher than the global scale. From the global level, the standardized YLL rate and DALY rate of cardiovascular diseases in China showed a downward trend along with the global level, but the disease burden of cardiovascular diseases in China was higher than the global level after 2000, and the standardized YLD rate increased by year. Risk factors associated with death from cardiovascular diseases mainly included smoking, second-hand smoke, alcohol consumption, low physical activity, high fasting blood glucose, high systolic blood pressure, high BMI, high low density lipoprotein cholesterol and renal insufficiency. From the relevant data in China and globally, high systolic blood pressure (hypertension) was still the primary risk factor for death from cardiovascular diseases, and the number of deaths was increasing by year. High density lipoprotein cholesterol (hyperlipidemia) was the second cause of death from cardiovascular diseases globally and in China in recent years. From 2020 to 2050, the standardized incidence of cardiovascular diseases in China is still on the rise, and it is expected that the standardized incidence of cardiovascular diseases will reach 663.618 per 100 000 by 2050.
The incidence, prevalence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases in China from 1990 to 2019 have shown an increasing trend by year. The disease burden caused by cardiovascular diseases is more severely, and there is no inflection point in the next 50 years. The prevalence and burden of diseases are higher than those of the world. It is expected that the standardized incidence of cardiovascular diseases will reach 663.618 per 100 000 by 2050.
Actively Managing Obesity to Reduce the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease, a statement released by the American Heart Association on April 22, 2021, gives a summary of the impact of obesity on the diagnosis, clinical management and prognosis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, sudden cardiac death and atrial fibrillation. In view of the present clinical management of cardiovascular diseases in China, this paper interprets the content of the statement in detail, aiming to provide guidance relevant to domestic cardiovascular management practices.
Panax notoginseng is a traditional Chinese medicine that has a significant effect on cardiovascular diseases for its effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. With the development of techniques for extracting herb drugs, improved purity of Panax notoginseng extract greatly improves its efficacy. In this paper, we reviewed recent literature concerning Panax notoginseng extract 〔 with Panax notoginseng saponins( PNS) as the main component〕 in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases ( coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmia) , and analyzed and summarized the mechanism of action, clinical effect and possible adverse reactions of PNS, and concluded that PNS and its active ingredients have definite curative effects on cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, PNS may produce a variety of pharmacodynamic effects on coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmia or coexisting cardiovascular diseases, thereby reducing the economic and mental pressures and improving quality of life of the patients.
Cardiometabolic risk factor cluster (CRFC) is a common health issue among aged 55 and over adults. Available studies mainly focus on the distribution of its epidemiological characteristics, but rarely assess the association between CRFC and all-cause mortality risk.
To explore the association between CRFC and all-cause mortality risk among community-dwelling aged 55 and over adults, to provide evidence for developing healthcare interventional programs for this group.
By use of typical sampling, this study selected 1 046 community-dwelling aged 55 and over adults from five urban communities in Wuzhong and Yinchuan cities of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region during September to November 2011. And sociodemographic questionnaire survey, health check-up, ultrasonic examination, laboratory test and CRFC assessment 〔nine cardiometabolic risk factors, including central obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, elevated LDL-cholesterol, decreased HDL-cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, hyperuricemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) 〕, were included in the multivariate Cox regression model to calculate the regression coefficient β of them after adjusting for confounders, then the coefficient of each factor was used as the weight to calculate the total risk score by adding them together were finished at baseline. The participants were followed up in 2017, 2019, and 2021 by face-to-face interview coupled with searching the national death surveillance system. Log-rank test was used to compare the survival curves for all-cause mortality plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method for tertile groups of the total cardiometabolic risk score (<P50, P50-P75, and >P75) . The Cox regression model was employed to assess the association of all-cause mortality risk with sociodemographics, cardiometabolic risk factors, the total cardiometabolic risk score, the level of the total cardiometabolic risk score, and age.
The participants had an average age of (66.4±6.6) years (range: 55-88) at baseline. One hundred and six death cases were identified with a ten-year accumulated mortality rate of 10.13%. The individuals in >P75 group had much lower accumulated mortality rate than the other two groups, indicating that the median survival time decreased with the increase in the total cardiometabolic risk score. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age, sex, living alone and education level may be associated with all-cause mortality risk (P<0.05) . After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, the multivariate Cox regression model revealed that the cardiometabolic risk factor cluster was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality〔HR=3.04, 95%CI (1.55, 5.97) , P=0.001〕, and a dose-response effect was found that higher score was associated with an increased risk of death〔HR=2.02, 95%CI (1.16, 3.50) , P=0.013〕for > P75 when compared with risk score lower than P50) . When stratified by age group, the association only persisted among those aged 65 and over〔HR=2.79, 95%CI (1.36, 5.74) , P=0.005〕; >P75 group had higher risk of death than P50 group〔HR=1.83, 95%CI (1.02, 3.28) , P=0.042〕.
The CRFC was positively associated with all-cause mortality risk among community-dwelling aged 55 and over adults, and higher level of clustering was associated with higher all-cause mortality risk. The findings indicate that early assessment and intervention of CRFC may play a role in improving the healthcare and reducing the risk of death in this population .
In the social situation of "three child" policy opening and late marriage to become the norm, the topic of female reproduction and health has attracted increasing attention. As one of the important markers of ovarian reserve in women, the relationship between anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk indicators has become a hot research issue.
To establish a reference range of AMH in healthy women of reproductive age in Urumqi region, and to investigate the association between AMH and risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease.
From May to July 2018, healthy women aged 19-50 years who met the criteria were selected from the natural population of a community-based epidemiological survey with four living residents area in Urumqi city by targeted sampling, and the serum AMH, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triacylglyceride (TG), serum uric acid, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels of the survey subjects were tested. Height, body mass, abdominal circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure, and other indicators were measured to analyze the relationship between AMH and the above indicators related to cardiovascular risk factors.
The median AMH among 855 healthy women of reproductive age was 1.58 (0.01, 8.78) μg/L. The reference range of AMH in healthy women of reproductive age in our region was established, that was, 0.89 to 10.94μg/L for 19-24 years old, 0.66 to 11.77 μg/L for 25-29 years old, 0.27 to 8.25μg/L for 30-34 years old, 0.01 to 6.87μg/L for 35-39 years old, 0.01 to 3.98μg/L for 40-44 years old, <0.01-1.87μg/L for 45-50 years old. Spearman correlation analysis showed that AMH was negatively correlated with age, body fat index (BMI), abdominal circumference, hip circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, TSH, TC, LDL-C (P<0.05), but not with blood glucose, TG, HDL-C, uric acid (P>0.05) .
In this study, the reference range of serum AMH in healthy women of reproductive age in Urumqi was established, which may provide a basis for the functional assessment of ovarian reserve in women of different ages. Low AMH levels in women of reproductive age are associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as increased age, obesity, abdominal obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.
Today's world, there is an increasing number of people drinking alcoholic beverages. Drinking alcohol can induce several diseases and is a serious threat to human health, but whether it has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system is controversial. Traditional beliefs have suggested that small to moderate amounts of alcohol consumption (female intake of ≤ 1 standard amounts of alcoholic beverages daily, male intake of ≤ 2 standard amounts of alcoholic beverages daily, 1 standard amounts of alcoholic beverages=12-15 g pure ethanol) might be beneficial for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (such as atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease) , whereas heavy drinking (intake of > 2 standard amounts of alcoholic beverages daily) leads to impairment of the cardiovascular system, the bidirectional effect of a "J" - shaped curve. In recent years, there has been a growing debate on whether traditional ideas are correct, involving many aspects such as the pattern of drinking, the type of alcoholic beverage and the different types of CVD that they affect. This article discusses the consensus and disagreement in the debate on bidirectional effects of drinking on cardiovascular system by pooling and analyzing recent results from relevant studies at home and abroad, finding that although there is no consistent view in the current relevant studies, most research results suggest that small to moderate alcohol consumption may benefit cardiovascular health, especially in middle-aged and elderly people with pre-existing atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. It may provide ideas for developing lifestyle intervention guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention and control in the future.
Effect of Dapagliflozin on the Risk of New-onset Atrial Fibrillation during Hospitalization for Acute Myocardial Infarction in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Atrial fibrillation is a common complication of acute myocardial infarction with an incidence varying from 5% to 20%. New-onset atrial fibrillation developing after acute myocardial fibrillation indicates a significantly increased risk of death and stroke. Diabetes mellitus, as a shared risk factor in both acute myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation, plays an important role in the development of acute myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation. It has been reported that dapagliflozin, a new hypoglycemic agent, has a positive effect on lowering glucose. However, there are few data regarding its impact on the risk of atrial fibrillation after acute myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes.
