BACKGROUND Evidence about whether white blood cell (WBC) or its subtypes can act as a biomarker to predict the ischemic stroke events in the general population is scanty, particularly in Asian populations. The aim of this study is to establish the predictive ability of total WBC count or subtypes for long-term ischemic stroke events in the cohort population in Taiwan. METHODS The Chin-Shan Co...

BACKGROUND Prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is >10% at age ≥80 years, but the impact of population aging on rates of AF-related ischemic events is uncertain. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied age-specific incidence, outcome, and cost of all AF-related incident strokes and systemic emboli from 2002 to 2012 in the Oxford Vascular Study (OXVASC). We determined time trends in incidence of AF-r...

RATIONALE The risk of recurrence following a stroke or transient ischemic attack is high, especially immediately after the event. HYPOTHESIS Because two antiplatelet agents are superior to one in patients with non-cardioembolic events, more intensive treatment might be even more effective. SAMPLE SIZE ESTIMATES The sample size of 4100 patients will allow a shift to less recurrence, and less...

BACKGROUND Irregular, sporadic episodes of ischemic brain injury are known to occur in sickle cell anemia (SCA), resulting in overt stroke and silent cerebral infarction. Ongoing ischemia in other organs is common in SCA but has never been documented in the brain. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that acute silent cerebral ischemic events (ASCIEs) are frequent and potentially transient. DES...

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to assess in a prospective design whether plaque morphology is associated with risk of ischemic stroke and other cerebrovascular events in subjects with carotid stenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 223 subjects with carotid stenosis (123 with 35% to 49% degree of stenosis, 100 with 50% to 99% stenosis) and 215 control subjects matched by age and sex...

Two hundred forty consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction treated within 48 hours by successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) were analyzed to determine the incidence and predictors of recurrent ischemic events during hospitalization. Thirty-nine patients had recurrent ischemia: 20 patients had chest pain or electrocardiographic changes requiring repeat PTC...

BACKGROUND Tamoxifen is used for breast cancer treatment and has been reported to be beneficial for the cardiovascular system, but it is unclear whether tamoxifen exhibits a favorable cardiovascular effect in Asian patients. METHODS AND RESULTS From January, 1998 to December, 2006, a breast cancer cohort study was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance database. Patients were di...

BACKGROUND We investigated the safety of treatment of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenoses with the Gateway-Wingspan system and its initial effect on prevention of ischemic events. METHODS Twenty-seven cases of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenoses were treated with angioplasty with a Wingspan stent. Location of stenoses, extent of stenoses before and after angioplast...

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic, lifestyle-limiting disease and is an independent predictor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular ischemic events. Despite the recognition that PAD is associated with a marked increase in the risk of ischemic events, this particular manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis is largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. The risk of PAD is markedly inc...