Little is known about the long-term prognosis of or predictors for the different clinical types of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Korean populations. The aim of this study was to validate a risk stratification to assess the probability of AF progression from paroxysmal AF (PAF) to persistent AF (PeAF) or permanent AF. A total of 434 patients with PAF were consecutively enrolled (mean age; 71.7 +/- 10.7 yr, 60.6% male). PeAF was defined as episodes that are sustained > 7 days and not self-terminating, while permanent AF was defined as an ongoing long-term episode. Atrial arrhythmia during follow-up was defined as atrial premature complex, atrial tachycardia, and atrial flutter. During a mean follow-up of 72.7 +/- 58.3 months, 168 patients (38.7%) with PAF progressed to PeAF or permanent AF. The mean annual AF progression was 10.7% per year. In univariate analysis, age at diagnosis, body mass index, atrial arrhythmia during follow-up, left ventricular ejection fraction, concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, left atrial diameter (LAD), and severe mitral regurgitation (MR) were significantly associated with AF progression. In multivariate analysis, age at diagnosis (P = 0.009), atrial arrhythmia during follow-up (P = 0.015), LAD (P = 0.002) and MR grade (P = 0.026) were independent risk factors for AF progression. Patients with younger age at diagnosis, atrial arrhythmia during follow-up, larger left atrial chamber size, and severe MR grade are more likely to progress to PeAF or permanent AF, suggesting more intensive medical therapy with close clinical follow-up would be required in those patients.
Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation/epidemiology/mortality/*pathology ; Atrial Flutter/*epidemiology/mortality/pathology ; Atrial Premature Complexes/*epidemiology/mortality/pathology ; Disease Progression ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Atria/pathology/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tachycardia, Ectopic Atrial/*epidemiology/mortality/pathology ; Tachycardia, Paroxysmal/*epidemiology/mortality/pathology ; Thromboembolism/epidemiology/mortality ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUND: New stent implantation during intracoronary brachytherapy is discouraged due to the high risk of late thrombosis. However, new stent implantation is inevitable in some cases due to the inadequate ballooning or major dissections. Long-term follow-up results of newly implanted stents during brachytherapy are not well-known. We performed this study to evaluate the long-term clinical outcomes of newly implanted stents during intracoronary brachytherapy. METHODS: In the Seoul national university Post-Angioplasty RhEnium irradiation (SPARE) trial, patients were treated with conventional catheter-based technique and then randomized to either beta- radiation (RG) or control group (CG). Radiation was performed with 188 -rhenium-filled conventional balloon catheter system. From 1999 to 2001, new stent implantation was performed in 58 and 56 patients in RG and CG, respectively. Clinical and angiographic follow up data were analyzed. RESULTS: In RG, short-term angiographic restenosis rate was lower than CG (28.6% vs 53%, p=0.03). In RG, late thrombosis was found in 3 patients. However, there was no late thrombosis in CG. Two year major cardiac event rates were not different between the 2 groups (RG: 25.9% vs CG: 28.3%). Independent predictors for major cardiac event in RG were major dissections (>or=type C) after stent implantation (beta=70, p=0.01) and longer administration of dual antiplatelets (aspirin+clopidogrel/ ticlopidine, >6 months, beta=0.07, p=0.04). CONCLUSION: Stenting during intracoronary brachytherapy seems to be ineffective in reducing long-term event rates. When new stent implantation is inevitable during brachytherapy, extreme attention is required not to make a dissection and long-term dual antiplatelet treatment should be followed after stent implantation.
Angioplasty ; Brachytherapy ; Catheters ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Rhenium ; Seoul ; Stents* ; Thrombosis ; Ticlopidine

Purpose: The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors represents a major advance in the treatment of lung cancer, allowing sustained recovery in a significant proportion of patients. Nivolumab is a monoclonal anti–programmed death cell protein 1 antibody licensed for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after prior chemotherapy. In this study, we describe the demographic and clinical outcomes of patients with advanced NSCLC treated with nivolumab in the Korean expanded access program. Materials and Methods: Previously treated patients with advanced non-squamous and squamous NSCLC patients received nivolumab at 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks up to 36 months. Efficacy data including investigator-assessed tumor response, progression data, survival, and safety data were collected. Results: Two hundred ninety-nine patients were treated across 36 Korean centers. The objective response rate and disease control rate were 18% and 49%, respectively; the median progression-free survival was 2.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.87 to 3.45), and the overall survival (OS) was 13.2 months (95% CI, 10.6 to 18.9). Patients with smoking history and patients who experienced immune-related adverse events showed a prolonged OS. Cox regression analysis identified smoking history, presence of immune-related adverse events as positive factors associated with OS, while liver metastasis was a negative factor associated with OS. The safety profile was generally comparable to previously reported data. Conclusion This real-world analysis supports the use of nivolumab for pretreated NSCLC patients, including those with an older age.