Objectives:To investigate the predictors of left ventricular reverse remodeling(LVRR)and prognosis in dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM)patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF). Methods:A total of 480 patients with HFrEF were continuously recruited.The patients were divided into LVRR group(n=235)and without LVRR group(n=245).The clinical data of patients with and without LVRR were compared.At the same time,the incidence of LVRR and complex cardiovascular adverse events in patients with different SII tripartite groups was compared.The study population was stratified according to SII tertiles:the baseline tertiles of the SII(group 1:＜332.8[n=160],group 2:332.8-563.1[n=160],and group 3:＞563.1[n=160]).Composite cardiac events include heart failure re-hospitalization,fatal arrhythmias,and cardiac death.Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the predictive factors of LVRR.The dose-response relationship between systemic imnune inflammation index(SII)and LVRR were evaluated by restricted cubic spline(RCS).Receiver operating characteristic curves,net reclassification index(NRI),integrated discrimination improvement(IDI)and Akaike information criterion(AIC)were drawn to assess the performances of predictors to predict LVRR and prognosis.The predictive efficacy of these predictors were compared with traditional biomarkers(N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide[NTpro-BNP]and soluble growth stimulation expressed gene 2 protein[sST2]).The survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results:A total of 235(49.0%)patients experienced LVRR.The results of logistic regression analysis showed that baseline SII was an independent predictor of non-LVRR(OR=1.005,95%CI:1.004～1.007,P＜0.01).RCS showed a positive linear relationship between SII and non-LVRR(Pnonlinear=0.455).Compared with traditional biomarkers NT-proBNP and sST2,ROC,NRI,IDI and AIC results proved that SII had the best predictability regarding non-LVRR.All 480 patients completed the follow-up,there were 108(22.5%)composite cardiac events and 37(7.7%)all-cause deaths.Patients in the SII＞563.1 group had higher rate of composite cardiovascular events than those in the SII＜332.8 and SII 332.8 to 563.1 groups(43.1%vs.9.4%vs.15.0%,log-rank P＜0.01). Conclusions:This study indicates that increased SII at admission could predict non-LVRR in DCM related HFrEF patients and its predictive efficacy is better than traditional biomarkers.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between indicators of carotid atherosclerosis and onset of ischemic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).Methods:This is a case-control study, a total of 397 NVAF patients with newly diagnosed ischemic stroke (case group) and 3 038 NVAF patients without ischemic stroke (control group) from January 2015 to December 2017 were included in the study. Differences in general clinical features and carotid atherosclerosis indexes between the two groups were compared. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the correlation between carotid atherosclerosis indexes and ischemic stroke.Results:Proportions of patients with carotid intima thickening, carotid plaque, stable plaque, unstable plaque, and moderate to severe stenosis were higher in the ischemic stroke group than those in the control group (82.1% vs. 64.4%, 69.3% vs. 50.3%, 43.6% vs. 30.6%, 25.7% vs. 19.7%, and 7.3% vs. 4.0%, respectively, all P <0.05). After adjustment of age, gender, heart failure, hypertension, low density lipoprotein -cholesterol and drug use, multivariate analyses showed that subjects with carotid intima thickening, carotid plaque, stable plaque, unstable plaque, moderate to severe stenosis had 1.766, 2.111, 1.892, 2.256 and 1.824 times the risk for the development of ischemic stroke compared with the subjects without any carotid atherosclerosis indicators. Conclusion:Carotid atherosclerosis, especially with unstable carotid plaque, is associated with ischemic stroke in patients with NVAF.