To investigate the effect of dapagliflozin on the risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation after acute myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Total 764 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus admitted during December 2018 to June 2020 in Cardiovascular Department, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University for acute myocardial infarction were selected. The demographic data, echocardiographic indices and laboratory data were collected, and compared between participants with new-onset atrial fibrillation (n=188) and those without (n=576) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the impact of dapagliflozin on the risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation after acute myocardial infarction.
Patients with new-onset atrial fibrillationhad older mean age, higher male proportion, and proportion of smokers, higher mean levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, left atrial diameter, NT-proBNP and C-reactive protein, and lower mean levels of systolic blood pressure and high-density lipoprotein, as well as lower prevalence of using insulinand dapagliflozinthan those without (P<0.05) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis found that dapagliflozin was associated with a 34% reduced risk for new-onset atrial fibrillation after acute myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus 〔OR=0.66, 95%CI (0.57, 0.91) , P=0.008〕.
Dapagliflozin may be associated with a lower risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation after acute myocardial infarction in type 2 diabetics.
Chronic heart failure is a syndrome occurring at the end-stage of multiple cardiovascular diseases. In the condition, nutritional and metabolic problems such as loss of appetite, diarrhea, abdominal distension, and constipation are highly prevalent, which in turn affect the prognosis of heart failure. The relationship of nutritional assessment results with prognosis in chronic heart failure has been studied extensively, while nutritional assessment for older adults with chronic heart failure has been rarely studied, and there is no clinically recognized assessment method.
To perform a comparative analysis of four nutritional assessment methods in terms of clinical prognosis prediction in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.
Eligible older inpatients with chronic heart failure (n=199) were recruited from Department of Cardiology, ICU, and Department of Geriatrics, Linyi People's Hospital from June 2018 to June 2020. Data were collected via reviewing the medical records and telephone-based follow-ups, including sex, age, height, weight, serum albumin (ALB) level, BMI, Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) , and result of Nutrition Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) , as well as prognosis〔containing three classifications: in-hospital deaths (n=43) and in-hospital survivors (n=156) ; one-year deaths (n=51) and one-year survivors (n=148) ; readmission within half a year (n=69) and readmission after half a year (n=130) 〕. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the prognostic factors of chronic heart failure. The analysis of ROC curve with AUC value was carried out to comparatively estimate prognosis predictive values of the nutritional assessment methods.
There were significant differences in mean age, serum ALB, GNRI and NRS2002 score between in-hospital deaths and survivors (P<0.05) . The mean age, height, serum ALB, GNRI and NRS2002 score were also significantly different between one-year deaths and survivors (P<0.05) . Those with readmission within half a year had significantly different mean BMI, serum ALB, GNRI and NRS2002 score compared with those with readmission after half a year (P<0.05) . For predicting in-hospital death, the AUC of serum ALB was 0.76〔95%CI (0.68, 0.84) , P<0.001〕, and that of NRS2002 score was 0.80〔95%CI (0.73, 0.86) , P<0.001〕. In predicting one-year death, the AUC of serum ALB was 0.75〔95%CI (0.67, 0.82) , P<0.001〕, and that of NRS2002 score was 0.82〔95%CI (0.76, 0.88) , P<0.001〕. The AUC of NRS2002 score in predicting readmission within half a year was 0.73〔95%CI (0.65, 0.80) , P<0.001〕.
On the whole, NRS2002 score could be the first choice for prognostic assessment in elderly patients with chronic heart failure, for it was more effective in predicting the risks of in-hospital death, one-year death and readmission within half a year than serum ALB level, GNRI and BMI.
Heart Failure with Mid-range Ejection Fraction——a Comprehension of the Disease
Heart failure is the final main battlefield of various cardiovascular diseases with huge harm, which can cause all kinds of arrhythmias and even sudden cardiac death. The 2016 ESC guidelines formally define heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction (LVEF) in the range of 40% to 49%, aiming to refine the classification of heart failure, in order to arouse the attention of clinicians to the pathophysiology of heart failure and carry out more clinical research to better guide diagnosis and treatment. At present, there are still many controversies about the pathophysiology and treatment of HFmrEF. This article explains the characteristics of patients with HFmrEF from the aspects of epidemiology, clinical characteristics, pathophysiology, and treatment. It is found that HFmrEF is more like a transition between HFpEF and HFrEF patients than a unique phenotype. Four new drugs in the field of heart failure (ARNI, SGLT-2i, SGC, OM) and atrial septal shunts have shown different degrees of benefit in the treatment of HFmrEF patients. In the future, more clinical studies on HFmrEF (such as the HFmrEF subgroup study based on the changing trend of LVEF) are needed to deepen clinicians' understanding and understanding of HFmrEF, so as to better guide treatment.
Tolvaptan is widely used in elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) , but the effect of different doses of tolvaptan on the prognosis of elderly CHF patients is unclear.
To investigate the effect of two commonly used doses of tolvaptan, 7.5 mg/d and 15.0 mg/d, on the prognosis of elderly patients with CHF.
This is a retrospective cohort study. This study selected patients (age≥80 years) with CHF treated with tolvaptan in the health care ward of the 960th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistics Support Force of China from February 2016 to February 2022, and analyzed their clinical data. The patients were divided into 7.5 mg/d and 15.0 mg/d groups based on the dose of tolvaptan. The end point of follow-up was the occurrence of all-cause mortality or cardiovascular mortality or until the end of follow-up. This study used Kaplan-Meier method to perform survival curves analysis and used Cox proportional hazards regression models to analyze the effect of two doses of tolvaptan on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in elderly patients with CHF.
This study enrolled 212 elderly patients with CHF, and the follow-up was 374.5 (155.5, 940.5) days. 124 (58.5%) patients died from all-cause mortality and 54 (25.5%) patients died from cardiovascular mortality during the follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that 15.0 mg/d group had higher rates of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality compared with 7.5 mg/d group (P=0.004 3, P=0.001 2) . Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model analysis showed that after adjusting for age, NYHA cardiac functional class, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, diuretics, albumin (ALB) , serum N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) , 15.0 mg/d group had a 1.03-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality〔HR=2.03, 95%CI (1.34, 2.99) 〕and 1.51-fold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality〔HR=2.51, 95%CI (1.40, 4.50) 〕compared with 7.5 mg/d group. This study stratified analysis by eGFR, age, ALB, and NT-proBNP, the results showed that tolvaptan 15.0 mg/d group had higher rates of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality.
Tolvaptan 15.0 mg/d group had higher rates of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality compared with tolvaptan 7.5 mg/d in elderly CHF patients (age≥80 years) . We may recommend using low-dose tolvaptan.
As the main cause of death in the world, the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases are increasing year by year. Chronic inflammation of circulatory system is common in middle-aged and older people, which is closely related to the pathogenesis of various cardiovascular diseases. Dyslipidemia is also one of the age-specific cardiovascular risk factors. Exercise has attracted much attention as an important intervention method, among which resistance training can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged and older people, but the regulation effect of inflammation and dyslipidemia is still controversial.
To explore the effect of resistance training on cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and older people, and to provide a basis for formulating exercise prescriptions for middle-aged and elderly people.
PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Journal Full-text Database were retrieve by computer for randomized controlled trials on the effects of resistance training on cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and older people published from the date of establishment to 2021-08-31. The retrieved literatures were screened and data extracted, including the first author, the year of publication, general characteristics of the study population, resistance training protocols and outcome indicators. The bias risk assessment tool of Cochrane system evaluation manual was used to evaluate the bias risk of literature. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software, including the statistics of combined effect size, heterogeneity test, sensitivity analysis, and subgroup analysis. Publication bias of included studies was analyzed using Stata 16.0 software, using Egger's test.
Fifteen papers with 476 observations were included. Meta-analysis showed that, resistance training were superior to control group in decreasing C-reactive protein〔SMD (95%CI) =-0.67 (-0.89, -0.46) , P<0.01〕, total cholesterol〔SMD (95%CI) =-0.37 (-0.66, -0.08) , P=0.01〕, triglyceride〔SMD (95%CI) =-0.29 (-0.53, -0.05) , P=0.02〕, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol〔SMD (95%CI) =-0.37 (-0.67, -0.06) , P=0.02〕 and improving high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels〔SMD (95%CI) =0.33 (0.09, 0.57) , P<0.01〕. Subgroup analysis showed that C-reactive protein and total cholesterol levels were lower in the resistance training group than in the control group at training duration ≤12 weeks, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05) . In both the training intensity of high intensity and the chronic disease population, C-reactive protein levels were lower in the resistance training group than in the control group and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were higher, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05) .
