The American journal of cardiology
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Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the association between SES and mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is not clear. We examined whether SES predicts all-cause mortality in patients hospitalized with AF. ⋯ In conclusion, patients admitted to the hospital with AF have varying mortality based on their SES. After controlling for co-morbidities, patients with AF and lower SES scores had higher mortality. Further research studies are warranted to study this risk of increased mortality in AF population.
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Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) sotalol in the treatment of incessant tachyarrhythmias in children with normal cardiac function. Eighty-three children admitted to hospital from October 2011 to December 2014 were treated with IV sotalol or IV sotalol plus IV propafenone. The time to conversion to sinus rhythm and maintaining sinus rhythm were evaluated. ⋯ No proarrhythmic or significant toxicities were detected. Close monitoring of QTc and heart rate is required after IV sotalol. Adding IV propafenone to IV sotalol in resistant cases enhance conversion.
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The comparative outcomes of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) versus surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are scarce. We aimed to assess and compare the outcomes of TAVR versus SAVR in DM patients using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2011 to 2013. A complete case analysis was performed for the multivariate analysis and cases with missing data were excluded. ⋯ The mean hospitalization cost was lower for TAVR than SAVR ($58,878 vs $63,869, p = 0.003). Length of stay (median 6 vs 8 days, p <0.001) was shorter in TAVR patients. In conclusion, TAVR may result in better in-hospital outcome than SAVR in DM patients.
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Higher resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, with some reports showing the magnitude of association with all-cause mortality being stronger than that with cardiovascular mortality. This suggests that RHR association with mortality may not be limited to cardiovascular death. We compared the association between RHR with cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality in 6,743 participants (mean age 58.7 years, 52% women, 48% non-Hispanic whites) from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-III) after excluding those on antiarrhythmic drugs or with missing data. ⋯ During a median follow-up of 13.9 years, 906 cardiovascular deaths and 1,306 noncardiovascular deaths occurred. In models adjusted for age, gender, race, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, previous cardiovascular disease, smoking, cancer, chronic obstructive airway disease, thyroid disease, and serum creatinine, higher RHR was associated with increased risk of both cardiovascular mortality and noncardiovascular mortality with a relatively similar magnitude of risk (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.26 and HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.29, respectively). In conclusion, higher RHR is associated with both cardiovascular mortality and noncardiovascular mortality suggesting that RHR is probably a marker of overall well-being rather than a marker of cardiovascular health.
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Most guidelines suggest a baseline risk assessment to guide atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) prevention strategies. The American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs) is one tool to assess baseline risk; however, the accuracy of this tool has been called into question. We aimed to examine the calibration and discrimination of the PCEs in the BioImage study, a contemporary multiethnic cohort of asymptomatic adults enrolled from 2008 to 2009 in the Humana Health System in Chicago, Illinois, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ⋯ In an analysis restricted to 3,080 participants without diabetes mellitus and with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol between 70 and 189 mg/dl, the PCEs similarly overestimated risk by 181% (152 predicted events vs 54 observed events; p <0.001). The PCEs substantially overestimate ASCVD risk in this middle-aged adult insured population. Refinement of existing risk prediction functions may be warranted.