INTRODUCTION: Degenerative mitral stenosis (DMS) is frequently cited as increasing in prevalence in the developed world, although comparatively little is known about DMS in comparison to rheumatic mitral stenosis (RMS). METHOD: A retrospective observational study was conducted on 745 cases of native-valve mitral stenosis (MS) with median follow-up time of 7.25 years. Clinical and echocardiographic parameters were compared. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed for a composite of all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalisation. RESULTS: Patients with DMS compared to RMS were older (age, mean ± standard deviation: 69.6 ± 12.3 versus [vs] 51.6 ± 14.3 years, respectively; P<0.001) and a greater proportion had medical comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus (78 [41.9%] vs 112 [20.0%], P<0.001). The proportion of cases of degenerative aetiology increased from 1.1% in 1991-1995 to 41.0% in 2016-2017. In multivariate analysis for the composite outcome, age (hazard ratio [HR] 95% confidence interval [CI] of 1.032 [1.020-1.044]; P<0.001), diabetes mellitus (HR 1.443, 95% CI 1.068-1.948; P=0.017), chronic kidney disease (HR 2.043, 95% CI 1.470-2.841; P<0.001) and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (HR 1.019, 95% CI 1.010- 1.027; P<0.001) demonstrated significant indepen-dent associations. The aetiology of MS was not independently associated with the composite outcome. CONCLUSION DMS is becoming an increasingly common cause of native-valve MS. Despite numerous clinical differences between RMS and DMS, the aetiology of MS did not independently influence a composite of mortality or heart failure hospitalisation.
Humans ; Mitral Valve Stenosis/etiology* ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Rheumatic Heart Disease/mortality* ; Echocardiography ; Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data* ; Heart Failure/epidemiology* ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology*

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of modified suanzaorentang,on primary insomnia over a period of 4 weeks on both subjective and objective sleep quality.Methods:A prospective,randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled trial (RCT) involving 162 primary insomniac subjects (mean age 47 years,range 21 to 64 years;female:68.5％) was conducted at 2 university hospital sleep centers in Hong Kong.Among 162 subjects,86％ (n =139) completed the whole trial.Participants received either 4 weeks Chinese herbal formula (modified suanzaorentang group) or placebo by block randomization.Main outcome measures were subjective measures of sleep quality,and objective outcome measures including sleep onset latency,wake after sleep onset,sleep efficiency and sleep stages derived from polysomnography,and sleep variability from actigraphy.Results:After 4-week of treatment,the treatment group showed more improvement in subjective sleep quality as measured 100 mm visual analogue scales [deepness of sleep,95％ CI =-16.0(-22.1--9.9) vs.-7.1 (-13.3--1.0),P ＜ 0.05;refreshing sleep,95％ CI =-12.0(-18.2--5.8) vs.-2.2(-8.9-4.5),P ＜ 0.05] than placebo group.However,the two groups did not have any differences over the objective measures and the Insomnia Severity Index total score.No difference in overall adverse events was found between the two groups.Conclusion:The study shows that a short term (4 weeks) treatment of modified suanzaorentang could improve perceived sleep quality but not subjective sleep difficulty or objective sleep parameters.In particular,modified suanzaorentang has good safety profile and tolerability.