Resistance training has been shown to be effective in reducing cardiovascular risk factors, reducing chronic inflammation and improving dyslipidaemia in the middle-aged and older population.
As one exercise program of cardiac rehabilitation, the role of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in improving myocardial infarction is still controversial, and the mechanism is unclear.
To investigate the effect of HIIT on improving the cardiac structure and function in a rat model of myocardial infarction.
An experiment was conducted from September 2020 to October 2021. From a random sample of 78 3-month-old male SD rats, 56 were eventually included, and 14 of them were randomly selected as sham-surgery group (Sham group) , and the remaining 42 rats were equally randomized into MI-sedentary group (MI-SED group) , MI-HIIT group (MI-HIIT group) , and MI-medium-intensity continuous training (MI-MICT group) after being used for preparing a model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) . Sham group and MI-SED group were not trained, MI-HIIT group received high-intensity and medium-intensity training alternately, MI-MICT group received medium-intensity continuous training. After 1 week of AMI modeling, MI-HIIT and MI-MICT groups received 8 weeks of training. At the end of 4 weeks of training, 7 rats in each of the 4 groups were randomly selected for detecting cardiac ultrasound, and weighing body weight, then were sacrificed, and their heart weight and serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) were measured, cardiac mass index was calculated, and heart tissues were measured using H&E staining, Masson's Trichrome staining and immunohistochemical staining. At the end of 8 weeks of training, the same operation was performed on the remaining 7 rats in each of the groups.
After 4 weeks of training, the standardized cardiac mass index of MI-HIIT group was higher than that of each of the other three groups (P<0.05) . The sham group had higher ejection fraction (EF) , fractional shortening (FS) and left ventricular end-systolic posterior wall thickness (LVPWs) than MI-HIIT and MI-MICT groups (P<0.05) . MI-SED group had lower EF, FS, and LVPWs, and higher left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) than MI-HIIT and MI-MICT groups (P<0.05) . After 8 weeks of training, MI-HIIT group had lower body weight than sham and MI-SED groups, higher heart weight than sham, MI-SED and MI-MICT groups, and higher standardized cardiac mass index than sham and MI-MICT groups (P<0.05) . MI-HIIT group demonstrated higher EF, LVESD, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) , left ventricular end-systolic anterior wall thickness (LVAWs) than sham and MI-SED groups (P<0.05) . Moreover, MI-HIIT group also showed higher FS and LVPWs than MI-SED group (P<0.05) . HE staining results showed that MI-HIIT group had significantly improved inflammatory changes of heart tissue and more closely arranged myocardial cells at the end of the 8th week of training compared with at the end of 4 weeks of training. Masson's Trichrome staining results showed that after 8 weeks of training, the proportion of myocardial fibrillar collagen in myocardial tissues of MI-SED group was higher than that of MI-HIIT and MI-MICT groups. Immunohistochemical results showed that MI-HIIT group had more newly formed blood vessels in cardiac tissues than sham and MI-SED groups after 4 and 8 weeks of training, so did the MI-MICT group. The number of newly formed blood vessels in cardiac tissues of MI-HIIT group was more than that in MI-MICT group after 8 weeks of training. MI-HIIT group had higher serum TNF-α than MI-SED group after 4 weeks of training. After 8 weeks of training, the serum TNF-α in MI-HIIT group was higher than that in MI-MICT group.
HIIT performed in the early stage of AMI could improve cardiac mass index, induce early inflammatory response in myocardial tissue, reduce myocardial fibrosis, promote angiogenesis and ventricular remodeling. HIIT had better overall effect than MICT.
Characteristics and Prognosis of Herat Failure with Improved Ejection Fraction
Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is often used to classify heart failure (HF) . Some HF patients were observed to have improved ejection fraction after treatment, thus giving rise to the concept of HF with improved EF (HFimpEF) . However, most relevant studies have focused on European countries and the US, and there are few reports on the clinical characteristics and diagnosis of this population in China.
To analyze the clinical characteristics, prognosis and prognostic predictors in Chinese HFimpEF patients.
Participants included in this case-control study were chronic HF inpatients who were recruited from Department of Heart Center, Hebei General Hospital from June 1, 2018, to May 1, 2020. Demographic data and baseline clinical information were obtained from the electronic medical record, in particular, clinical phenotypes of HF classified by baseline and follow-up LVEF included four: HF with preserved EF (HFpEF) , HF with mid-range EF (HFmrEF) , HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) and HFimpEF. Follow-up was conducted via electronic medical record review, outpatient department and telephone since the last reexamination with echocardiography. The follow-up continued through 2021-06-01, with all-cause death and all-cause readmission as endpoint events. Predictors of HFimpEF were explored by binary Logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to describe the survival of patients with all-cause death and all-cause readmission. Cox regression model was used to identify risk factors for all-cause death and all-cause readmission.
A total of 530 cases were included, including 245 (46.2%) with HFpEF, 55 (10.4%) with HFmrEF, 133 (25.1%) with HFrEF, and 97 (18.3%) with HFimpEF. HFimpEF patients had lower mortality than did HFpEF patients (P=0.014) and HFmrEF patients (P<0.001) . The readmission rate was lower in HFimpEF patients than that of HFpEF (P=0.011) or HFmrEF patients (P=0.001) . Elevated systolic blood pressure〔OR=1.036, 95%CI (1.019, 1.053) , P<0.001〕, and left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) ≤37 mm〔OR=0.245, 95%CI (0.118, 0.507) , P<0.001〕 at baseline, and treatments with beta-blockers〔OR=2.868, 95%CI (1.304, 6.305) , P=0.009〕 and aldosterone antagonists〔OR=2.691, 95%CI (1.316, 5.503) , P=0.007〕 were associated with increased probability of LVEF improvement. HFrEF, older age, heart valve disease, chronic kidney disease, anemia, non-use of beta-blockers and oral anticoagulants were independently associated with increased risk of all-cause death in HF patients (P<0.05) . HFpEF, HFmrEF and chronic kidney disease were independently associated with increased risk of all-cause readmission in HF patients (P<0.05) . Concomitant valvular heart disease〔HR=6.499, 95%CI (1.504, 28.089) , P=0.012〕and anemia〔HR=4.884, 95%CI (1.242, 19.208) , P=0.023〕were independently associated with increased risk of all-cause death in HFimpEF patients. The use of beta-blockers〔HR=2.868, 95%CI (1.304, 6.305) P=0.009〕 and aldosterone antagonists〔HR=2.691, 95%CI (1.316, 5.503) , P=0.007〕 were associated with increased probability of LVEF improvement.
We consider that HFimpEF is a clinical phenotype of HF manifested as milder clinical symptoms, less ventricular remodelling and a better prognosis. Elevated systolic blood pressure, LVESD≤37 mm and treatments with beta-blockers and aldosterone receptor antagonists may be independent predictors of improved LVEF, while valvular heart disease and anaemia may be risk factors for all-cause death in HFimpEF patients.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of common clinical arrhythmias, among which asymptomatic AF is insidious, poorly understood, and prone to adverse outcomes, bringing a serious burden to patients. As disease screening is a measure that should be implemented prior to the prevention of disease-related complications, it is crucial to carry out asymptomatic AF screening and scientific management. Current hot issues in screening for AF include the selection of the most appropriate screening population, the selection of screening devices and modalities, the improvement of screening participation, standard indications of anticoagulation therapy for those diagnosd, and the evaluation of the best economic screening option. We included twenty-five articles related to screening for atrial fibrillation, and systematically reviewed the AF screening section in AF management guidelines published in recent five years and opinions of relevant experts, then gave a summary of the latest advances in AF screening, involving screening strategies, screening devices, screening participation, anticoagulation treatment participation and monitoring duration and monitoring modalities in post-stroke screening, and the association of screening strategies on cost-effectiveness of the screening analyzed using a perspective in health economics, as well as economic impact of patient participation in screening and anticoagulation treatment. All these are beneficial to the guidance for clinical practice. The more internationally recognised guidelines for the screening and management of atrial fibrillation are the European Heart Rhythm Society guidelines and the North American Heart Rhythm Society guidelines. Most studies on the cost-effectiveness of AF screening have used Markov models for lifetime simulation. Health economics analyses include stroke events, bleeding events, quality-adjusted life year (QALY) , and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) . Most guidelines recommend routine screening with newer devices, such as portable single-lead ECGs in high-risk groups aged 65-75 years, to facilitate continuous monitoring and improve AF detection rates; for post-stroke screening, national and international guidelines emphasize screening for AF in patients with cryptogenic transient ischemic attacks (TIA) /stroke, with the main focus on Long-range ECG and implantation of an insertable cardiac monitor (ICM) . In summary, although some progress has been made in understanding the cost-effectiveness of AF screening, many differences still need to be fitted, and the health economics of AF screening are poorly understood in China. This will provide an evidence-based basis for improving life expectancy and quality of life and reducing the economic burden of healthcare.
