Pooled analyses of available randomized controlled trials suggest that CoQ₁₀ may improve the EF in patients with CHF. Additional well-designed studies that include more diverse populations are needed.

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Background— Obesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Early prediction of obesity is essential for prevention. The aim of this study is to assess the use of childhood clinical factors and the genetic risk factors in predicting adulthood obesity using machine learning methods. Methods and Results— A total of 2262 participants from the Cardiovascular Risk in YFS (Young Finns Study) were followed up from childhood (age 3–18 years) to adulthood for 31 years. The data were divided into training (n=1625) and validation (n=637) set. The effect of known genetic risk factors (97 single-nucleotide polymorphisms) was investigated as a weighted genetic risk score of all 97 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (WGRS97) or a subset of 19 most significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (WGRS19) using boosting machine learning technique. WGRS97 and WGRS19 were validated using external data (n=369) from BHS (Bogalusa Heart Study). WGRS19 improved the accuracy of predicting adulthood obesity in training (area under the curve [AUC=0.787 versus AUC=0.744, P <0.0001) and validation data (AUC=0.769 versus AUC=0.747, P =0.026). WGRS97 improved the accuracy in training (AUC=0.782 versus AUC=0.744, P <0.0001) but not in validation data (AUC=0.749 versus AUC=0.747, P =0.785). Higher WGRS19 associated with higher body mass index at 9 years and WGRS97 at 6 years. Replication in BHS confirmed our findings that WGRS19 and WGRS97 are associated with body mass index. Conclusions— WGRS19 improves prediction of adulthood obesity. Predictive accuracy is highest among young children (3–6 years), whereas among older children (9–18 years) the risk can be identified using childhood clinical factors. The model is helpful in screening children with high risk of developing obesity.

US women more often receive invasive treatment for HCC (especially resection) than US men with no observed disparity in transplantation rates when adjusted for pre-treatment variables.

Pre-hypertension and hypertension in childhood are defined by sex-, age- and height-specific 90th (or ≥120/80 mmHg) and 95th percentiles of blood pressure (BP), respectively, by the 2004 Fourth Report. However, these cut-offs are complex and cumbersome for use. This study assessed the performance of a simplified BP definition to predict adult hypertension and subclinical cardiovascular disease. The cohort consisted of 1,225 adults (530 males, aged 26.3–47.7 years) from the Bogalusa Heart Study with 27.1 years follow-up since childhood. We used 110/70 and 120/80 mmHg for children (age 6–11 years), and 120/80 and 130/85 mmHg for adolescents (age 12–17 years) as the simplified definition of childhood pre-hypertension and hypertension, respectively, to compare with the 2004 Fourth Report (the complex definition). Adult carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and left ventricular mass were measured using digital ultrasound instruments. Compared to normal BP, childhood hypertensives diagnosed by the simplified definition and the complex definition were both at higher risk of adult hypertension with hazard ratio=3.1 (95% confidence interval=1.8–5.3) by the simplified definition and 3.2 (2.0–5.0) by the complex definition, high PWV with 3.5 (1.7–7.1) and 2.2 (1.2–4.1), high CIMT with 3.1 (1.7–5.6) and 2.0 (1.2–3.6), and left ventricular hypertrophy with 3.4 (1.7–6.8) and 3.0 (1.6–5.6). The results were confirmed by reclassification or receiver operating curve analyses. The simplified childhood BP definition predicts the risk of adult hypertension and subclinical cardiovascular disease equally as the complex definition does, which could be useful for screening hypertensive children to reduce risk of adult cardiovascular disease.