• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.51-66
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether, in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), according to the mode of arrival affect the emergency medical process. Methods: The participants of this study were 118 adult patients (46 patients admitted by emergency medical services (EMS), 48 walk-in patients, and 24 transferred from other hospitals) admitted to the emergency departments at one regional-level medical center who underwent coronary angiography between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. To compare treatment courses, the median values of the following variables were compared among groups: symptom to door time; door to triage time; and door to ECG time. All data were analyzed using SPSS program. Results: Based on the initial assessment at triage, there was a significantly greater proportion of Korean Triage and Acuity Stage (KTAS) Level 1 or 2 among patients admitted by EMS than among walk-in patients. All three analyzed variables were lower in patients admitted by EMS than in the other two groups. Conclusion: Our results show that ACS patients who accessed EMS reached the emergency center faster after symptom onset, received initial triage assessment at earlier stages, and underwent sooner important examinations (i.e., the 12-lead ECG).

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.71-82
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• 2018

Objectives: Areca nut is widely consumed in many parts of the world, especially in South and Southeast Asia, where cardiovascular disease (CVD) is also a huge burden. Among the forms of CVD, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Research has shown areca nut chewing to be associated with diabetes, hypertension, oropharyngeal and esophageal cancers, and CVD, but little is known about mortality and re-hospitalization secondary to ACS among areca nut users and non-users. Methods: A prospective cohort was studied to quantify the effect of areca nut chewing on patients with newly diagnosed ACS by categorizing the study population into exposed and non-exposed groups according to baseline chewing status. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of areca nut chewing with the risk of re-hospitalization and 30-day mortality secondary to ACS. Results: Of the 384 ACS patients, 49.5% (n=190) were areca users. During 1-month of follow-up, 20.3% (n=78) deaths and 25.1% (n=96) re-hospitalizations occurred. A higher risk of re-hospitalization was found (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29 to 3.27; p=0.002) in areca users than in non-users. Moreover, patients with severe disease were at a significantly higher risk of 30-day mortality (aHR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.67 to 4.59; p<0.001) and re-hospitalization (aHR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.73 to 4.26; p<0.001). Conclusions: The 30-day re-hospitalization rate among ACS patients was found to be significantly higher in areca users and individuals with severe disease. These findings suggest that screening for a history of areca nut chewing may help to identify patients at a high risk for re-hospitalization due to secondary events.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.888-898
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine and compare clinical manifestations and predicting factors for treatment-seeking delay among patients <65 and ${\geq}65\;yr$ with first-time acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: A total of 288 patients who were diagnosed with ACS were individually interviewed at C university hospital in G-city from November 2007 to December 2008. Results: Median pre-hospital delays for younger and older patients were 5 and 12 hr, respectively. Younger patients were more likely to be current smokers, heavy drinkers, obese, stressed, and have an unhealthy diet and family history, and to complain of chest pain, left shoulder and arm pain, perspiration, and nausea. Older patients were more likely to have hypertension and diabetes, and to complain syncope and dyspnea. Logistic regression analyses showed that after adjustment for age, gender and education, progressive onset of symptom and no attribution to cardiac problem significantly predicted pre-hospital delay >3 hr in both younger and older patients. Low perceived health status was a significant independent predictor in older patients only. Conclusion: Health care providers should be concerned with different manifestations between younger and older adults, and educate people at risk for heart attack about symptoms and actions to get immediate help.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.220-229
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• 2016