Research Progress on the Influence of Intermittent Fasting on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors
In recent years, the prevalence and mortality of cardiovascular diseases in China have shown a significant upward trend, cardiovascular disease has become a major disease endangering the health of Chinese residents. Intermittent fasting (IF) as a cyclical energy restriction dietary intervention has been proven to have a wide range of health benefits, which can reduce weight, improve glucose regulation, lower blood pressure and blood lipid levels, inhibit inflammation, so as to delay the occurrence and development of cardiovascular disease. Currently, researchers in China have paid insufficient attention to the potential role of IF in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. This article reviews the effects and mechanisms of IF on cardiovascular disease risk factors such as dyslipidemia, obesity, diabetes and hypertension, in order to provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. It is found that IF has potential application prospects in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which can be used to prevent and control the risk factors of cardiovascular disease, the IF-mediated metabolic benefits can be related to glucose-ketone body metabolic transformation, browning of white fat, autophagy pathway and remodeling of intestinal flora.
Cognitive impairment (CI) is a common complication of chronic heart failure (CHF) , which may significantly increase the risk of poor prognosis, so early identification of associated factors of CI in CHF is of great significance. Although there have been many relevant studies recently, their conclusions are inconsistent.
To perform a systematic review of the influencing factors of CI in CHF.
In August 2021, studies relevant to influencing factors of CI among patients with CHF were searched in databases including PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, CNKI, Wanfang Data, CQVIP, and SinoMed from inception to August 2021. Two researchers independently screened studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and performed risk of bias assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality methodology checklist, then conducted a descriptive analysis of the factors associated with CI in CHF. RevMan 5.3 was adopted for meta-analysis.
Fourteen studies were included, involving 6 324 cases of CHF, and 1 753 of them also with CI. Descriptive analysis indicated that five factors decreased the risk of CI in CHF, and 22 factors increased the risk, but the influence of sex and systolic blood pressure on CI is still far from inclusive. Meta-analysis demonstrated that education level〔OR=0.45, 95%CI (0.30, 0.70) 〕, age〔OR=1.17, 95%CI (1.10, 1.24) 〕, diabetes〔OR=2.17, 95%CI (1.17, 4.01) 〕, anemia〔OR=3.03, 95%CI (1.80, 5.10) 〕and left ventricular ejection fraction〔OR=0.91, 95%CI (0.88, 0.94) 〕were associated with CI in CHF.
High education level lowered the risk of CI in CHF, while older age, diabetes, anemia and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction increased the risk. Due to limited number and quality of included studies, the above-mentioned conclusion still needs to be verified by more high-quality studies.
The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is growing in a rapidly increased number of older adults (≥60 years) , which, together with older age, produces an impact on nutritional status of the HF cases. But there are relatively few studies on the impact of nutritional status on the prognosis in elderly patients with chronic HF.
To investigate the association of nutritional status with prognosis in elderly patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and coronary heart disease.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Inpatients with HFpEF and coronary heart disease (≥60 years old, NYHA gradeⅡ-Ⅳ) treated in Department of Geriatrics, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University between 2017 and 2019 were enrolled. Clinical and laboratory data were collected. HF-related readmission and all-cause mortality within one year after discharge were followed up. Nutritional status was evaluated by controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score, geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) . Patients were divided into non-malnutrition group (CONUT score 0-1, n=42) , low malnutrition risk group (CONUT score 2-4, n=181) and medium-high malnutrition risk group (CONUT score 5-12, n=156) . The differences in clinical data and prognosis among the three groups were compared. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to explore the influencing factors of readmission due to HF and all-cause mortality within one year after discharge. ROC analysis was used to analyze the prognostic value of CONUT score, GNRI and PNI for readmission due to HF and all-cause mortality within 1 year after discharge.
Age, proportion of elderly patients, sex, BMI, bed rest, length of hospital stay, NYHA grade, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, urea nitrogen, creatinine, total protein, albumin, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, B-type brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) , all-cause death within 1 year were compared among the three groups, and there were statistically significant differences (P<0.05) ; among them, age, proportion of elderly patients, bed rest, length of hospital stay, NYHA grade, old myocardial infarction, urea nitrogen, creatinine, BNP, and all-cause death within 1 year in the no-malnutrition risk group and the low-malnutrition risk group were significantly lower than those in the medium-high malnutrition risk group (P<0.05) , and BMI, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, total protein, albumin, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly higher than those in the medium-high malnutrition risk group (P<0.05) . Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, bed rest, length of stay, NYHA grade, hemoglobin, albumin, BNP, left ventricular ejection fraction, CONUT score, GNRI and PNI are the influencing factors of readmission due to HF and all-cause death within 1 year (P<0.05) . Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CONUT score〔OR=1.567, 95%CI (1.302, 1.885) , P<0.05〕 is an influence factor of all-cause death within 1 year (P<0.05) . ROC analysis estimating the performance in predicting all-cause mortality within one year after discharge showed that the AUC of CONUT score was 0.780〔95%CI (0.714, 0.845) 〕 with 0.723 sensitivity and 0.722 specificity when the optimal cut-off value was determined as 7.5, the AUC of GNRI was 0.695〔95%CI (0.604, 0.786) 〕with 0.532 sensitivity and 0.833 specificity when the optimal cut-off value was determined as 89, and the AUC of PNI was 0.722〔95%CI (0.643, 0.800) 〕 with 0.723 sensitivity and 0.654 specificity when the optimal cut-off value was determined as 41.
CONUT score can be used as the preferred nutritional evaluation tool for mortality risk assessment in elderly patients with HFpEF and coronary heart disease, and nutritional intervention may become one of the therapeutic targets for reducing mortality in the future.
Hypertensive patients with moderate or high risk of ASCVD had low lipid goal attainment rate. And those with high risk of ASCVD and concomitant other high risk factors had unsatisfactory lipid control status. Attention should be paid to the management of blood lipid in hypertension patients to improve their blood lipid control rate and reduce their risk of ASCVD.
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated with cardiogenic shock (CS) is a common emergency and severe disease in the department of cardiology. Timely and effective hemodynamic support is one of the important means to save the lives of such patients. Research on intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP) combined with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) had important clinical significance for the efficacy of these patients.
To explore the efficacy of IABP combined with ECMO in patients with AMI and CS and the inflencing factor of the need for ECMO support in patients with AMI and CS.
A total of 91 patients with AMI and CS treated with IABP in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU ward) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from October 2014 to October 2020 were collected and divided into IABP group (n=65) and IABP+ECMO group (n=26) according to the use of ECMO. The clinical data of the patients in both groups were collected and analyzed. The 12-months survival rate of patients discharged from hospital was followed up. The inflecting factors of AMI patients complicated with CS treated with IABP needed ECMO support by Multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Rate of cardiac arrest after IABP, VIS level at 24 h, survival rate at 12 months after discharge and proportion of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) , tracheal intubation, pulmonary infection, lower extremity ischemia, acute kidney injury and gastrointestinal bleeding, 12-month survival rate after discharge, the use ratio of epinepHrine and norepinepHrine in IABP group were lower than those in IABP+ECMO group (P<0.05) . And the duration of CCU hospitalization in IABP group was shorter than that of IABP+ECMO group (P<0.05) . Age in IABP group was higher than that of IABP+ECMO group (P<0.05) . The results of two-factor repeated measures Anova showed that the group and time had no significant interaction effects on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and heart rate (P>0.05) . The group and time had significant interaction effects on lactic acid and pH (P<0.05) . The main effect of time on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, lactic acid and pH was significant (P<0.05) . The main effect of time on heart rate was not significant (P>0.05) . The main effect of group on systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, lactic acid and pH was not significant (P>0.05) . Systolic blood pressure, pH at 24 h after treatment and 72 h after treatment were higher than that before treatment in both groups (P<0.05) . The level of lactic acid at 24 h after treatment and 72 h after treatment was lower than that before treatment in both groups (P<0.05) . Systolic blood pressure, pH at 72 h after treatment were higher than that at 24 h after treatment in both groups (P<0.05) . The level of lactic acid at 72 h after treatment was lower than that at 24 h after treatmen in both groups (P<0.05) . Systolic blood pressure of IABP+ECMO group was higher than IABP group at 72 h after treatment (P<0.05) . The diastolic blood pressure at 24 h and 72 h after treatment in the IABP group was higher than that before the machine treatment (P<0.05) . The IABP+ECMO group had a lower lactate level 24 hours after treatment than that in the IABP group, the pH value was higher than that in the IABP group (P<0.05) . Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, VIS level at 24 h after treatment, and cardiac arrest after IABP could predict whether AMI patientscomplicated with CS treated with IABP needed ECMO support (P<0.05) .
