BACKGROUND: The objective of this research is to clarify the impact of periodontitis on overall and cardiovascular-related death rates among hypertensive individuals.
METHODS: A total of 5665 individuals with hypertension were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data spanning 2001-2004 and 2009-2014. These individuals were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of periodontitis and further stratified by the severity of periodontitis. We employed weighted multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier curves (log-rank test) to evaluate the impact of periodontitis on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Additional analyses, including adjustments for various covariates, subgroups, and sensitivity analyses, were conducted to ensure the robustness and reliability of our results.
RESULTS: Over an average follow-up duration of 10.22 years, there were 1,122 all-cause and 297 cardiovascular deaths. Individuals with periodontitis exhibited an elevated risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.18-1.51; p < 0.0001) and cardiovascular mortality (HR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.15-1.89; p = 0.002). Moreover, we observed a progressive increase in both all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality (p for trend are both lower than 0.001) and correlating with the severity of periodontitis. These associations remained consistent across various subgroup and sensitivity analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a significant association between periodontitis and increased risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among hypertensive individuals. Notably, the severity of periodontitis appears to be a critical factor, with moderate to severe cases exerting a more pronounced impact on all-cause mortality. Additionally, cardiovascular disease mortality significantlly increases in individuals with varying degrees of periodontitis.

BACKGROUND: Recent statistics highlight cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as a major global cause of death. This review examines the methodological approaches and the main results of independent, stratified, and joint association of sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) on CVD outcomes.
METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for prospective cohorts that examined the independent, stratified, or joint associations of ST and PA with CVD outcomes. Independent associations were defined as analyses mutually adjusted for PA and ST. Stratified associations were considered when there was a reference group in each stratum of PA or ST, and joint associations were defined by a single reference group for all other combined categories of ST and PA levels.
RESULTS: Of 45 articles, 69% explored independent association of ST or PA on CVD outcomes, while 31% using a stratified/joint approach. Most studies used self-reports for ST and PA and focused on CVD mortality. Mutually adjusted analyses identified ST positively and PA inversely associated to CVD outcomes. Stratified studies showed higher ST\'s pronounced impact on CVD for lower PA levels. High PA mitigated but did not eliminate ST\'s negative impact. Joint analyses revealed highest CVD risk in those with both high ST and low PA, and elevated risk in various intermediate combinations.
CONCLUSIONS: Employing independent, stratified, and joint association approaches can yield distinct and complementary public health messages aimed at promoting cardiovascular health. Recommendations should aim to not only to encourage boosting PA levels, but also, concurrently decrease ST.

OBJECTIVE: Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) is a complex condition arising from various factors including immunosuppressive medications, insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and inflammatory processes. Its impact on patient and graft survival is a significant concern in kidney transplant recipients. PTDM\'s impact on kidney transplant recipients, including patient and graft survival and cardiovascular mortality, is a significant concern, given conflicting findings in previous studies. This meta-analysis was imperative to not only incorporate emerging evidence but also to delve into cause-specific mortality considerations. We aimed to comprehensively evaluate the association between PTDM and clinical outcomes, including all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, sepsis-related mortality, malignancy-related mortality, and graft loss, in kidney transplant recipients.
METHODS: PubMed, Ovid/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases were screened and studies evaluating the effect of PTDM on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, sepsis-related mortality, malignancy-related mortality, and overall graft loss in adult kidney transplant recipients were included.
RESULTS: 53 studies, encompassing a total of 138,917 patients, to evaluate the association between PTDM and clinical outcomes were included. Our analysis revealed a significant increase in all-cause mortality (RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.53 to 1.89, P<0.001) and cardiovascular mortality (RR 1.86, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.54, P<0.001) among individuals with PTDM. Moreover, PTDM was associated with a higher risk of sepsis-related mortality (RR 1.96, 95% CI 1.51 to 2.54, P<0.001) but showed no significant association with malignancy-related mortality (RR 1.20, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.88). Additionally, PTDM was linked to an increased risk of overall graft failure (RR 1.33, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.54, P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive management strategies and the need for research targeting PTDM to improve outcomes in kidney transplant recipients.

