OBJECTIVE: Statins reduce risk of cardiovascular disease through lowering of LDL-C (Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol). We analyzed cost-effectiveness of statins in the reduction of serum LDL-C level among Korean population at high cardiovascular risk. METHODS: Rosuvastatin (5, 10, and 20 mg), atorvastatin (10, 20, 40, and 80 mg) and simvastatin (20, 40, and 80 mg) were included for the analysis, because those statins and doses were mostly prescribed in Korea. We determined effectiveness as % reduction of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels per mg dose and % population reached to the ideal LDL-C level (<100 mg/dL), which is the target goal of LDL-C level for the high cardiovascular risk group as recommended by NCEP-ATP III guideline. The annual cost, which included overall cost for the drug price and management during follow up, was calculated. Average cost-effectiveness ratio (ACER) was calculated and used as the parameter representing cost-effectiveness of each statins. RESULTS: The lowest dose of each statins showed that achieving LDL-C target level was not high even in subjects showing relatively low basal LDL-C levels (<160 mg/dL). Also in case basal LDL-C level was over 160 mg/dL, the majority of statins were not sufficient to control LDL-C levels except atorvastatin 80 mg. In case of basal LDL-C level was lower than 160 mg/dl, atorvastatin 20 mg was the most cost-effective statin for LDL-C reduction regardless of considering basal LDL-C level. Simvastatin 40 mg was also cost-effective if basal LDL-C levels were between 100-129 mg/dL. CONCLUSIONS: For the reduction of LDL-C level in high risk subjects showing moderately elevated basal LDL-C level, atorvastatin 20 mg is the most cost-effective statin treatment strategy and then simvastatin 40 mg or rosuvastatin 10 mg was the second best option.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Fluorobenzenes ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heptanoic Acids ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Korea ; Lipoproteins ; Pyrimidines ; Pyrroles ; Simvastatin ; Sulfonamides ; Atorvastatin Calcium ; Rosuvastatin Calcium

OBJECTIVE: We performed a study of the relationship between thigh circumference and serum lipids. METHODS: A total of 314,842 Korean men and women aged 30 to 79 enrolled in the Korea Medical Institute for medical examination between February 2010 and December 2011 were included. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of thigh circumference with various lipid profiles after adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, smoking, and exercise. RESULTS: The average age of study participants was 42.3 years (42.6 years in men and 41.9 years in women). The mean thigh circumference was 53.2 cm (54.3 cm in men and 51.5 cm in women). Thigh circumference was positively correlated with BMI and waist circumference in both men and women. Before adjusting for BMI and waist circumference, thigh circumference was also positively correlated with total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride / HDL cholesterol ratio. However, after adjusting for those two variables, the positive correlations became almost disappeared and showed opposite direction indicating that BMI and waist circumference were qualitative confounding variables. CONCLUSIONS: A small thigh circumference was associated with increasing levels of lipid profiles including triglyceride and decreasing level of HDL cholesterol. Through additional researches, establishment of causality is necessary.
Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Lipoproteins ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Thigh ; Waist Circumference

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of adiponectin and resistin on coronary plaque composition determined by virtual histology (VH) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and coronary artery remodeling of target lesion in patients with stable angina. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 48 patients who underwent coronary angiography and VH IVUS for stable angina (27 men, 61+/-9 years of age). Preintervention grayscale and VH IVUS analysis was done across the target lesion. Planar VH IVUS analysis at the minimum luminal site and volumetric analysis over a 10-mm-long segment centered at the minimum luminal site were performed. The subjects were divided into 2 groups based on remodeling index (RI): positive remodeling (PR) defined as RI>1.0 and non-PR as RI< or =1.0. Blood samples for analysis of adiponectin and resistin were obtained from the femoral artery before coronary angioplasty. RESULTS: Of the 48 patients enrolled, 23 (48%) had PR in their target lesion and 25 (52%) were non-PR group. Clinical and angiographic characteristics, VH IVUS parameters were not different between the PR and the non-PR groups. Adiponectin and resistin levels showed no significant correlations with coronary plaque composition evaluated with VH IVUS. Adiponectin showed no significant difference between the two groups. However, resistin showed trend toward higher level in non-PR group (4.17+/-2.18 ng/mL vs. 6.11+/-4.26 ng/mL, P=0.056) and a significant negative correlation with RI (r=-0.303, P=0.036). CONCLUSION: We found a negative correlation between the resistin level and RI of a de-novo target lesion in patients with stable angina.
Adiponectin ; Angina, Stable ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Femoral Artery ; Humans ; Male ; Phenobarbital ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; Prospective Studies ; Resistin

