Circulation reportsPub Date : 2025-01-21eCollection Date: 2025-02-10DOI: 10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0152
Robin Willixhofer, Nikita Ermolaev, Christina Kronberger, Mahshid Eslami, Johannes Vilsmeier, René Rettl, Christian Nitsche, Andreas Kammerlander, Jutta Bergler-Klein, Johannes Kastner, David Niederseer, Roza Badr Eslam
{"title":"Prognostic Value of Submaximal Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Patients With Cardiac Amyloidosis.","authors":"Robin Willixhofer, Nikita Ermolaev, Christina Kronberger, Mahshid Eslami, Johannes Vilsmeier, René Rettl, Christian Nitsche, Andreas Kammerlander, Jutta Bergler-Klein, Johannes Kastner, David Niederseer, Roza Badr Eslam","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0152","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0152","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study assessed the prognostic value of submaximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in cardiac amyloidosis and explored CPET as an alternative to the 6-min walk test (6MWT).</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>In this single-center prospective observational study, 160 patients with cardiac amyloidosis (87% male; mean age 78±7 years) were evaluated. A total of 145 performed maximum symptom limited CPET. The V̇E/V̇CO<sub>2</sub> slope was 39±8, submaximal power output (SPO) was 24.75±11.50 W, and V̇O<sub>2</sub> at anaerobic threshold (AT) was 8.13±2.29 mL/min/kg. During follow up, 34 (21.25%) patients died, and another 34 (21.25%) experienced heart failure (HF)-related hospitalization, with 15 (9.38%) patients experiencing both events. Univariate analysis showed that V̇E/V̇CO<sub>2</sub> slope (hazard ratio [HR] 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86-0.93; P<0.001) and SPO (HR 0.91; 95% CI 0.87-0.96; P<0.001) were predictors of mortality. In multivariate analysis, V̇E/V̇CO<sub>2</sub> slope remained a significant predictor (HR 0.92; 95% CI 0.88-0.97; P<0.001) for both all-cause mortality and HF-related hospitalization independently. A SPO cut-off of <28 W predicted a worse outcome for both measures independently. Moderate correlations for V̇E/V̇CO<sub>2</sub> slope (-0.56 [CI -0.67, -0.42]) and SPO (0.55 [CI 0.42, 0.67]) with 6MWT distance have been found.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings highlight CPET parameters, particularly V̇E/V̇CO<sub>2</sub> slope and SPO with a cut-off <28 W, as predictors of survival and HF-related hospitalization in cardiac amyloidosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"76-85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807689/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Association Between Complementary Use of Daikenchuto (a Japanese Herbal Medicine) and Readmission in Older Patients With Heart Failure and Constipation.","authors":"Toshiaki Isogai, Kojiro Morita, Akira Okada, Nobuaki Michihata, Hiroki Matsui, Atsushi Miyawaki, Hideo Yasunaga","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0114","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0114","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Constipation commonly coexists with heart failure (HF) and can increase blood pressure because of straining during defecation and accompanying mental stress. Daikenchuto, a Japanese herbal medicine to ameliorate gastrointestinal motility, may be effective as a complement to laxatives in improving outcomes in patients with HF and constipation.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>We used the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database to identify patients aged ≥65 years who were admitted for HF, had constipation, and were discharged alive between April 2016 and March 2022. We divided the 115,544 eligible patients into 2 groups according to the prescription of Daikenchuto in addition to laxatives at discharge and compared the incidence of 1-year HF readmission using 1 : 4 propensity score matching. Daikenchuto was prescribed at discharge in 3,315 (2.9%) patients. In the unmatched cohort, patients treated with Daikenchuto were more often male and had a higher prevalence of malignancy than those treated without Daikenchuto. In the 1 : 4 propensity score-matched cohort (3,311 and 13,243 patients with and without Daikenchuto, respectively), no significant difference was noted in 1-year HF readmission between the groups (22.2% vs. 21.9%; hazard ratio=1.02, 95% confidence interval=0.94-1.11). This result was consistent across clinically relevant subgroups except for renal disease.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Complementary use of Daikenchuto in combination with laxatives was not associated with a lower incidence of HF readmission in patients with HF and constipation.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"86-96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807698/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Circulation reportsPub Date : 2025-01-11eCollection Date: 2025-02-10DOI: 10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0140
Ken-Ichi Hiasa, Miki Imura, Susumu Hirose
{"title":"In-Hospital Pulmonary Thromboembolism Development by Disease at Admission - A Nationwide, Retrospective, Observational Study Using Japanese Claims Data.","authors":"Ken-Ichi Hiasa, Miki Imura, Susumu Hirose","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0140","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Prevention of death from in-hospital pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) is crucial, but research exploring the risk factors for this event remains limited.