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The aim of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of a management model to reduce hospitalizations in patients recently admitted for acute decompensated heart failure.The management model was based on a close integration between hospital and territory health services. Clinical evaluation, ECG, echocardiographic findings, total body bioimpedance and brain natriuretic peptide serum levels were used to assess clinical stability of patients at discharge and during follow-up. A dedicated nurse (care manager) was involved in patient empowerment, telephone follow-up, check of adherence to therapy and clinical conditions, and management of scheduled evaluations. All hospitalizations occurring prior to or after enrolment in the municipalities involved in the study were considered, as well as the hospitalizations occurring among enrolled patients.A total of 301 patients were enrolled, 226 of them from the Centers of the Puglia Region, Italy. An overall reduction of 6% in total hospitalizations with DRG 127 was observed; the reduction was most evident in the two centers with the smaller reference population (-16% and -26%, respectively). In the group of patients enrolled, an overall reduction in hospital admissions was observed after comparing the period before and after enrolment. A significant increase in the prescription rate of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and aldosterone antagonists was also observed. Finally, an overall reduction in the costs for patient management was demonstrated. Similar results were obtained in the two additional Centers of the Basilicata and Lazio Regions.An integrated management between hospital and territory allows optimization of the management of heart failure patients, with improvement of therapy and reduction in hospitalizations and management costs.

The aim of our study was to assess the possible role of a prognostic index based on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in a large cohort of patients with recent myocardial infarction.The study population included 1335 consecutive patients admitted for ST elevation myocardial infarction and discharged alive from 48 Italian hospitals participating in the multicentric IMPRESSIVE (Infarto Miocardico, Pressione arteriosa e frequenza cardiaca. Studio Italiano di Valutazione Epidemiologica) study. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed 3 weeks after discharge, with a clinical follow-up of 12 months. End-points included cardiac death and new admission for heart failure. A prognostic index was obtained from the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring variables according to the formula: (220-age)-mean 24 h heart rate (m24hHR)+mean 24 h diastolic blood pressure (m24hDBP).Among many potential predictors only left-ventricular ejection fraction, creatinine levels, Killip class and the prognostic index were independently associated with events during the follow-up. In particular, higher values of the prognostic index were associated with a lower incidence of events, with an odds ratio of 0.958 (95% confidence intervals 0.943-0.974) and a 4% reduction in risk for each point of the prognostic index. Overall incidence of cardiac events was 6-fold higher in patients within the lowest quartile of the prognostic index (or =148) compared with the other three quartiles (12 vs. 2, 1.4 and 2% respectively in the other three quartiles; P0.0001).A simple prognostic index based on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and age may be a useful tool in predicting cardiac death and heart failure in patients with recent myocardial infarction.

Background Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a risk marker for stroke and its regression confers protection from stroke. The relationship between serial LVH changes and risk of stroke has never been investigated in a mixed population of hypertensive subjects with and without LVH. Methods In this study, 880 initially untreated hypertensive subjects (mean age 48 years, office blood pressure (BP) 155/98 mm Hg; 24-h BP 137/87 mm Hg) underwent tests including echocardiography and 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring at entry and after a median of 3.5 years, still in the absence of cardiovascular events. Results Months or years after the follow-up study, 34 of these subjects developed a first cerebrovascular event (stroke in 21, transient ischemic attack in 13). Event rate (× 100 patients per year) was 0.25 among the subjects who never developed echocardiographic LVH or with regression of LVH, versus 1.16 among the subjects with lack of regression or new development of LVH (log-rank test: P = .00001). Serial electrocardiogram (ECG) changes failed to define groups at different risk. In a Cox analysis, the risk of cerebrovascular events was 2.8 times higher (95% CI: 1.18–6.69) in the subset with lack of regression or new development of LVH than in that with LVH regression or persistently normal LV mass. Such effect was independent of age (P = .001) and 24-h systolic BP (P = .003). Conclusions In a mixed hypertensive population with and without LVH at entry, serial changes in the echocardiographic indexes of LVH predict subsequent cerebrovascular events independently of office and ambulatory BP and other individual risk factors.

