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Introduction and Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the potential of adhering to the American Heart Association's updated Life's Essential 8 (LE8) scores in delaying biological aging amid growing concerns about aging populations and related diseases., Methods: A total of 18 261 adults (≥ 20 years old) were examined using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2005-2010 and 2015-2018. The LE8 includes 8 components, covering health behaviors and factors. Acceleration of biological aging was defined as an excess of biological/phenotypic age over chronological age, assessed by using clinical biomarkers. The association between LE8 score and biological aging was explored through regression analyses., Results: Each 10-point increase in LE8 scores was associated with a 1.19-year decrease in biological age and a 1.63-year decrease in phenotypic age. Individuals with high cardiovascular health (CVH) had a 90% reduction in their risk of accelerated aging based on biological age and an 81% reduction based on phenotypic age compared with individuals with low CVH. Bootstrap-based model estimates and weighted quantile sum regression suggested that health factors, particularly blood glucose, had strong impact on delaying aging. The association between smoking and biological aging seemed to differ depending on the definition of aging used. Among all subgroups, LE8 consistently correlated negatively with biological aging, despite observed interactions. Three sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of our conclusions., Conclusions: A higher CVH is associated with a lower risk of biological aging. Maintaining elevated LE8 levels across demographics, regardless of cardiovascular history, is recommended to delay aging and promote healthy aging, with significant implications for primary health care., (Copyright © 2024 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Sudden cardiac death is the most common medical cause of death during the practice of sports. Several structural and electrical cardiac conditions are associated with sudden cardiac death in athletes, most of them showing abnormal findings on resting electrocardiogram (ECG). However, because of the similarity between some ECG findings associated with physiological adaptations to exercise training and those of certain cardiac conditions, ECG interpretation in athletes is often challenging. Other factors related to ECG findings are race, age, sex, sports discipline, training intensity, and athletic background. Specific training and experience in ECG interpretation in athletes are therefore necessary. Since 2005, when the first recommendations of the European Society of Cardiology were published, growing scientific evidence has increased the specificity of ECG standards, thus lowering the false-positive rate while maintaining sensitivity. New international consensus guidelines have recently been published on ECG interpretation in athletes, which are the result of consensus among a group of experts in cardiology and sports medicine who gathered for the first time in February 2015 in Seattle, in the United States. The document is an important milestone because, in addition to updating the standards for ECG interpretation, it includes recommendations on appropriate assessment of athletes with abnormal ECG findings. The present article reports and discusses the most novel and relevant aspects of the new standards. Nevertheless, a complete reading of the original consensus document is highly recommended., (Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, coronary computed tomography angiography has become an increasingly safe and noninvasive modality for the evaluation of the anatomical structure of the coronary artery tree with diagnostic benefits especially in patients with a low-to-intermediate pretest probability of disease. Currently, increasing evidence from large randomized diagnostic trials is accumulating on the diagnostic impact of computed tomography angiography for the management of patients with acute and stable chest pain syndrome. At the same time, technical advances have substantially reduced adverse effects and limiting factors, such as radiation exposure, the amount of iodinated contrast agent, and scanning time, rendering the technique appropriate for broader clinical applications. In this work, we review the latest developments in computed tomography technology and describe the scientific evidence on the use of cardiac computed tomography angiography to evaluate patients with acute and stable chest pain syndrome., (Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)