OBJECTIVE: Current guidelines provide limited evidence for cardiovascular screening in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities and associations between no, minor or major ECG abnormalities with cardiovascular mortality in AAV patients compared with matched controls.
METHODS: Using a risk-set matched cohort design, patients diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis or microscopic polyangiitis with digital ECGs were identified from Danish registers from 2000-2021. Patients were matched 1:3 to controls without AAV on age, sex, and year of ECG measurement. Associated hazards of cardiovascular mortality according to ECG abnormalities were assessed in Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities, with subsequent computation of 5-year risk of cardiovascular mortality standardized to the age- and sex-distribution of the sample.
RESULTS: A total of 1431 AAV patients were included (median age: 69 years, 52.3% male). Median follow-up was 4.8 years. AAV was associated with higher prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (17.5% vs 12.5%), ST-T deviations (10.1% vs 7.1%), atrial fibrillation (9.6% vs 7.5%), and QTc prolongation (5.9% vs 3.6%). Only AAV patients with major ECG abnormalities demonstrated significantly elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality [HR 1.99 (1.49-2.65)] compared with controls. This corresponded to a 5-year risk of cardiovascular mortality of 19.14% (16-22%) vs 9.41% (8-11%).
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AAV demonstrated a higher prevalence of major ECG abnormalities than controls. Notably, major ECG abnormalities were associated with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. These results advocate for the inclusion of ECG assessment into routine clinical care for AAV patients.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with metabolic syndrome face elevated cardiovascular and mortality risks, and there is ongoing debate regarding the cardiovascular effects of niacin and its impact on the prognosis of metabolic syndrome.
METHODS: Levels of dietary niacin intake based on 24-hour dietary recall.
METHODS: Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to compare survival status among quartiles of dietary niacin intake. Weighted Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic splines were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of all-cause and CVD mortality associated with the exposure.
RESULTS: This cohort study included 8,744 participants, and during a median follow-up period of 106 months, 1,552 (17.7%) deaths were recorded, with 511 attributed to cardiovascular disease. Kaplan-Meier curves comparing quartiles of dietary niacin intake showed significant differences in both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates (log-rank p < 0.001). In the fully adjusted model, the highest quartile of dietary niacin intake was associated with HRs of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.87, P = 0.002) for all-cause mortality and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.39, 0.78, P < 0.001) for cardiovascular mortality.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this cohort study suggest that higher dietary niacin intake is associated with reduced cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risks in the metabolic syndrome population. Furthermore, there appears to be a dose-response relationship between dietary niacin intake and the risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

In this review we provide a brief description of recently published articles addressing topics relevant to pediatric cardiologists. Our hope is to provide a summary of the latest articles published recently in other journals in our field. The articles address: 1- The use of AI in fetal echocardiography, 2- The role of Apixaban in thromboembolism prevention in pediatric congenital heart disease, 3- Cardiovascular events in childhood cancer survivors, and lastly 4- the new consensus statement on cardiac catheterization for pediatrics and adults with congenital heart disease.

Prior research has demonstrated that erectile dysfunction (ED) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature mortality. Few studies have examined the link between ED and hyperglycemia, and the predictive power of ED for mortality in individuals with hyperglycemia. A cohort of 1584 adults diagnosed with hyperglycemia, consisting of 583 individuals with diabetes and 1001 individuals with prediabetes, was selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2001 and 2004. The study found a positive correlation between severe ED and hyperglycemia (OR, 2.03; 95% CI 1.53-2.68), while no significant relationship was observed between severe ED and CVD events (OR, 1.60; 95% CI 0.91-2.80). Additionally, no statistical association was found between diabetes or prediabetes status and ED. After multivariable adjustments, severe ED was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 1.67; 95% CI 1.16-2.39), while no significant association was observed between severe ED and CVD mortality (HR, 1.92; 95% CI 0.92-3.98). Our study indicates a significant correlation between ED and hyperglycemia status. Hyperglycemia Individuals with ED generally exhibited an unfavorable prognosis for mortality due to all causes and CVD, particularly among those with low levels of physical activity.