The aim of this study was to assess the 10-year cardiovascular risk categories using risk chart, recently set up by the National Institute of Health in the population examined by the Cardiovascular Epidemiologic Observatory.3745 men and 3664 women aged 40-69 years were classified into five risk categories (5 %; 5-10%; 10-15%; 15-20%;or = 20%) taking into account age, smoking habit, history of diabetes, systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol and excluding those already under treatment for hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia or experienced a previous major cardiovascular event (1937 persons: 955 men, 982 women).Proportion of people estimated at risk in 10 yearsor = 20% is minimal in the youngest age range, increases in adulthood, duplicates in smokers and is higher in diabetics. In non-diabetic men that proportion varies between 3.4% in non-smokers and 5.6% in smokers. All women at risk are already under specific treatment.Cardiovascular Epidemiologic Observatory data allowed to assess the expected proportion of individuals at risk in 10 yearsor = 20%. Besides attention to high-risk individuals, preventive measures supporting a healthier lifestyle in the general population must be adopted, considering that it will produce the greatest number of events.

Type 2 diabetes is the most frequent form of diabetes in the adult population and is associated with an increasing risk of cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and the state of control in an Italian population sample examined within the Osservatorio Epidemiologico Cardiovascolare study.The sample of this study consisted in 8972 subjects, men and women aged 35-74 years. A fasting capillary blood glucoseor = 126 mg/dl or being on antidiabetic treatment were the criteria used to define diabetes, while a fasting capillary blood glucose140 mg/dl was considered to represent effective treatment (controlled diabetes) in treated patients.Diabetes was present in 8.4% of men and 6% in women. The prevalence of glucose intolerance was 8.2% in men and 4.3% in women. Only 50.7% of diabetic men and 56.5% of diabetic women knew about their disease; among these people, 21% was on treatment with oral antidiabetics and/or insulin. Such a therapy was effective in 39.5% of the treated cases.The prevalence of diabetes as well as glucose intolerance was greater in men and in the regions of the Center and South of Italy. The state of control of diabetes cannot be considered satisfactory; women and older age groups, when prevention strategies are less important, appear to be under better care.

We followed 1,778 subjects (up to 12 years) with essential hypertension who underwent echocardiography at the time of their initial diagnostic workup. There were 166 major cardiovascular events during follow-up and the prognostic value of the midwall shortening fraction did not remain significant after controlling for left ventricular mass.

The relation between blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular (LV) systolic function in systemic hypertension is controversial. We assessed the relation of LV midwall fractional shortening (FS) to 24-hour BP in 1,702 never-treated hypertensive subjects (age 48 +/- 12 years), who underwent 24-hour BP monitoring and echocardiography. Stress-corrected endocardial and midwall FS (the latter calculated taking into account the epicardial migration of midwall during systole) were predicted in hypertensives on the basis of the values observed in 130 healthy normotensives (age 43 +/- 13 years, office BP 126/78 mm Hg). Subjects below the fifth percentile of observed-to-predicted FS had depressed LV function. The use of midwall FS resulted in an increase from 3.5% to 17.5% in the proportion of patients with depressed chamber function. Compared with the group with normal function, subjects with low midwall LV function had similar office systolic BP (155 +/- 21 vs 154 +/- 17 mm Hg), but increased 24-hour systolic BP (140 +/- 17 vs 133 +/- 12 mm Hg, p0.001). Midwall FS had a closer negative relation to 24-hour systolic BP than to office systolic BP (r = -0.27 vs -0.08, p0.001), whereas this difference was not apparent for diastolic BP (r = -0.23 vs -0.20). Compared with endocardial FS, midwall FS had a stronger inverse association to LV mass (r = -0.45 vs -0.16, p0.001). Thus, an increased 24-hour BP load may chronically lead to depressed myocardial function in systemic hypertension in the absence of clinically overt heart disease.

