Chonnam National University Hospital Research Team Publishes Paper in European Heart Journal

(From left) Professors Mincheol Kim and Younggeun Ahn, Department of Cardiology, Chonnam National University Hospital.

Chonnam National University Hospital announced on June 8 that a paper by Professors Mincheol Kim and Younggeun Ahn's team from the Department of Cardiology has been published in the globally renowned European Heart Journal.

Professor Mincheol Kim (first author) and Professor Younggeun Ahn (corresponding author) published a paper titled "Prophylactic Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Hemodynamically Non-Significant Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Coronary Plaques in Patients With Diabetes: The PREVENT Trial" in the European Heart Journal.

This study was based on a multicenter, randomized clinical trial investigating prophylactic coronary intervention for stenosis with functionally non-significant but vulnerable plaques. The research compared the two-year clinical outcomes of prophylactic coronary intervention versus medication in diabetic patients who, despite having no hemodynamic flow disturbance, showed severe vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques on coronary imaging.

The research team confirmed that, in both diabetic and non-diabetic patient groups, prophylactic coronary intervention significantly reduced the incidence of cardiac death, target vessel-related myocardial infarction, or hospitalizations due to coronary revascularization or worsening angina associated with ischemic triggers over two years, compared to medication alone.

The team stated, "Prophylactic coronary intervention for lesions containing severely vulnerable plaques has clinical significance, and we look forward to future clinical research results in a broader patient population."

Meanwhile, Professors Mincheol Kim and Younggeun Ahn's team is conducting the world's first randomized 'OPTION-STEMI' study, in collaboration with around 20 major cardiovascular centers nationwide, to determine the optimal timing for non-culprit vessel intervention using fractional flow reserve (FFR) in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease. The results are expected to provide important information for treatment decisions in patients with acute myocardial infarction who have poor prognoses, once they are published.