IABP combined with ECMO can improve the hemodynamic indexes and survival rate of patients with AMI complicated with CS at 12 months after discharge. Age, 24 h VIS and cardiac arrest after IABP could predict whether AMI patients complicated with CS treated with IABP needed ECMO support.
Atrial fibrillation is the most obvious arrhythmia in medical practice. Atrial fibrillation has been listed as one of the eight fastest-growing causes of death since 1990. Epidemiological investigation shows that the highest incidence of atrial fibrillation is 9% in people over 65 years old and 17% in people over 80 years old; more than 60% of patients with hypertension will develop atrial fibrillation after the age of 60. Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of ischemic stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, cognitive impairment and dementia, but it is unclear whether it increases the risk of new onset myocardial infarction.
To investigate whether atrial fibrillation increases the risk of new onset myocardial infarction.
From June 2006 to October 2007, 96 750 employees of Kailuan Group in Tangshan, Hebei Province (Kailuan population) were selected for the study, including 458 patients with atrial fibrillation (atrial fibrillation group) and 96 292 patients without atrial fibrillation (non atrial fibrillation group) . The general information of patients was recorded, including age, gender, personal history (smoking history, drinking history) , past medical history (hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia) , anthropometric parameters (weight, height, blood pressure, etc.) . Total cholesterol (TC) , triglyceride (TG) , high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) , low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and fasting blood glucose (FPG) were collected. The patients were followed up every 2 years, respectively, that was from 2008 to 2009, 2010 to 2011, 2012 to 2013, 2014 to 2015, and 2016 to 2017. The median follow-up was 10 years, and the end point was new onset myocardial infarction. Multivariate Cox regression model was used to analyze the effect of atrial fibrillation on new onset myocardial infarction.
(1) There were significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI) , systolic blood pressure (SBP) , LDL-C, FPG, diabetes, smoking, drinking and new onset myocardial infarction between atrial fibrillation group and non atrial fibrillation group (P<0.05) . (2) Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that atrial fibrillation increased the risk of new onset myocardial infarction compared with non atrial fibrillation〔RR=1.841, 95%CI (1.118, 2.869) , P<0.05〕. After adjusting for age and gender (male) , atrial fibrillation increased the risk of new onset myocardial infarction compared with non atrial fibrillation〔RR=1.635, 95%CI (1.049, 2.547) , P<0.05〕, after further adjustment for BMI, SBP, LDL-C, FPG, smoking and drinking, atrial fibrillation increased the risk of new onset myocardial infarction compared with non atrial fibrillation〔RR=1.381, 95%CI (1.087, 1.573) , P<0.05〕; drinking was the protective factor of new onset myocardial infarction 〔RR=0.664, 95%CI (0.572, 0.770) , P<0.05〕.
Atrial fibrillation is an independent risk factor of new onset myocardial infarction.
Hypertension and Glycemic Control and Associated Factors for Poor Control in Patient Populations at High Risk of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in the Community
The low hypertension control rate or low glycemic control rate in people in the community have been attributed to patients' poor disease awareness and irregular medication in some studies. However, few studies have explored hypertension control rate and/or glycemic control rate in patients with good disease awareness and regular medication.
To investigate the adequate hypertension control rate and/or adequate glycemic control rate in hypertension and diabetic patients who are at high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) but have good disease awareness and regular medication, and to explore the reasons for poor control, offering a theoretical basis for better prevention and control of ASCVD.
By use of cluster sampling, contracted patients with complete data of the China-PAR model who visited 10 community health centers in Shenzhen's Luohu District from August 2018 to April 2019 were selected, and received an assessment for screening the risk of 10-year ASCVD using the China-PAR model, and those with hypertension and/or diabetes who were at high risk of ASCVD (≥10 points) and volunteered to attend this study were further surveyed using a questionnaire developed by our research group. After that, those who were on regular medication with a good understanding of the threats of hypertension and/or diabetes, and targets for blood pressure control and/or fasting glycemia control, were finally enrolled. The rate of adequate hypertension control was compared between those with hypertension, the rate of adequate glycemic control was compared between those with diabetes, and the rates of adequate hypertension and glycemic control were compared between those with both hypertension and diabetes, by demographcihc factors. Then those who were found with inadequate hypertension and/or glycemic control were selected to attend an in-depth, semi-structured individual interview using a descriptive qualitative research design for understating the causes of inadequate hypertension and/or glycemic control. The contents of the interview were coded and categorized using NVivo 12, and were sorted, analyzed, and themes in which were identified using content analysis.
Totally 299 patients were finally enrolled, including 130 (43.5%) with hypertension, 9 (3.0%) with diabetes, and 160 (53.5%) with both hypertension and diabetes. Among the 290 hypertensive patients, 140 (48.3%) had adequate hypertension control. Among the 169 diabetics, 71 (42.0%) had adequate diabetes control. Among the 130 patients with simple hypertension, those with adequate hypertension control had older mean age than did those without (t'=3.758, P<0.001) . Among the 160 patients with both hypertension and diabetes, those with adequate hypertension control had older mean age than did those without (t'=2.203, P=0.031) . Among the 169 patients with diabetes, those with adequate control of fasting glycemia had lower rate of regular exercising (χ2=4.314, P=0.038) and shorter mean duration of diabetes (t=-3.180, P=0.002) , as well as lower mean frequency of blood glucose monitoring (Z=2.228, P=0.026) than did those without. Seven themes emerged from the interview: Patients did not feel compelled to reach the targets, feeling indifferent; Patients gave up after repeated treatments followed by failures to achieve the targets, feeling powerless; Patients took medicines regularly, but had problems in practical medication; Patients were restricted by various realistic factors; Patients were influenced by doctor-related factors, including doctors' irrelevant and ignorant attitudes; Patients had failures due to lack of self-control and unhealthy lifestyles; Other reasons, including unsuccessful medical insurance reimbursement, being afraid of over-control due to previous experiences of too low blood pressure or glucose, etc.
The high-risk population of ASCVD who had good disease awareness and took medications regularly still had low hypertension control rate and/or low glycemic control rate. Attention should be specially given to blood pressure levels in young hypertensive patients, and glycemic level in diabetic patients with regular exercising, a long history of diabetes, or frequent blood glucose monitoring. It is necessary to optimize the management of ASCVD in the community by encouraging patients to improve their mindset and change their unhealthy lifestyles, strengthening the promotion of standardized medication use, improving community health services, and improving patients' knowledge, beliefs and behaviors from the biopsychosocial perspective.
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. There is still a lack of research reports on the risk assessment of cardiovascular disease in rural populations in Naxi, an area in low-to-high altitudes (1 000-3 500 meters) .
To investigate the exposure and aggregation of cardiovascular disease risk factors, and to assess the 10-year risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease (ICVD) in rural population aged 35-75 years in Naxi area of Yunnan's Lijiang City from August to September 2020.
By use of random sampling, 35-75-year-old Naxi people were selected from 8 villages in Yunnan, and received a questionnaire survey, physical examination and laboratory examination. The 10-year ICVD risk was used to assess the modified 10-year ICVD risk Scale in Chinese Adults, and statistically analyzed.
A total of 381 cases were included. Individuals from high altitudes had higher systolic blood pressure and triacylglycerol (TG) , and lower total cholesterol (TC) , low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) , and fasting blood glucose than those from moderate altitudes (P<0.05) . The exposure prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, dyslipidemia, overweight and obesity was 48.8%, 4.7%, 24.7%, 57.7%, and 29.1%, respectively. The smoking prevalence in men was significantly higher than that in women (P<0.01) .The exposure prevalence of hypertension and abnormal body weight increased with age (P<0.05) . Individuals from high altitudes had higher exposure prevalence of hypertension and lower exposure prevalence of diabetes than those moderate altitudes. There were 29.1%, 33.6%, and 21.5% of the participants with 1, 2, and 3 ICVD risk factors respectively. There was significant difference in ICVD risk factors clustered in different gender and age (P<0.05) .The absolute 10-year risk of ICVD in men was higher than that in women (P<0.05) . The absolute 10-year risk of ICVD differed significantly by age in both men and women (P<0.05) .