Abstract —A wide pulse pressure (PP) is a marker of increased artery stiffness and high cardiovascular (CV) risk. To investigate the prognostic value of ambulatory PP, which is currently unknown, we studied 2010 initially untreated subjects with uncomplicated essential hypertension (mean age, 51.7 years; 52% men). All subjects underwent baseline procedures including 24-hour noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring. The mean duration of follow-up was 3.8 years (range, 0 to 11 years), and CV morbidity and mortality were the outcome measures. There were 200 major CV events (2.61 per 100 person-years), 36 of which were fatal (0.47 per 100 person-years). In the 3 tertiles of the distribution of office PP, the rate of total CV events (per 100 persons per year) was 1.38, 2.12, and 4.34, respectively, and that of fatal events was 0.12, 0.30, and 1.07 (log-rank test, both P P P P P

Previous studies revealed a direct association between resting heart rate and risk of mortality in essential hypertension. However, resting heart rate is a highly variable measure since it is affected by the alerting reaction to the visit.To investigate whether the heart rate values recorded during the 24 h of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring are independent predictors of survival of uncomplicated subjects with essential hypertension.We followed up 1942 initially untreated and uncomplicated subjects with essential hypertension (mean age 51.7 years, 52% men) for an average of 3.6 years (range 0-10 years). All subjects underwent baseline procedures including 24 h non-invasive blood pressure monitoring with simultaneous assessment of heart rate, one reading every 15 min for 24 h.All-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity.During follow-up there were 74 deaths from all causes (1.06 per 100 person-years) and 182 total (fatal plus non-fatal) cardiovascular morbid events (2.66 per 100 person-years). Clinic, average 24 h, daytime and night-time heart rates exhibited no association with total mortality. However, the subjects who subsequently died had had a blunted reduction of heart rate on going from day to night during the baseline examination. After adjustment for age (P0.001), diabetes (P0.001) and average 24 h systolic blood pressure (SBP, P= 0.002) in a Cox model, for each 10% less reduction in the heart rate from day to night the relative risk of mortality was 1.30 (95% confidence interval 1.02-1.65, P = 0.04). Rates of death were 0.38, 0.71, 0.94 and 2.0 per 100 person-years among subjects in the four quartiles of the distribution of the percentage reduction in heart rate from day to night The baseline day-night changes in the heart rate exhibited an inverse correlation to age and to clinic and ambulatory SBP and a direct association with the day-night changes in blood pressure. The degree of reduction of heart rate from day to night also had an independent inverse association with total cardiovascular morbidity after adjustment for age, diabetes and left ventricular hypertrophy, but this association did not remain significant when average 24 h SBP and the degree of day-night reduction in SBP were entered into the equation.A flattened diurnal rhythm of heart rate in uncomplicated subjects with essential hypertension is a marker of risk for subsequent all-cause mortality and this association persists after adjustment for several risk factors. For assessing these subjects, a limited and uniformly distributed period of ambulatory heart rate recording during the 24 h is clinically valuable.

In a prospective study blood pressure was recorded for 20 years in 132 white patients with congenital blindness and in 138 white control schoolchildren. The subjects for both groups were consecutively enrolled without any selection parameters. During the study period a similar proportion of blind patients and controls reported identical consumption of tobacco (above the age of 14 years) and of oral contraceptives (above 21 years) among women. Mean 24-h urinary sodium excretion, collected randomly in both groups, did not differ between the blind patients and the controls. During the 20-year period systolic and diastolic blood pressure rose with age in the control group as expected and much less in blind patients; after 14-17 years the difference was statistically significant. The mean slope of the regression line (beta coefficient) for systolic blood pressure versus age was 1.143 in the blind patients and 1.794 in the controls (P less than 0.001), and for diastolic blood pressure 0.908 in the patients and 1.353 in the school children (P less than 0.001). The mean weight and body mass index increased more in the blind patients than in the controls (difference 5.9 and 2.8 kg, respectively). The results support the hypothesis that low visual and cognitive stress levels determine a lower level of cardiovascular reactivity with ageing.