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Background: High-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) has been proposed as a marker of incident cardiovascular disease and vascular mortality, and may also be a marker of non-vascular mortality. However, most evidence comes from either North American or European cohorts. The present proposal aims to investigate the association of hsCRP with the risk of all-cause mortality in a multiethnic Brazilian population., Methods: Baseline data (2008-2010) of a cohort of 14 238 subjects participating in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health were used. hsCRP was assayed with immunochemistry. The association of baseline covariates with all-cause mortality was calculated by Cox regression for univariate model and adjusted for different confounders after a mean follow-up of 8.0±1.1 years. The final model was adjusted for age, sex, self-rated race/ethnicity, schooling, health behaviours and prevalent chronic disease., Results: The risk of death increased steadily by quartiles of hsCRP, from 1.45 (95% CI 1.05 to 2.01) in quartile 2 to 1.95 (95% CI 1.42 to 2.69) in quartile 4, compared with quartile 1. Furthermore, the persistence of a significant graded association after the exclusion of deaths in the first year of follow-up suggests that these results are unlikely to be due to reverse causality. Finally, the HR was unaffected by the exclusion of participants who had self-reported medical history of diabetes, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease., Conclusions: Our study shows that hsCRP level is associated with mortality in a highly admixed population, independent of a large set of lifestyle and clinical variables., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are an essential examination for identification and management of cardiovascular emergencies.The aim of this study was to report on the frequency and recognition of cardiovascular emergencies in primary care units., Design and Setting: Observational retrospective study assessing consecutive patients whose digital ECGs were sent for analysis to the team of the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais., Methods: Data from patients diagnosed with cardiological emergencies in the primary care setting of 750 municipalities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, between March and September 2015, were collected via telephone contact with the healthcare practitioner who performed the ECG. After collection, the data were subjected to statistical analysis., Results: Over the study period, 304 patients with cardiovascular emergencies were diagnosed within primary care. Only 73.4% of these were recognized by the local physicians. Overall, the most frequent ECG abnormalities were acute ischemic patterns (44.7%) and the frequency of such patterns was higher among the ECGs assigned as emergency priority (P = 0.03). It was possible to obtain complete information on 231 patients (75.9%). Among these, the mean age was 65 ± 14.4 years, 57.1% were men and the most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension (68.4%). In total, 77.9% were referred to a unit caring for cases of higher complexity and 11.7% of the patients died., Conclusion: In this study, cardiovascular emergencies were misdiagnosed in primary care settings, acute myocardial ischemia was the most frequent emergency and the mortality rate was high.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Objectives: To investigate whether life course exposure to adverse socioeconomic positions (SEP) as well as maintaining a low SEP or decreasing the SEP intra- and intergeneration was associated with an increased 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk predicted by the Framingham Risk Score., Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data (2008-2010) of 13,544 active workers from ELSA-Brasil cohort. Maternal education, leg length, social class of first occupation and education were used to evaluate childhood, youth and adulthood SEP., Results: After considering adulthood SEP, exposure to early-life low SEP remained associated with an increased 10-year CVD risk. The 10-year CVD risk also rose as the number of exposures to low SEP throughout life increased. Compared to individuals in high-stable intragenerational trajectory, those in upward, downward, or stable low trajectory presented higher 10-year CVD risk. Increasing individuals' SEP over generation showed no increased risk of 10-year CVD risk compared to individuals in high-stable trajectory., Conclusions: Childhood may be a critical period for exposures to social adversities. Life course low SEP may also affect the 10-year CVD risk via accumulation of risk and social mobility.