The 10-year risk of ICVD in 35-75-year-old rural Naxi people was high. Future prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases should focus on male and elderly groups.
Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Version of the Partners in Health Scale in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a common cardiovascular disease. Improving the self-management ability of CHF patients will contribute to quality of life improvement and reduction of rehospitalization and mortality rates. The Partners in Health (PIH) Scale is a measure designed by Flinders University, Australia, to assess the generic knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and impacts of self-management in chronic disease patients, and is mainly used to assess the implementation effect of self-management projects in chronic disease patients.
To translate the PIH Scale into Chinese, then test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version in CHF patients, providing CHF patients with a tool for precisely assessing their self-management abilities.
The PIH was translated into Chinese with the guidance of the Brislin's translation model, then was revised according to the results of the review of a panel of experts, and a pre-test, and then the Chinese version of PIH (C-PIH) was developed. The demographic questionnaire, C-PIH, and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) were used in two surveys (one was conducted between April and June 2010, and another between April and June 2011) with 410 CHF patients selected from two grade A tertiary hospitals in Beijing using convenience sampling. Measurement of ceiling and floor effects, and item-total correlation were used for item analysis. Expert evaluation was used to evaluate the content validity analysis. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to measure the criterion-related validity. KMO test, Bartlett's test of sphericity, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used for construct validity analysis. Monofactor analysis was used for validity analysis of known-groups. Reliability analysis was estimated by using the Cronbach's α.
Item analysis indicated that only item 3 (level of adhering to medication) of the C-PIH showed ceiling effect. Item-total correlation coefficients of the scale ranged from 0.424 to 0.761 (P<0.001) . The scale-level content validity index of the scale was 0.966. Item-level content validity indices ranged from 0.800 to 1.000. C-PIH was positively correlated with MLHFQ in terms of total score (rs=0.200, P<0.05) . The KMO value was 0.872 and Bartlett's test of sphericity was χ2=1 139.142 (P<0.001) , indicating that the sample size was appropriate for factor analysis. By exploratory factor analysis, 3 factors with an eigenvalue greater than 1.000 were extracted, including knowledge (7 items) , coping (3 items) and adherence (2 items) , explaining 66.514% of the total variance. The loadings of items on each factor ranged from 0.571 to 0.869. The original model fit indices did not reach the critical value. After adding the suggested covariance correlation between errors-in-variables e1 and e2, e6 and e7, the fitting indices of the modified model were acceptable (χ2/df=2.393, RMSEA=0.0851, CFI=0.968, NFI=0.953, NNFI=0.963, GFI=0.905, AGFI=0.854, RFI=0.932, IFI=0.966) . Known-groups analysis demonstrated that the C-PIH total score varied significantly by level of education, economic income, NYHA class, and treatment (inpatient or outpatient) in CHF patients (P<0.001) . Good internal consistency was indicated with a scale Cronbach's α of 0.890, and three factors' (knowledge, coping and adherence) Cronbach's α of 0.894, 0.807, and 0.511.
The C-PIH exhibited good reliability and validity, which may be used as a general self-management assessment tool in patients with CHF.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common clinical tachyarrhythmia with high prevalence, and a predisposing factor of stroke. In addition, it has a causal relationship with heart failure (HF) . Treatment options for AF have changed recently owing to the emergence of new drugs. Many investigations are focused on anticoagulant therapies for AF, but relevant multicenter investigations on AF and HF are rare.
To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment of patients with AF combined with HF in Chongqing, China.
A total of 4 011 patients with AF and HF who were discharged from 21 hospitals in Chongqing in 2018 were included. Data were collected through the electronic medical record system of the hospitals, including sex, age, basic comorbid conditions, type of AF, NYHA class, thromboembolism history, bleeding history, Color Doppler echocardiography results, HF type and use of drugs (including antithrombotic drugs, rhythm/ventricular rate-control drugs, ACEIs/ARBs, cardiotonic drugs) . The risk of thromboembolism and bleeding were assessed using admission CHA2DS2-VASc score and HAS-BLED score. Sex, basic comorbid conditions, AF type, NYHA class, admission CHA2DS2-VASc score and HAS-BLED score, left atrial diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction, endpoint events (thromboembolism and bleeding) , HF type, and treatment options were compared across three age groups (<65, 65-75, >75) and across patients by the level of hospitalized hospital (secondary and tertiary) .
In terms of clinical characteristics, the patients had an average age of (74.0±10.6) years, 2 279 (56.8%) were female. The top three prevalent basic comorbid conditions were coronary heart disease (65.1%) , hypertension (51.0%) , and diabetes (17.5%) . 3 346 (83.4%) patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) . NYHA class was Ⅲ and Ⅳ in 3 059 patients (76.3%) , thromboembolism events occurred in 531 patients (13.2%) , and bleeding events occurred in 176 patients (4.4%) . In Color Doppler echocardiography results, The average left atrial diameter was (44.12±9.21) mm. The average left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was (48.45±10.06) mm. The average left ventricular ejection fraction was (54.23±11.94) mm. The main type of HF was HF with preserved ejection fraction, accounting for 66.2%. The average CHA2DS2-VASc score was (3.9±1.5) points, and the admission CHA2DS2-VASc score was positively correlated with age (r=0.589, P<0.001) . The average HAS-BLED score was (1.7±1.0) points. 3 641 (90.8%) patients were at high risk of thromboembolism and 723 (18.0%) patients were at high risk of bleeding. In terms of antithrombotic treatment, the overall prevalence of anticoagulation treatment was 47.1%, warfarin was the main anticoagulant (37.8%) , the prevalence of use of the new oral anticoagulant was only 9.3%. The overall prevalence of antiplatelet treatment was 44.6%, most of them were monoclonal antiplatelet agents (13.2%) . The prevalence of anticoagulation treatment decreased with age (χ2trend=136.502, P<0.001) , but that of antiplatelet treatment increased with age (χ2trend=135.730, P<0.001) . The prevalence of anticoagulation treatment, and use of warfarin and new oral anticoagulants in secondary hospitals was significantly lower than that in tertiary hospitals (P<0.001) . A total of 3 162 (78.8%) patients with atrial fibrillation received ventricular rate control. The prevalence of use of beta-blockers, digoxin and ACEIs/ARBs was 61.6%, 17.6%, and 59.7%, respectively.
The majority of patients with AF complicated with HF in Chongqing are elderly, and the proportion of women is relatively high. HFpEF is the main type of atrial fibrillation, and the NYHA classification is mainly classⅢandⅣ. Most were at high risk for thromboembolism, but less than 1/4 were at high risk of bleeding. The prevalence of antithrombotic treatmentin all ages and levels of hospitals was unsatisfactory, and there was a large gap between current treatment and guideline recommendations in improving HF. In view of this, hospitalphysicians should increase their awareness and capability of standardized diagnosis and treatmentregarding AF with HF.
There may be sex-specific differences in the treatment and outcome of elderly people with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) . However, few studies have reported sex-specific differences in management and prognosis of older Chinese people with AMI.
To assess the sex-specific differences in management strategies, in-hospital mortality and cardiovascular mortality within one year after discharge in older Chinese people with AMI.
We consecutively enrolled 1 579 elderly (>60 years of age) patients with AMI admitted to 11 tertiary general hospitals in Chengdu between January 2017 and June 2019, including 1 056 men and 523 women. Sex-specific analysis of clinical characteristics, management strategies and 1-year outcome were performed. Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to describe the incidences of cardiovascular death within one year after discharge between men and women and the associated factors were explored using multivariate Cox proportions hazards regression analysis.
Female patients had lower prevalence of smoking, and alcohol consumption, history of percutaneous coronary intervention and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, typical symptoms including chest pain and chest tightness, and use of dual antiplatelet agents and statins, and lower mean creatinine levels than male patients (P<0.05) . Moreover, female patients had older mean age, diabetes, and higher mean heart rate, greater prevalence of Killip class≥Ⅱ, and higher mean level of total cholesterol, longer mean symptom-onset-to-balloon time and first medical contact to balloon dilation time, and higher in-hospital mortality rate (P<0.05) . Furthermore, the cardiovascular mortality rate within one year after discharge was higher in women (P<0.05) . Multivariate Cox proportions hazards regression analysis showed sex〔HR=1.830, 95%CI (1.029, 3.255) , P=0.040〕, age〔HR=1.063, 95%CI (1.031, 1.095) , P<0.001〕, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction〔HR=2.382, 95%CI (1.380, 4.113) , P=0.002〕, cardiogenic shock〔HR=2.474, 95%CI (1.259, 4.859) , P=0.009〕, creatinine〔HR=1.004, 95%CI (1.001, 1.006) , P=0.003〕 and PCI〔HR=0.228, 95%CI (0.135, 0.386) , P<0.001〕 were associated with cardiovascular death within one year after discharge.