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>This retrospective analysis evaluated PE data among hospitalized patients, focusing on the diseases present on admission to hospital with the highest number of patients with in-hospital PE events, using the Medical Data Vision database (January 2017-December 2021). Endpoints included the incidence rate of in-hospital PE, patient characteristics, and PE prophylactic procedures. Overall, 4,684,659 patients (in-hospital PE cohort, n=5,007; non-PE cohort, n=4,679,952) were eligible: heart failure (n=208; n=87,160), femoral fracture (n=478; n=139,049), pneumonia (n=309; n=222,257), stroke (n=351; n=248,805), and cancer (n=934; n=764,413). The incidence rate of in-hospital PE in the overall population was 20.6/1,000 person-years: heart failure (34.6), femoral fracture (35.3), pneumonia (21.4), stroke (15.9), and cancer (25.6). History of venous thromboembolism (VTE) was a risk factor for in-hospital PE in >50% of patients in all subgroups. Prophylactic PE procedures were implemented in 33.8% of the overall population: femoral fracture (79.5%), cancer (49.7%), stroke (24.2%), heart failure (12.7%), and pneumonia (6.2%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The incidence of in-hospital PE was not high overall but was higher in patients with a history of VTE and those with hospitalization due to heart failure or femoral fracture. Risk assessment for in-hospital PE, including medical history and diagnosis at admission, is preferred in hospitalized patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"66-75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807694/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of an Intensive Lipid-Lowering Therapy Protocol on Achieving Target Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome.","authors":"Kosuke Seiyama, Akihiro Oka, Toru Miyoshi, Yuya Sudo, Wataru Takagi, Satoko Ugawa, Tomoaki Okada, Kazumasa Nosaka, Masayuki Doi","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0071","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0071","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Intensive lipid-lowering therapy (ILLT) is crucial for preventing secondary acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, achieving target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels remains challenging in clinical practice.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>This retrospective study included 534 patients with ACS who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) between September 2016 and August 2022. The ILLT protocol, wherein ezetimibe and statins are prescribed, was introduced in September 2019. We compared the rate of achievement of the LDL-C target of <70 mg/dL at the first outpatient visit and the incidence of cardiovascular events during the 3-year observation period after PCI between the conventional therapy (n=226) and ILLT (n=308) groups. The ILLT group had a higher achievement rate than the conventional therapy group (71.8% vs. 48.7%; P=0.001). In the ILLT group, 17% of statin-naïve patients did not achieve the LDL-C target, and the cutoff value of LDL-C on admission for predicting non-achievement of this target was 146 mg/dL. Patients in the ILLT group showed a significantly lower incidence of cardiovascular events than those in the conventional therapy group (hazard ratio 0.57; 95% confidence interval 0.34-0.97).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Implementing the ILLT protocol using statins and ezetimibe helped achieve the target LDL-C level early in patients with ACS and may consequently improve prognosis. However, patients with LDL-C levels ≥146 mg/dL on admission may need more intensive treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"131-138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807690/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Usefulness of Blood Flow Measurement Device Using Bioelectrical Impedance Plethysmography in Lower-Extremity Artery Disease.","authors":"Shigeo Horinaka, Masashi Sakuma, Yutaka Yonezawa, Manami Watahiki, Chika Higano, Shigeru Toyoda, Tomoyuki Yamamoto","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0046","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Bioelectrical impedance plethysmography (IPG) for measuring human body fraction and disease has been progressing in the past half-century, and few studies have reported lower-extremity arterial disease (LEAD) in recent years.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>The present study enrolled patients who underwent examinations for LEAD. IPG with venous occlusion was performed, and flow volumes were compared with those measured using Doppler duplex ultrasonography, the ankle-brachial index (ABI), and assessments of arterial stenosis and collaterals using computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance angiographies. Fifty patients suspected of LEAD were enrolled; 15 had no arterial stenosis and 35 had LEAD. Arterial blood flow volume (BFV) was assessed. Although the area under the curve for IPG-BFV and Doppler-BFV in the popliteal artery with arterial stenosis were similar, IPG-BFV exhibited better diagnostic accuracy than Doppler-BFV (accuracy 0.765 and 0.694, respectively; McNemar's test P<0.01). In the analysis of covariance with IPG-BFV adjustment, Doppler-BFV was significantly lower in patients with LEAD (ABI<0.9), and morphological arterial stenosis, particularly in those with collaterals than in those without (F-test P<0.05, respectively).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>IPG-BFV could have a better ability to discern the presence of arterial stenosis compared with Doppler-BFV and might not be confounded by the presence of collateral circulation when assessing blood flow in the entire lower extremity, which could be an advantage of IPG-BFV.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"113-121"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807697/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent Trends in Achievement Rates and Time Required for Left Ventricular Reverse Remodeling in Dilated Cardiomyopathy.","authors":"Masahiro Wanezaki, Tetsu Watanabe, Atsushi Iizuka, Tomoki Kobayashi, Shunsuke Edamura, Takayuki Sugai, Harutoshi Tamura, Satoshi Nishiyama, Ryuhei Yamaguchi, Naoaki Hashimoto, Yoichiro Otaki, Daisuke Kutsuzawa, Shigehiko Kato, Takanori Arimoto, Shunsuke Inoue, Toshiyuki Ko, Seitaro Nomura, Issei Komuro, Masafumi Watanabe","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0148","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR) is associated with a good prognosis in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), so in this study we examined the achievement rates of LVRR, the time taken to LVRR and the factors associated with LVRR in recent cases of DCM.