Objectives: The association between educational status and 10-year risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and all-cause mortality was evaluated. Methods: From October 2003 to September 2004, 2172 consecutive ACS patients from six Greek hospitals were enrolled. In 2013 to 2014, a 10-year follow-up (2004-2014) assessment was performed for 1918 participants (participation rate, 88%). Each patient's educational status was classified as low (<9 years of school), intermediate (9 to 14 years), or high (>14 years). Results: Overall all-cause mortality was almost twofold higher in the low-education group than in the intermediate-education and high-education groups (40% vs. 22% and 19%, respectively, p<0.001). Additionally, 10-year recurrent ACS events (fatal and non-fatal) were more common in the low-education group than in the intermediate-education and high-education groups (42% vs. 30% and 35%, p<0.001), and no interactions between sex and education on the investigated outcomes were observed. Moreover, patients in the high-education group were more physically active, had a better financial status, and were less likely to have hypertension, diabetes, or ACS than the participants with the least education (p<0.001); however, when those characteristics and lifestyle habits were accounted for, no moderating effects regarding the relationship of educational status with all-cause mortality and ACS events were observed. Conclusions: A U-shaped association may be proposed for the relationship between ACS prognosis and educational status, with participants in the low-education and high-education groups being negatively affected by other factors (e.g., job stress, depression, or loneliness). Public health policies should be aimed at specific social groups to reduce the overall burden of cardiovascular disease morbidity.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.166-174
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the cardiac knowledge and symptoms recognition between men and women with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: Cross-sectional survey research design and convenience sampling were used in this study. 64 men and 42 women from a university medical center were participated in this study. Data collection were used with self reported questionnaires and medical records. Results: There was no difference in cardiac knowledge by gender. Women marked the higher score in symptoms recognition than men. Significant gender differences were observed in the reports of several symptoms (headache, nausea, palpitation, hand paresthesia, and leg numbness) and with ACS. There was significant correlation between cardiac knowledge and symptom recognition on both men and women. Conclusion: These findings suggest that health care professionals should pay attention to the differences in clinical symptoms between women and men. Furthermore, tailored information about possible symptoms of coronary artery disease according to the patient's gender is needed.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.304-319
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: De-escalation of dual-antiplatelet therapy through dose reduction of prasugrel improved net adverse clinical events (NACEs) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), mainly through the reduction of bleeding without an increase in ischemic outcomes. Whether the benefits of de-escalation are sustained in highly thrombotic conditions such as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is unknown. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of de-escalation therapy in patients with STEMI or non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS). Methods: This is a pre-specified subgroup analysis of the HOST-REDUCE-POLYTECH-ACS trial. ACS patients were randomized to prasugrel de-escalation (5 mg daily) or conventional dose (10 mg daily) at 1-month post-percutaneous coronary intervention. The primary endpoint was a NACE, defined as a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, clinically driven revascularization, stroke, and bleeding events of grade ≥2 Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) criteria at 1 year. Results: Among 2,338 patients included in the randomization, 326 patients were diagnosed with STEMI. In patients with NSTE-ACS, the risk of the primary endpoint was significantly reduced with de-escalation (hazard ratio [HR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-0.89; p=0.006 for de-escalation vs. conventional), mainly driven by a reduced bleeding. However, in those with STEMI, there was no difference in the occurrence of the primary outcome (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.48-2.26; p=0.915; p for interaction=0.271). Conclusions: Prasugrel dose de-escalation reduced the rate of NACE and bleeding, without increasing the rate of ischemic events in NSTE-ACS patients but not in STEMI patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation on pro- and anti-inflammatory markers in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). ACS patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and took medicine during phase II of rehabilitation were recruited for study. Subjects were divided into two groups; exercise group (EX, n=21) and a non-exercise group (non-EX, n=13). Supervised exercise program in hospital consisted of treadmill and bicycle exercise was performed three times per week for 6 weeks. Patients of EX received individual counseling, including knowledge of heart disease, risk factor modification, and physical training. Cardiopulmonary fitness, body composition, and biochemical blood factors were analyzed before and after experiment. There was no significant difference in serum levels of hs-CRP and TGF-${\beta}1$ between groups, and between time intervals. But there was a significant decrease in serum levels of IL-18 (P<.001). And there was a significant increase in ratio of IL-18 to IL-10 (P<.01) and serum levels of IL-10 (P<.001). After cardiac rehabilitation, there was significant increase in exercise duration (P<.001), maximal oxygen uptake ($VO_{2peak}$; P<.001) and decrease in submaximal rate-pressure product (sRPP; P<.05) in EX. In conclusion, exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation during phase II in patients with ACS after PCI decreased serum IL-18 (pro-inflammatory) content and ratio of IL-18 to IL-10 in serum (highly related with disease recurrence), and increased serum IL-10 (anti-inflammatory) content. In addition, it led to improved cardiopulmonary fitness.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.200-208
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• 2015