The rates of reperfusion treatment in older women and men with AMI were similar, but there were differences in treatment efficiency and outcome. Older women with AMI had lower in-hospital treatment efficacy, longer total myocardial ischemia time, lower prevalence of pharmacological treatment, and higher in-hospital all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality within one year after discharge.
The importance of phase Ⅰ cardiac rehabilitation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been confirmed, but there is suboptimal adherence among patients. Therefore, investigating the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation and the influencing factors can provide a theoretical foundation for improving the adherence of patients.
To clarifythe influencing factors of the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation and the effect pathways by the structural equation model construction, in order to provide the oretical support for improving the adherence of PCI patients to phase Ⅰ cardiac rehabilitation.
Patients with PCI enrolled in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center of the Second Hospital of Harbin Medical University from August to December in 2021 were selected as the research objects by convenience sampling. The general demographic information questionnaire, therapy adherence questionnaire, health belief of coronary heart disease questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiexy Disorde-7 (GAD-7), Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES), Chronic Illness Resource Survey (CIRS), Gensini score were used to investigate the patients by the end of phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to verify the correlations between health belief, depression, anxiety, family adaptability and cohesion, chronic illness resource utilization and cardiac rehabilitation adherence, respectively. Based on correlation analysis, the hypothetical model of the influencing factors of the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation was constructed combined with Anderson's model of health service utilization. Maximum likelihood method was used to fit and modify the model constantly. Structural equation model was used to analyze the relationship among influencing factors.
A total of 443 questionnaires were distributed and 430 valid questionnaires were returned, with a valid return rate of 97.06%. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that health belief (β=0.427), depression (β=-0.057), anxiety (β=-0.130), family adaptability and cohesion (β=0.242), chronic illness resource (β=0.140) were independent factors of the adherence to phaseⅠcardiac rehabilitation of PCI patients (P<0.05). The results of the correlation analysis showed that cardiac rehabilitation adherence score of PCI patients was positively correlated with health beliefs, family adaptability and cohesion, chronic illness resource utilization (P<0.05) and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety (P<0.05). A structural equation model of the adherence of PCT patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation was constructed using health belief, depression, anxiety, family adaptability and cohesion, chronic illness resource and the model fits well: χ2/df=3.092<5, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) =0.070<0.080, goodness of fit indices (GFI) =0.981, adjusted goodness of fitindices (AGFI) =0.936, comparative fit index (CFI) =0.992, normed fit indexes (NFI) =0.989, with all of them>0.9. The results of the intermediate effects test showed that health belief, family adaptability and cohesion, chronic illness resource had positive direct effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation (β=0.395, 0.277, 0.152, P<0.01) ; health belief, family adaptability and cohesion had a positive indirect effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation through chronic disease resource utilization (β=0.057, 0.065, P<0.01). Depression and anxiety had a direct negative effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation (β=-0.055, -0.116, P<0.05) .
The adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation is influenced by multiple factors. There are complex pathway relationships among the influencing factors. Health belief, family adaptability and cohesion, chronic illness resource have a positive direct effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation; depression and anxiety have a negative direct effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation; health beliefs, family adaptability and cohesion have a positive indirect effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation through chronic illness resource utilization, and have a negative indirect effect on the adherence of PCI patients to phaseⅠ cardiac rehabilitation through anxiety and depression.
Due to long treatment cycle and medication dependence, patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) face many risks of out-of-hospital medication. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based patient safety tool, which has been studied rarely in the management of out-of-hospital medication safety in CHF patients.
To discuss the role of TeamSTEPPS in the out-of-hospital medication safety management in CHF patients.
A total of 134 CHF patients hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2019 to June 2020 were selected, and were divided into the intervention group (n=62) and control group (n=61) according to the number of ward, receiving routine medication safety management, and TeamSTEPPS-based medication safety management, respectively. The medication error was evaluated before discharge and 6 months after discharge by the Medication Error Questionnaire developed by us. The medication knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) were evaluated before discharge, 1, 3 and 6 months after discharge by a self-developed Medication KAP Scale. Cardiac function, dyspnea and edema were evaluated before discharge, 3 and 6 months after discharge. The readmission and all-cause mortality were collected 3 and 6 months after discharge. The safety attitude of medical workers was measured before intervention and 6 months after intervention by the Chinese version of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ-C) .
The prevalence of ignoring the content of the prescription, omission error, wrong time error, wrong dose error, taking medication without a doctor's advice and unauthorized drug withdrawal differed between the two groups 6 months after discharge (P<0.05) . The readmission rates of the intervention group 3 and 6 months after discharge were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05) . The scores of teamwork climate, safety climate, perceptions of management, job satisfaction and stress recognition in medical workers providing services for the intervention group 6 months after intervention were higher than those before intervention (P<0.05) . The results of two-factor repeated measures ANOVA showed that the duration and type of medication safety management had significant interaction effects on the medication KAP scores, NYHA class, dyspnea and edema in two groups (P<0.05) . The duration of medication safety management had an significant main effect on the medication KAP scores, dyspnea and edema in two groups (P<0.05) . The type of medication safety management had a significant main effect on the medication KAP and edema in two groups (P<0.05) . The medication knowledge scores of the intervention group 3 and 6 months after discharge were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05) . The intervention group had higher medication attitude score but lower medication practice score than the control group 1, 3 or 6 months after discharge (P<0.05) . The medication knowledge and medication attitude scores increased in both groups 1, 3, 6 months after discharge (P<0.05) . The medication practice score increased in the intervention group 1, 3, 6 months after discharge, but decreased in the control group at 1 month after discharge (P<0.05) . The medication knowledge score at 1 month after discharge was lower than that 3 or 6 months after discharge in the intervention group (P<0.05) , but the opposite was found in the control group (P<0.05) . The dyspnea score at 6 months after discharge was lower than that before discharge in the intervention group (P<0.05) . The edema score before discharge was higher than that 3 and 6 months after discharge in the intervention group (P<0.05) . The intervention group had higher edema score 3 and 6 months after discharge than the control group (P<0.05) .
The use of TeamSTEPPS in out-of-hospital medication safety management in CHF patients could improve the medication safety and symptoms in patients as well as enhance the safety culture of the healthcare team.
Risk stratification for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is important for clinical decision-making and prognosis evaluation. As changes have been found in clinical characteristics and management of AMI, the current existing clinical risk score for AMI may be inapplicable to clinical practice. To effectively implement strategies of individualized management for AMI patients, it is necessary to improve the prediction accuracy of long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in AMI after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) .
To develop a predictive model for long-term MACEs in AMI patients after PCI.
Among the 1 130 AMI patients treated with PCI in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 1 to July 31, 2019, 962 eligible cases were enrolled, and their clinical data and laboratory examination indices were collected. Follow-up of the patients was performed via telephone interviews at a median of 2.4 years. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, malignant arrhythmia, new heart failure or readmission due to exacerbated heart failure, and unplanned revascularization. Patients were divided into event (122 cases) and non-event (840 cases) groups according to the prevalence of MACEs during the follow-up period. Lasso regression was conducted to identify candidate risk factors of long-term MACEs. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to construct the prediction model and the nomograms. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the discrimination ability of the prediction model. The efficacy of the predictive model was assessed by comparing with that of the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score in terms of the net reclassification improvement (NRI) and the integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) .
