International journal of cardiology
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Multicenter Study
Rheumatoid arthritis and risk of acute myocardial infarction--a nationwide retrospective cohort study.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) imposes substantial social costs, including an increased risk of work-related disability and accelerated cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the study is to determine the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) associated with RA in a nationwide retrospective cohort study. ⋯ This nationwide retrospective cohort study indicates that AMI risk increased by 38% in RA patients compared to the general population. Comorbidities increase the AMI risk independently.
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Three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MR pulmonary angiography (MRPA) is a suitable option for pulmonary embolism (PE) detection. However, there have been few reports on the diagnostic accuracy of MRPA for PE detection in a 3-T MR system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of MRPA in a 3-T MR system to detect acute PE with multidetector CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) as reference standard. ⋯ Three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MRPA with a 3-T MR system is a suitable alternative modality to CTPA to detect PE on a per-patient basis based on this small cohort study.
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Renal dysfunction has been proposed for the risk factor for stroke and bleeding in atrial fibrillation (AF). The impact of changes in renal dysfunction over time and the relationship to stroke and bleeding risk in these patients remain unknown. We investigated sequential change in renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR) and the risk for clinical events (ischaemic stroke, death and major bleeding) over time in a cohort of 617 AF patients followed up for 2 years. ⋯ In patients with AF, an absolute decrease in eGFR ≥15 ml/min/1.73 m(2) on Cockcroft-Gault and CKD-EPI, and ≥25 ml/min/1.73 m(2) on MDRD, or a relative reduction (≥25%) in eGFR, independently predicted the risk for the endpoints 'stroke or death', 'death' or (at 6 months) ischaemic stroke. Deteriorating renal function increases the risk of death in AF patients.