Objective: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are typically managed with dual antiplatelet therapy of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) and $P2Y_{12}$ receptor inhibitor. In this study, we discussed current and previous antiplatelet therapy guidelines and compared with guidelines of the USA (ACC/AHA), Europe (ESC) and Korea (KSC). Method: This study investigated from ACC/AHA Joint Guidelines (the USA), ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines (Europe) and Korea Society of Interventional Cardiology (Korea) web site, respectively. Results: It is significant that difference between the current and the previous guidelines was integration of terminology from clopidogrel to $P2Y_{12}$ receptor inhibitors since prasugrel and ticagrelor, new antiplatelet drugs, has been added. The other difference was all three guidelines has differences in dose of aspirin. The most notable difference was class of recommendation(COR) in $P2Y_{12}$ receptor inhibitors. ACC/AHA and Korean guidelines recommend clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor with COR IB; whereas, ESC recommend prasugrel and ticagrelor with IB which is higher than clopidogrel with IC. Conclusion: This research addresses important movement to revise the Korean existing guideline recommendations. New Korean antiplatelet therapy guideline should be avoiding obvious differences in ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines and harmonizing international guidelines.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.196-205
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• 2021

Objectives: Bruising is an important side effect of enoxaparin injection. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is used to treat different types of wounds, bone fractures, and bruising in traditional medicine in many countries for centuries. This study aimed to determine the effects of the Comfrey ointment on the bruise size and color following enoxaparin injection. Methods: This double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 80 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The participants were randomly divided into two groups of 40, namely Comfrey and Placebo. Changes in bruise size and color in both groups were assessed daily before and after the intervention. Results: The Comfrey and Placebo groups were homogeneous in demographic and clinical variables. A downward trend was observed in the bruise size in both groups throughout the study. However, the bruise size was smaller in the Comfrey group than the Placebo group on day 2-5 of the intervention. Moreover, there was a significant difference in bruise color between the groups, with a shorter healing course in the Comfrey group. Conclusion: The Comfrey ointment accelerated the healing process of enoxaparin injection-induced bruising in patients with ACS. It is recommended as a safe and simple approach for these patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.70-78
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• 2013

This study was conducted to identify the effects of intake of beta-blocker and aerobic exercise on heart rate recovery (HRR) and exercise capacity after maximal exercise in acute coronary syndrome patients (ACS). Subjects were divided into 4 groups; Beta-blocker-Exercise group (n=10), Beta-blocker group (n=10), Exercise group (n=10), Control group (n=10). Symptom-limited grade exercise test were conducted on subjects pre- and post- 6 week study, to measure maximal heart rate, heart rate at 1 minute and 2 minutes at the recovery stage, maximal oxygen uptake and maximal exercise time. Study resulted in significant improvements in heart rate recovery for BB-Ex group ($17.40{\pm}5.58$ bpm to $26.10{\pm}6.66$ bpm), maximal oxygen uptake for BB-Ex group ($30.46{\pm}8.63$ to $36.33{\pm}8.10$) and Ex group ($29.04{\pm}4.93$ to $34.31{\pm}5.19$), and total exercise time for BB-Ex group ($906.30{\pm}158.57$ to $1018.50{\pm}151.21$), BB group ($805.70{\pm}182.94$ to $897.50{\pm}160.16$) and Ex group ($870.00{\pm}145.63$ to $961.90{\pm}107.29$). Therefore it showed the biggest improvement for heart rate recovery and exercise capacity in acute coronary syndrome patients when both Beta-blocker and aerobic exercise were in effect.