Background: Early identification of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who are at high risk of mortality is of vital importance for appropriate clinical decision making and delivering optimal treatment. We aimed to develop and validate a clinical risk score for predicting mortality at the time of admission of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Methods: Collaborating with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), we established a prospective consecutive cohort of 5,628 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who were admitted to 120 hospitals in Korea between January 20, 2020, and April 30, 2020. The cohort was randomly divided using a 7:3 ratio into a development (n = 3,940) and validation (n = 1,688) set. Clinical information and complete blood count (CBC) detected at admission were investigated using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and logistic regression to construct a predictive risk score (COVID-Mortality Score).The discriminative power of the risk model was assessed by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: The incidence of mortality was 4.3% in both the development and validation set.A COVID-Mortality Score consisting of age, sex, body mass index, combined comorbidity, clinical symptoms, and CBC was developed. AUCs of the scoring system were 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85–0.91) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.84–0.93) in the development and validation set, respectively. If the model was optimized for > 90% sensitivity, accuracies were 81.0% and 80.2% with sensitivities of 91.7% and 86.1% in the development and validation set, respectively. The optimized scoring system has been applied to the public online risk calculator (https://www.diseaseriskscore.com). Conclusion This clinically developed and validated COVID-Mortality Score, using clinical data available at the time of admission, will aid clinicians in predicting in-hospital mortality.

Background: Early identification of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who are at high risk of mortality is of vital importance for appropriate clinical decision making and delivering optimal treatment. We aimed to develop and validate a clinical risk score for predicting mortality at the time of admission of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Methods: Collaborating with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), we established a prospective consecutive cohort of 5,628 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who were admitted to 120 hospitals in Korea between January 20, 2020, and April 30, 2020. The cohort was randomly divided using a 7:3 ratio into a development (n = 3,940) and validation (n = 1,688) set. Clinical information and complete blood count (CBC) detected at admission were investigated using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) and logistic regression to construct a predictive risk score (COVID-Mortality Score).The discriminative power of the risk model was assessed by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: The incidence of mortality was 4.3% in both the development and validation set.A COVID-Mortality Score consisting of age, sex, body mass index, combined comorbidity, clinical symptoms, and CBC was developed. AUCs of the scoring system were 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85–0.91) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.84–0.93) in the development and validation set, respectively. If the model was optimized for > 90% sensitivity, accuracies were 81.0% and 80.2% with sensitivities of 91.7% and 86.1% in the development and validation set, respectively. The optimized scoring system has been applied to the public online risk calculator (https://www.diseaseriskscore.com). Conclusion This clinically developed and validated COVID-Mortality Score, using clinical data available at the time of admission, will aid clinicians in predicting in-hospital mortality.

Purpose: Although drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment is known to be effective for de novo lesions, the influence of sex on angiographic and clinical outcomes remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the angiographic and clinical impact of DCB treatment in patients with de novo coronary lesions according to sex. Materials and Methods: A total of 227 patients successfully treated with DCB were retrospectively enrolled and divided into two groups according to sex. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at 6-month angiography, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF), which included cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and target vessel thrombosis. Results: The study enrolled 60 women (26.4%) and 167 men (73.6%). Compared to men, women had a smaller vessel size, larger DCB to reference vessel ratio, and more dissections after DCB treatment (55.0% vs. 37.1%, p=0.016). Women also had a significantly higher LLL compared to men (0.12±0.26 mm vs. 0.02±0.22 mm, p=0.012) at the 6-month follow-up angiography. During a median follow-up of 3.4 years (range 12.7–28.9 months), TVF was similar (women 6.7% vs. men 7.8%, p=0.944). In multivariable analysis, women were independently associated with a higher LLL. Conclusion LLL was higher in women, but there was no difference in TVF between women and men. Based on multivariable analysis, the women sex was an independent predictor of higher LLL (Impact of Drug-coated Balloon Treatment in de Novo Coronary Lesion; NCT04619277).

Purpose: Dissection after plain balloon angioplasty is required to achieve adequate luminal area; however, it is associated with a high risk of vascular events. This study aimed to examine the relationship between non-flow limiting coronary dissections and subsequent lumen loss and long-term clinical outcomes following successful drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment of de novo coronary lesions. Materials and Methods: A total of 227 patients with good distal flow (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 3) following DCB treatment were retrospectively enrolled and stratified according to the presence or absence of a non-flow limiting dissection. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at 6-month angiography, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF, a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and target vessel thrombosis). Results: The cohort consisted of 95 patients with and 132 patients without a dissection. There were no between-group differences in LLL (90.8%) returning for angiography at 6 months (0.05±0.19 mm in non-dissection and 0.05±0.30 mm in dissection group, p= 0.886) or in TVF (6.8% in non-dissection and 8.4% in dissection group, p=0.799) at a median follow-up of 3.4 years. In a multivariate analysis, the presence of dissection and its severity were not associated with LLL or TVF. Almost dissections (93.9%) were completely healed, and there was no newly developed dissection at 6-month angiography. Conclusion The presence of a dissection following successful DCB treatment of a de novo coronary lesion may not be associated with an increased risk of LLL or TVF (Impact of Drug-coated Balloon Treatment in de Novo Coronary Lesion; NCT04619277).

Purpose: Although drug-coated balloon (DCB) treatment is known to be effective for de novo lesions, the influence of sex on angiographic and clinical outcomes remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the angiographic and clinical impact of DCB treatment in patients with de novo coronary lesions according to sex. Materials and Methods: A total of 227 patients successfully treated with DCB were retrospectively enrolled and divided into two groups according to sex. The primary endpoint was late lumen loss (LLL) at 6-month angiography, and the secondary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF), which included cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and target vessel thrombosis. Results: The study enrolled 60 women (26.4%) and 167 men (73.6%). Compared to men, women had a smaller vessel size, larger DCB to reference vessel ratio, and more dissections after DCB treatment (55.0% vs. 37.1%, p=0.016). Women also had a significantly higher LLL compared to men (0.12±0.26 mm vs. 0.02±0.22 mm, p=0.012) at the 6-month follow-up angiography. During a median follow-up of 3.4 years (range 12.7–28.9 months), TVF was similar (women 6.7% vs. men 7.8%, p=0.944). In multivariable analysis, women were independently associated with a higher LLL. Conclusion LLL was higher in women, but there was no difference in TVF between women and men. Based on multivariable analysis, the women sex was an independent predictor of higher LLL (Impact of Drug-coated Balloon Treatment in de Novo Coronary Lesion; NCT04619277).