Clinical trial: Circulating Non-coding RNAs and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerosis (NCT03279770)

Eligibility criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

          1. Dyslipidemia: Total cholesterol (TC) >200 mg/dL; LDL-C > 130 mg/dL ; TG > 200 mg/dL;
             male HDL-C < 40 mg/dL, female HDL-C < 50 mg/dL, or under lipid lowering therapy

          2. Atherosclerotic vascular disease:

               1. Coronary atherosclerosis as evidenced by cardiac catheterization examination,
                  having history of myocardial infarction as evidenced by ECG or hospitalization,
                  angina patient showing ischemic ECG changes or positive response to stress test;

               2. Cerebral vascular disease, cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage
                  (excluding intracerebral hemorrhage associated with other diseases); transient
                  ischemic attack (TIA) with carotid artery ultrasound confirming atheromatous
                  change with more than 70% blockage;

               3. Peripheral atherosclerosis with symptoms of ischemia and confirmed by Doppler
                  ultrasound or angiography in history.

          3. Control subjects: Age, gender-matched healthy adults without dyslipidemia and
             atherosclerotic diseases will be recruited as control subjects.

        Exclusion Criteria The main exclusion criteria will be hemodynamically significant valvular
        or congenital heart disease, life-threatening malignancy, treatment with immunosuppressive
        agents, or any condition or situation which, in the opinion of the investigator, might be
        not suitable for this registration.
No condition on gender to be admitted to the trial.
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Subject must be at least 20 Years old.


Patient description (medical language): A 67-year-old woman comes to the clinic due to recent episode of choking, dysphagia, and cough.  Her other medical problems include hypertension, dyslipidemia, and osteoarthritis.  She does not smoke or use alcohol. She lives with her husband and she is able to do her own daily activities. She used to teach elementary school. Blood pressure is 135/80 mm Hg.  The patient's breath smells bad. Other physical examinations are normal.  A barium swallow study reveals an abnormality in the upper esophagus with an outpouching at the junction of the lower part of the throat and the upper portion of the esophagus.

Patient description (patient's own words): I'm a 67-year-old lady, and I went to the clinic due to nonstop choking, difficulty swallowing, and coughing. I also suffer from hypertension, cholesterol, and osteoarthritis. I do not smoke or drink alcohol. I live with my husband, and we are independent retired elementary school teachers. During the exam, my blood pressure was 135/80 mm Hg. The doctor told me I had a smelly breath. How embarrassing! The rest of my physical exam was normal. I did a barium swallow test, which is an X-ray of my throat, which revealed a problem in the upper part of my esophagus, where there's a small pouch or bulge at the spot where my throat meets the esophagus.

Does the patient match the trial criteria? Entailment