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol intake has been found to be associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. However, the association of alcohol intake with HDL cholesterol subclasses is unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the association between alcohol intake and HDL cholesterol subclasses among Koreans. METHODS: This study included in 1,101 healthy Koreans (men: 765, women: 336) who underwent health check-up at two hospitals in the Korean Cancer Prevention Study 2 (KCPS2). The amounts of alcohol intake were classified into 4 groups: non-, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers (0, <12.5, 12.5-49.9, and > or =50.0 g/day, respectively). The proportions of HDL cholesterol subclasses were measured after subclasses were identified by 4-30% gradient gel electrophoresis. Multiple regression models were used to estimate regression coefficients after multivariate adjustments. RESULTS: The concentration of HDL, HDL2 and HDL3 significantly increased with increasing amount of alcohol intake. After adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), waist and smoking status, alcohol consumers of <12.5 g/day, 12.5-49.9 g/day and more than 50.0g/day showed significant positive associations with HDL, HDL2 and HDL3 concentration when compared to non-alcohol drinkers in men. In particular, The strongest positive associations were obtained with HDL2b and HDL3c. CONCLUSION: HDL2 and HDL3 were significantly associated with increasing amount of alcohol intake in Koreans. In particular, HDL2b among HDL2 and HDL3c among HDL3 showed the strongest positive association with increasing amount of alcohol intake.
Alcohol Drinking ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Electrophoresis ; Humans ; Light ; Lipoproteins ; Male ; Smoke ; Smoking

KSLA published our first version of treatment guidelines for dyslipidemia in 1996, which was based on health examination data gathered by the National Health Insurance Corperation in 1994. A number of academic societies including the Korean Endocrine Society, the Korean Society of Cardiology, the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine, the Korean Society for Biochemistry and the Korean Nutrition Society participated in the development of this guideline. In 2003, the second version of our guidelines was published based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES) data which was collected in 1998. In 2006, the second version was modified and expanded with using KNHANES data collected in 2005. This article summarizes the recommendations included in the expanded second version of treatment guidelines. The full version of treatment guidelines in Korean is available at the KSLA Homepage (http://www.lipid.or.kr).
Biochemistry ; Cardiology ; Dyslipidemias ; National Health Programs ; Nutrition Surveys

Iatrogenic aortic dissection occurs in association with diverse invasive procedures. It occurs primarily as a complication of cardiac surgery or after catheterization procedure. We found a case of iatrogenic abdominal aortic dissection caused by traumatic needle injury. The patient complained of abdominal pain after balloon kyphoplasty. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed intramural hematoma with air density suggestive of an iatrogenic cause. The patient was managed conservatively, and no lesion progression was noted in the follow-up CT. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of iatrogenic aortic dissection associated with kyphoplasty.
Abdominal Pain ; Catheterization ; Catheters ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma* ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty* ; Needles ; Thoracic Surgery

Myocardial bridging (MB) occurs when the myocardium covers a segment of a major epicardial coronary artery, resulting in a tunneled arterial segment. Although MB is generally considered benign, it has been associated with myocardial ischemia. A 70-year-old man with MB (50% luminal narrowing during systole) at the mid-left anterior descending artery (LAD) on previous coronary angiography (CAG) visited our hospital with worsening chest pain. His blood pressure (BP) was not well controlled because of poor compliance. Follow-up CAG showed that MB at the mid-LAD progressed to severe stenosis (>90% luminal narrowing during systole) and the total length of tunneled artery extended from 22.5 to 23.9 mm. His chest pain was relieved by BP control. This is the first report of myocardial ischemia secondary to progression of MB demonstrated by CAG in Korea.
Aged ; Arteries ; Blood Pressure ; Chest Pain ; Compliance ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessels ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Ischemia ; Korea ; Myocardial Bridging* ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Myocardium ; Phenobarbital

