Dennis T Ko

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..Although guidelines recommend primary care physician (PCP) follow-up for patients who are subsequently discharged, little is known about the relationship between physician follow-up and clinical outcomes...

..The study assessed the appropriateness of coronary revascularization in Ontario, Canada, and examined its association with longer-term outcomes...

..The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of normal saline versus sodium bicarbonate for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy...

..Our main objective was to evaluate the longer-term safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DES) in off-label indications as compared with bare-metal stents (BMS)...

..However, quality indicators for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have not been developed in Canada...

..Recent studies have identified innovative strategies to improve timely access and reduce reperfusion time. Accordingly, the contemporary use of primary PCI treatment in Canada was ascertained...

..Accordingly, we sought to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of DES in diabetic patients...

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..However, previous studies have focused on predicting shorter-term mortality and limited data currently exist to predict expected survival among hospitalized patients with HF...

..The objective of the study was to determine the adherence to thienopyridine therapy after stent implantation, factors associated with suboptimal adherence, and association of suboptimal adherence with mortality...

..Although substantial advances have been made in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, their impact on the rates of ACS hospitalization is unclear...

..The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES) for the treatment of saphenous vein graft (SVG) disease...

..We sought to examine rates of inhospital lipid testing and its association with statin therapy at hospital discharge...

..The incidence of late bleeding after PCI, its independent predictors, and its prognostic importance in clinical practice has not been fully addressed...

..We aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of preprocedural statin therapy in patients with stable CAD undergoing PCI...

..However, limited data exist regarding the pattern of use of rescue percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with STEMI who failed fibrinolysis, factors associated with its use, and its impact on long-term outcomes...

..Most proton pump inhibitors inhibit the bioactivation of clopidogrel to its active metabolite. The clinical significance of this drug interaction is unknown...

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..We therefore studied the long-term effectiveness and safety of sirolimus versus paclitaxel stents overall and stratified by the absence or presence of diabetes...

..It has not been tested in a population outside the United States or among non-STEMI patients...

..Understanding the reasons underlying this mismatch may facilitate improvements in care and outcomes for patients with heart failure...

..We designed this study to extend this observation by examining risk prediction in both men and women presenting to an emergency department with chest discomfort...

..We sought to determine the importance of anticipated benefit and anticipated harm on the use of cardiac catheterization among older patients with AMI...

..It is unknown whether a rising pattern presages a more adverse long-term prognosis than elevations that do not change. The present study assessed whether a rising pattern of cardiac biomarkers was more prognostic than simple elevations...

..Publicly released report cards on hospital performance are increasingly common, but whether they are an effective method for improving quality of care remains uncertain...

..3%, P = .98). CONCLUSION: Patients with heart failure who are hospitalized in the United States had lower short-term mortality at 30 days, but 1-year mortality rates were not significantly different between the United States and Canada...

..Randomized trials have shown that medical and interventional therapies improve outcomes for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. The extent to which hospital quality improvement translates into better patient outcomes is unclear...

..The present study was undertaken to determine if a research hs-cTnI assay can be useful for predicting death/myocardial infarction (MI), both short- and long-term, in an emergency department acute coronary syndrome (ACS) population...

..We conducted a comprehensive study to identify clinical and nonclinical factors associated with variations in the ratio across 17 cardiac centres in the province of Ontario...

..Our objective was to identify the characteristics of patients, physicians, hospitals and communities associated with differences in the use of these medications after discharge...

..To determine if elevations of adhesion molecules in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are useful for risk stratification...

..However, there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of drug-eluting stents, and increasing concern about their safety, in routine clinical practice...

..This information places the care provided by IMGs into perspective and supports the ability of well-selected IMGs in caring for AMI patients...

..Temporal trends in risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the impact of socio-economic status on these risk factors remain unclear...

..We examined recent national trends in mortality and rates of hospital admission for these 3 conditions...

..Our objectives were to compare real-world outcomes of patients with HF treated in HF clinics versus usual therapy and identify HF clinic features associated with improved outcomes...

..We determined if a panel of biomarkers can be used to identify high risk patients...

..Several meta-analyses have evaluated the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared with medical therapy, but none has focused on angina relief...

..The present study examined whether PAPP-A measured in an emergency department (ED) chest pain population in association with conventional and novel high sensitivity cTn (hs-cTnI) assays can predict long-term mortality...

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..We examined trends in the use of evidence-based drug therapies after discharge among elderly patients with myocardial infarction...

..We sought to describe the adoption of ezetimibe relative to that of other lipid-lowering agents and compare its use in the two countries...

..Guidelines recommend that noncardiac surgery be delayed until 30 to 45 days after bare-metal stent implantation and 1 year after drug-eluting stent implantation...

..There are no life-tables quantifying the average life-spans of post-hospitalized heart failure populations across various strata of risk...

..The extent to which better spending produces higher-quality care and better patient outcomes in a universal health care system with selective access to medical technology is unknown...

..Although New York State (NYS) historically has had twice as many coronary revascularizations performed as Ontario, the relative evolution of coronary revascularization patterns in both jurisdictions over time is unknown...

..Troponin level elevations are common in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), yet their prognostic value above and beyond traditional predictors of outcomes in heart failure is uncertain...

..However, variations in outcomes suggest that assurance of optimal outcomes at each PCI centre without on-site surgery is needed...

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..These findings highlight the need for more careful patient selection when prescribing spironolactone to minimize potential life-threatening hyperkalemia...

..To determine if a cytokine panel could be informative regarding subsequent heart failure(HF)/death...

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..The health outcomes were based on the WHO definition and occurred in an era that preceded the use of cardiac troponin biomarkers...

..g., N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)] for predicting HF and death in an ACS population...

..This information should alleviate concerns about prescribing this life-saving therapy to patients with HF...

..The target audience is health service researchers without an advanced statistical background...

..In its current form, however, it cannot be used in economic evaluations. The investigators sought to create a mapping algorithm that would allow translation of SAQ scores into EQ-5D utility scores...

..We undertook this initiative to develop an updated set of evidence-based indicators to measure and improve the quality of care for this patient population...

..Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a devastating complication of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The optimal strategy for the primary prevention of SCD in HCM remains controversial...

..Since the benefits of a therapy are dependent on the baseline risk, the maximum benefits of statins may not be fully realized until implementation of therapy includes patients at highest risk...

..The risks of these adverse effects should be put in the context of the documented benefits of these medications...

..Appropriately selected octogenarians with abnormal vasodilator SPECT imaging may benefit from more aggressive management of their cardiac disease...

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..To assess the ability of C-reactive protein (CRP) to predict long-term outcomes in a chest pain population...

..CONCLUSIONS: Among HF patients in sinus rhythm, higher LVEFs were associated with a linear decrease in mortality up to an LVEF of 45%. However, increases above 45% were not associated with further reductions in mortality...