UNASSIGNED: Our objective was to examine the factors associated with the serum angiopoietin-2/angiopoietin-1 (Angpt-2/Angpt-1) ratio in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and to investigate the association between Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
UNASSIGNED: Patients on PD who were prevalent between January 2014 and April 2015 in the center of Renji Hospital were enrolled. At the time of enrollment, serum and dialysate samples were collected to detect biochemical parameters, serum angiopoietin-2 and angiopoietin-1 levels. Patients were dichotomized into two groups according to a median of Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio and followed up prospectively until the end of the study.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 325 patients were enrolled, including 168 males (51.7%) with a mean age of 56.9 ± 14.2 years and a median PD duration of 32.4 (9.8-55.9) months. Multiple linear regression showed pulse pressure (β = 0.206, p < .001) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (β = 0.149, p = .011) were positively correlated with serum Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio, while residual renal function (RRF) (β= -0.219, p < .001) was negatively correlated with serum Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the high serum Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio was an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio (HR)=2.467, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.243-4.895, p = .010) and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.486, 95%CI 1.038-2.127, p = .031). In further subgroup analysis by gender, a significant association was shown in high Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio with all-cause mortality in male (p < .05), but not in female patients (p>.05).
UNASSIGNED: High Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in PD patients.

UNASSIGNED: The relationship between the multivariable apnea prediction (MAP) index and lipid levels was examined using a cross-sectional and retrospective study of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2015-2018). A total of 3195 participants with MAP scores were included in the analysis.
UNASSIGNED: The MAP index, an algorithm leveraging sleep apnea symptom frequency, body mass index (BMI), age, and sex, estimates the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We investigated the associations between the MAP index and lipid profiles-specifically, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) -using weighted linear regression and restricted cubic splines (RCS) analysis. Additionally, mediation analysis was conducted to explore the potential mediating role of physical activity on the link between OSA risk, hyperlipidemia, and cardiovascular mortality.
UNASSIGNED: A non-linear relationship was observed between OSA severity and lipid profiles, including elevated levels of TC, increased LDL-C, higher TG, and decreased HDL-C (All p for non-linearity < 0.05). The findings remained consistent across the stratified sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, physical activity served as a mediator in the association between the MAP index and both hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular mortality, accounting for 16.6% and 16.7% of the indirect effects, respectively.
UNASSIGNED: Participants at high risk for OSA demonstrated an increased prevalence of dyslipidemia. Additionally, engagement in physical activity was shown to have beneficial effects on lipid metabolism.

UNASSIGNED: The Serum creatinine/cystatin C ratio (Cr/CysC ratio) is an emerging alternative index for muscle mass loss, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, the association between the Cr/CysC ratio and CVD morbidity and mortality remains unknown.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 11,150 participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were included in this study. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were employed to assess the association between the Cr/CysC ratio and self-reported CVD morbidity. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the Cr/CysC ratio for CVD mortality.
UNASSIGNED: At baseline, 1181 (7.90%) participants had self-reported CVDs. Lower Cr/CysC ratios were found in participants with CVDs (1.18 ± 0.30 vs. 1.05 ± 0.23, p < 0.001). In the multivariable logistic regression model, the Cr/CysC ratio was inversely linked to CVD morbidity (odds ratio: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.52-0.81, p < 0.001, per standard deviation [SD] increase). 997 (8.94%) CVD deaths were documented during a median follow-up of 16.9 years. A higher Cr/CysC ratio was associated with a decreasing risk of CVD mortality (adjusted HR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.46-0.65, p < 0.001, per SD increase).
UNASSIGNED: In NHANES participants, the Cr/CysC ratio had an inverse correlation with CVD morbidity and mortality.