We recently encountered an interesting case of acute inferior ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This patient had a rare anatomic variation, single coronary artery. The right coronary artery originate from the left circumflex proper artery, not from aorta, was totally obstructed with thrombi. Though it took more time to figure out the patient's coronary anatomy and the culprit lesion, we successfully performed primary percutaneous coronary intervention within the guideline-recommended time period. We performed left coronary angiography at the beginning. This strategy could be helpful in determining the culprit lesion and preventing unnecessary procedural delay in acute inferior STEMI.
Anatomic Variation ; Aorta ; Arteries ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; Coronary Vessels* ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

OBJECTIVE: In 2013, a new risk calculator known as the Pooled Cohort Equation (PCE) was introduced with the new cholesterol guideline. We aimed to calculate the 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk using PCE in non-diabetic Korean subjects with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) lower than 6.5%. METHODS: A total of 17,519 participants were evaluated in a health screening program. The 10-year ASCVD risk was calculated using the PCE. Subjects with underlying diabetes or HbA1c > or =6.5% were excluded. Subjects were divided into four groups according to fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c levels: FBG <100 mg/dL, 100< or =FBG<110 mg/dL, 110< or =FBG<120 mg/dL, and FBG > or =120 mg/dL; HbA1c <5.5%, 5.5%< or =HbA1c<5.6%, 5.6%< or =HbA1c<5.8%, and HbA1c > or =5.8%. RESULTS: The mean 10-year ASCVD risk significantly increased as FBG increased from <100 mg/dL to >120 mg/dL in the four divided groups (2.6%, 3.3%, 3.8%, 4.1%; p<0.01), and as HbA1c increased from <5.5% to >5.8% (2.4%, 2.7%, 3.0%, 3.6%; p<0.01). The odds ratio for 10-year ASCVD risk > or =10% significantly increased from group I to IV according to FBG and HbA1c levels after adjusting for age, body mass index and fasting insulin level (1.187, 1.753, and 2.390 vs. 1.0 in the lowest FBG group; 1.626, 1.574, and 1.645 vs. 1.0 in the lowest HbA1c group). CONCLUSION: The 10-year ASCVD risk calculated using the PCE significantly increased as the FBG and HbA1c increased even in Korean subjects without underlying diabetes.
Blood Glucose ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Cholesterol ; Cohort Studies* ; Fasting ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Insulin ; Mass Screening ; Odds Ratio ; Prediabetic State

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of living alone for in-hospital and one-year clinical outcome after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Korean patients. METHODS: A total of 1,700 patients who admitted at the Chonnam National University Hospital were analyzed. We divided the patients into two groups by the existence of a spouse or family member that lived together with the patient at the first time of hospital visit due to AMI. The primary endpoint was composed of in-hospital death and cardiac death during one-year clinical follow-up. Secondary end point was other major adverse cardio-cerebral events (MACCE) including non-fatal MI, repeat revascularization, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke during one-year clinical follow-up. RESULTS: Living alone patient group had higher proportion of Killip class II-IV (34.3% vs. 26.6%, p=0.006) and higher value of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (2.2+/-4.0 vs. 1.5+/-3.4 ng/mL, p=0.019) than not living alone group. In-hospital death (8.9 % vs. 5.1%, p=0.010) and one-year cardiac death (7.7% vs. 4.6%, p=0.031) developed more in living alone groups. However, living alone was not an independent prognostic factor for in-hospital death (HR 1.51, 95% CI 0.91-2.52, p=0.113) and one-year cardiac death (HR 1.18, 95% CI 0.59-2.34, p=0.64) after multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Living alone was not an independent prognostic factor for in-hospital and one-year clinical outcome after AMI.
C-Reactive Protein ; Death ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Multivariate Analysis ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Prognosis ; Spouses ; Stroke