The prevalence of MACEs was 12.7% (122/962) . Five predictive variables were identified by Lasso regression, which included ST-segment deviation, diabetes history, hemoglobin (Hb) , left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) , and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) . The algorithm of the prediction model developed using multivariate Logistic regression was: logit (P) =3.596-0.023×X1-0.014×X2-0.036×X3+0.726×X4+1.372×X5 (X1-X5 indicate Hb, eGFR, LVEF, diabetes, and ST-segment deviation, respectively) . ST-segment deviation, diabetes, LVEF, and Hb were associated with MACEs in AMI patients after PCI (P<0.05) . ST-segment deviation, diabetes, eGFR and Hb were associated with MACEs in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients after PCI (P<0.05) . ST-segment deviation, diabetes, and Hb were associated with MACEs in non-STEMI patients after PCI (P<0.05) . The prediction model exhibited an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.774〔95%CI (0.710, 0.834) 〕 for the training cohort, and an AUC of 0.751〔95%CI (0.686, 0.815) 〕for the testing cohort. The NRI estimated by the predictive model in AMI, STEMI, and non-STEMI patients was 0.493〔95%CI (0.303, 0.682) 〕, 0.459〔95%CI (0.195, 0.724) 〕, and 0.455〔95%CI (0.181, 0.728〕, respectively. The IDI estimated by the predictive model in AMI, STEMI, and non-STEMI patients was 0.055〔95%CI (0.028, 0.081) 〕, 0.042〔95%CI (0.015, 0.070〕, and 0.069〔95%CI (0.022, 0.116) 〕, respectively. The predictive efficiency of the predictive model in the three groups was significantly better than that of the GRACE score (P<0.05) . The predictive model was significantly better than the GRACE score in all participants 〔ΔAUC=0.050, P=0.015; IDI=0.055, 95%CI (0.028, 0.081) , P<0.001; NRI=0.493, 95%CI (0.303, 0.682) , P<0.001) 〕.
Our predictive model containing five factors (ST-segment deviation, diabetes, LVEF, eGFR and Hb) may be useful for early risk stratification and long-term prognosis prediction in patients with AMI after PCI.
Global population epidemiology research shows that by 2019, there were 1.28 billion hypertensive patients, and about 59.7 million patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide. Hypertension greatly increases the risk of AF. And in older hypertensive patients, the incidence of AF will be higher than 60%. Moreover, AF increases the risk of ischemic stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease and dementia. However, there are few studies on whether AF increases the risk of new-onset myocardial infarction, and whether the risk interacts with age is still unclear in large hypertensive populations.
To examine whether AF increases the risk of new-onset myocardial infarction in hypertensive patients.
Individuals with hypertension were selected as subjects from the employees of Kailuan Group who underwent the medical check-up in Tangshan Gongren Hospital and Kailuan General Hospital from June 2006 to October 2007. General data and laboratory test results of subjects were collected. And all of them were regularly followed up until 2020-12-31. The endpoint event was new-onset myocardial infarction. The finally enrolled cases (n=42 833) included 270 with AF diagnosed by baseline ECG (AF group) and 42 563 without (non-AF group) . The cumulative incidence of myocardial infarction was calculated by the life table method. The survival curve for the cumulative incidence of new-onset myocardial infarction was plotted by Kaplan-Meier method. The difference of the cumulative incidence of myocardial infarction between AF and non-AF groups was compared by Log-rank test. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to investigate the effect of AF on new-onset myocardial infarction in hypertension.
AF group had greater mean age, and lower mean levels of diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than non-AF group (P<0.05) . There were also statistically differences in the incidence of myocardial infarction and cumulative incidence of new-onset myocardial infarction between the two groups (P<0.05) . After age-stratification, it was found that the differences in the incidence of new-onset myocardial infarction and cumulative incidence of myocardial infarction were statistically significant between those aged ≤60 years with AF and without AF (P<0.05) , but were insignificant between those aged > 60 years with and without AF (P>0.05) . Adjusted multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that AF was a risk factor for new-onset myocardial infarction in hypertensive population〔HR=2.89, 95%CI (1.74, 4.82) , P<0.01〕, and also in hypertensive population aged ≤60 years old〔HR=4.72, 95%CI (2.11, 10.56) , P<0.01〕.
AF is a risk factor for new-onset myocardial infarction in hypertensive population, especially in those ≤60 years old. Active control of blood pressure and treatment of AF are important prevention and treatment measures for new-onset myocardial infarction.
Stroke is highly prevalent in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) , a most common cardiac arrhythmia with high morbidity, and anticoagulation therapy is a key strategy to prevent AF-related stroke. However, there is short of research on the use of anticoagulation therapy in patients with AF in the community.
To explore the prevalence of use of anticoagulation therapy and influencing factors in elderly patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in Shanghai's communities.
A cross-sectional survey design was used. Stratified sampling was used to select elderly patients with AF who received the 2018 annual physical examination at four community health centers in Shanghai during July to December 2019, and they were surveyed using a questionnaire (consisting of three parts: demographics, CHA2DS2-VASc score and ORBIT score) compiled by our research team for collecting information on their AF prevalence and associated medication use, awareness of AF, comorbidities, and complication, as well as risk for stroke and bleeding. Based on the results of the survey, we excluded those without previous AF-related medical experience and valvular AF, then analyzed the prevalence of anticoagulation therapy in those with NVAF. Anticoagulation therapy was recommended for patients at high risk for stroke in accordance with the CHA2DS2-VASc score. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to identify influencing factors of anticoagulation therapy in NVAF patients at high risk of stroke.
Three hundred and two patients with NVAF were finally included, of whom the prevalence of current use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs was 29.5% (89/302) , and 39.7% (120/302) , respectively, and that of non-use of anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs was 30.8% (93/302) . By the CHA2DS2-VASc score, 279 of the 302 NVAF patients (92.4%) were assessed with high risk of stroke, among whom the prevalence of current use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs was 30.5% (85/279) , 40.1% (112/279) , respectively, and the rest 29.4% (82/279) did not take anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs. Univariate Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, marital status, type of AF, onset of AF symptoms, duration of AF, prescription of anticoagulants at the first visit for AF, knowledge of the harmfulness of AF, prevalence of hyperlipidemia, and risk of bleeding were associated with the use of anticoagulation therapy in NVAF patients at high risk of stroke (P<0.05) . Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that age, type of AF, prescription of anticoagulants at the first visit for AF, and knowledge of the harmfulness of AF were associated with the use of anticoagulation therapy in NVAF patients at high risk of stroke (P<0.05) .
The prevalence of the use of anticoagulation therapy in community-living NVAF patients at higher risk of stroke is unsatisfactory, so the use of anticoagulation therapy for this population needs to be further standardized, especially in patients with advanced age and low awareness of the harmfulness of AF.
Dysphagia incidence after cardiac surgery is increasing due to increased complexity of the surgery and number of older patients, which has become one of the most severe complications of cardiac surgery, affecting patients' physical health and recovery.
To perform a review of available evidence on the incidence of dysphagia after cardiac surgery.
Databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP were searched from inception to May 2022 for published studies on the incidence of dysphagia after cardiac surgery. Two researchers independently conducted a literature enrollment, quality assessment, and data extraction. Meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 15.0.
Fifteen studies with 7 880 patients were included. The meta-analysis revealed that the overall incidence of dysphagia after cardiac surgery was 13.3%〔95%CI (10.1%, 16.5%) 〕. Further region-specific analysis indicated that, the incidence of dysphagia following cardiac surgery in Asia, North America, and Oceania was 16.6%〔95%CI (10.4%, 22.8%) 〕, 10.0%〔95%CI (6.1%, 13.8%) 〕, and 17.4%〔95%CI (12.3%, 23.5%) 〕, respectively. According to sex-specific analysis, the incidence of dysphagia following cardiac surgery was 16.9%〔95%CI (11.8%, 21.9%) 〕, and 16.4%〔95%CI (11.1%, 21.8%) 〕 in male and female patients, respectively. The analysis based on age group indicated that the dysphagia incidence following cardiac surgery in patients aged <70 years and ≥70 years was 10.9%〔95%CI (8.6%, 13.5%) 〕 and 28.4%〔95%CI (19.7%, 37.9%) 〕, respectively. And analysis based on NYHA class found that the dysphagia incidence was 11.8%〔95%CI (7.4%, 16.3%) 〕 in patients with NYHA classⅠ or Ⅱ, and was 21.0%〔95%CI (11.0%, 30.9%) 〕 in those with NYHA class Ⅲ or Ⅳ. In accordance with analysis based on the duration of perioperative endotracheal intubation, the incidence of dysphagia following cardiac surgery in patients with <12 hours, 12-24 hours, 25-48 hours and >48 hours was 1.0%〔95%CI (0.3%, 1.8%) 〕, 6.4%〔95%CI (4.4%, 8.3%) 〕, 16.8%〔95%CI (9.5%, 24.1%) 〕, and 55.0%〔95%CI (28.0%, 82.0%) 〕, respectively. In addition, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, previous history of cerebrovascular accident, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, perioperative stroke and sepsis were associated with a higher incidence of dysphagia after cardiac surgery. The results of the meta-analysis were robust, as shown by sensitivity analysis. Both Begg's and Egger's tests yielded P-value<0.05, indicating that publication bias existed in the studies.
Current evidence indicates that the incidence of dysphagia after cardiac surgery is high (13.3%), therefore, prompt postsurgical screening and treatment of dysphagia should be administered.