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>We enrolled 121 patients with DCM. LVRR was defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction ≥40% at follow-up with a ≥10% improvement. LVRR was observed in 82 patients (68%). The median time to LVRR was 208 days. Multivariate analysis revealed that B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels at discharge (per 1-SD increase, odds ratio: 0.483, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.224-0.963; P=0.0385) and β-blocker dose (per 1-SD increase, odds ratio: 3.379, 95% CI: 1.644-7.702; P=0.0007) were independently associated with LVRR. When the patients were divided into 2 groups according to the first (2007-2017; n=64) and second (2018-2022; n=57) time periods, there was a significantly higher LVRR achievement rate (48.4% vs. 89.5%) and shorter time to LVRR in the second period than in the first.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The LVRR achievement rate in DCM has been increasing, and the time to LVRR has been shortened in recent years. Beta-blocker dose and BNP levels at discharge may be strongly associated with LVRR.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 2","pages":"97-105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807696/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143392833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Verification of the Impact of Changes in the Severity Classification of Proteinuria on the Prognosis of Hypertensive Patients Following the Initiation of Esaxerenone.","authors":"Takashi Kitao, Eriko Konishi, Noriaki Itoh, Ayumu Hirata","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0142","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0142","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) or urinary protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPCR) has been reported as predictors of cardiovascular and renal events. We aimed to evaluate the impact of changes in proteinuria severity on the prognosis of hypertensive patients post-esaxerenone initiation.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>Hypertensive patients who commenced esaxerenone (n=164) were classified into 3 groups according to baseline UACR or UPCR, based on the modified proteinuria severity classification: A1 (normal; n=35); A2 (microalbuminuria/mild proteinuria; n=49); and A3 (macroalbuminuria/severe proteinuria; n=80). At 6 months post-esaxerenone initiation, these patients were then reclassified into 3 groups: Á1 (n=48); Á2 (n=66); and Á3 (n=50). Á2 was further subdivided into 2 groups: Á2a (n=34); and Á2b (n=32), the latter representing patients who improved from A3. The primary endpoint was defined as the composite of cardiovascular and renal death, heart failure hospitalization, non-fatal myocardial infarction, initiation of dialysis, and estimated glomerular filtration rate decline exceeding 40%. Severity of proteinuria improved significantly after 6 months (P=0.003). The incidence of the primary endpoint was significantly higher in Á3 compared with Á1 (log-rank P<0.001); however, no significant difference was observed between Á1 and Á2b (log-rank P=0.12).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Esaxerenone may ameliorate proteinuria severity and improve the prognosis of patients with macroalbuminuria or severe proteinuria.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 1","pages":"37-46"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711787/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142974286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Association of In-Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation on Hospital-Associated Disability for Octogenarian Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction - An Insight From the JROAD-DPC Database.","authors":"Yuji Kono, Satoshi Katano, Yohei Otaka, Koshiro Kanaoka, Akinori Sawamura, Tetsufumi Motokawa, Yoshihiro Miyamoto, Yusuke Ohya, Shin-Ichiro Miura, Nagaharu Fukuma, Shigeru Makita, Hideo Izawa","doi":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0130","DOIUrl":"10.1253/circrep.CR-24-0130","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aimed to determine the status of in-hospital cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and hospital-associated disability (HAD) for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) aged >80 years.</p><p><strong>Methods and results: </strong>This study involved the Japanese Registry of All Cardiac and Vascular Diseases and the Diagnosis Procedure Combination databases, and included patients who were hospitalized with AMI from April 2014 to March 2021. Patients were categorized by the daily amount of CR: NA, not applicable; Low, 20-30 min; Moderate, 30-40 min; and High, >40 min. Activities of daily living were assessed using the Barthel index (BI) score, and evaluated at both admission and discharge. This study defined HAD as a ≥5-point decrease in BI score at discharge compared with admission. A total of 12,061 eligible patients were selected (age 83.0 years; 36.4% female), of which 2.7% had HAD (NA, 2.0%; Low, 4.7%; Moderate, 2.6%; High, 2.6%). The Low group was more likely to develop HAD. Chronological trends in hospital stay and incidence rate of HAD gradually decreased with the increased in-hospital CR participation rate. The multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that the daily amount of CR was selected as an independent associated factor for preventing HAD (odds ratio 0.737; 95% confidence interval 0.567-0.960; P=0.023).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results revealed that higher amounts of in-hospital CR for patients with AMI should be performed, especially in octogenarians.</p>","PeriodicalId":94305,"journal":{"name":"Circulation reports","volume":"7 1","pages":"25-30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11711786/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142974271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}