Background: Although increasing effort has been devoted to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle such as leisure time physical activity for cardio-metabolic health, specific evidence supporting health policy remains sparse, particularly in those ethnically diverse populations where cardio-metabolic diseases are reaching epidemic proportion and yet are grossly understudied., Methods and Results: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from 10 585 participants aged 35 to 74 free of cardiovascular diseases in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health. Leisure time physical activity status was defined by the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization recommendations (≥150 min/week moderate activities or 75 min/week vigorous activities). In total, 1183 (21%) women and 1387 (29%) men were active. After accounting for covariates, the favorable effects of leisure time physical activity on cardio-metabolic parameters were evident. Specifically, the average blood pressure, heart rate, and Framingham Risk Score for cardiovascular diseases of the active were significantly lower within each sex. The ORs comparing the active versus the inactive women were 0.78 (95% CI: 0.66-0.92) for hypertension and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.65-0.93) for cardiovascular diseases in 10 years. Among men, the ORs were 0.75 (95% CI: 0.65-0.87) for hypertension and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.61-0.87) for diabetes. The 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases was significantly lower among the active men with a 33% reduction (OR=0.67, 95% CI: 0.57-0.78)., Conclusions: We observed beneficial effects of leisure time physical activity on cardio-metabolic health in this large Brazilian population that are consistent with studies in North America and Europe., (© 2016 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.)

Brazil is a large country, with an evolving economy, but marked social inequalities. The population is formed by an admixture of native Brazilians, Europeans, and Africans; is predominantly urban; and faces rapid aging. Time trends related to health behaviors show a substantial reduction in smoking rates, but a rising prevalence of overweight and obesity, unhealthy eating habits, and insufficient physical activity. The high prevalence of hypertension and the increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus are also causes for concern. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the leading cause of mortality since the 1960s and has accounted for a substantial percentage of all hospitalizations. In 2011, CVD was responsible for 31% of all deaths, with ischemic heart disease (31%) and cerebrovascular diseases (30%) being the leading CVD causes. Despite an increase in the overall number of CVD deaths, the age-adjusted mortality rates for CVD declined 24% between 2000 and 2011. Health care delivered by Brazil's universal public health system, which focuses on primary prevention, has contributed to this achievement. However, the decline in age-adjusted mortality differs according to race, sex, and socioeconomic status with black individuals and lower-income populations sustaining the greatest impact of CVD, especially at younger ages. With one of the world's largest public health systems in terms of population coverage, Brazil has the means to implement actions to confront the high burden of CVD, focusing on health promotion and comprehensive care. Insufficient funding, low education levels, and social inequalities remain as the main barriers to be overcome., (© 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Background: The efficacy of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) therapy has already been established in clinical trials but their effectiveness in several clinical settings remains undetermined. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of ICD and CRT-D therapies within the Brazilian National Health System (SUS)., Methods: All patients who underwent ICD or CRT-D implantation within the SUS from 2001 to 2007 were included in the study. We compared estimated Kaplan-Meier survival curves using the Peto's test. Prognostic factors were selected using Cox's models., Results: There were included 3,295 patients in the ICD group and 681 patients in the CRT-D group. Cardiac causes accounted for 79% of all deaths in both groups and Chagas' heart disease accounted for 31% of these deaths. In the CRT-D group, survival significantly decreased around the fourth year of follow-up, with a decrease from 59.5% to 38.3% in 5.5 months. Transvenous implantation technique was used in 62% of CRT-D patients. In-hospital case-fatality rates were higher in those undergoing surgical implantation (5.3%) than those undergoing transvenous implantation (1.6%) (p = 0.02)., Conclusions: The results show that short-term, medium-term and long-term effectiveness of ICD therapy appears to be similar to that evidenced in clinical trials. In the CRT-D group, in-hospital case-fatality and 30-day case-fatality were higher than those reported in other studies. Surgical epicardial implantation technique was performed in this group at a higher frequency than that reported in the literature and was associated with poorer short-term prognosis.

Background: Vascular dysfunction is an early expression of atherosclerosis and predicts cardiovascular (CV) events. Peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) evaluates basal pulse amplitude (BPA), endothelial function (PAT ratio), and wave reflection (PAT-AIx) in the digital microvessels. In Brazilian adults, we investigated the correlations of PAT responses to CV risk factors and to carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a measure of arterial stiffness., Methods and Results: In a cross-sectional study, 1535 participants of the ELSA-Brasil cohort underwent PAT testing (52±9 years; 44% women). In multivariable analyses, more-impaired BPA and PAT ratios were associated with male sex, higher body mass index (BMI), and total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein. Higher age and triglycerides were related to higher BPA, whereas lower systolic blood pressure, hypertension (HTN) treatment, and prevalent CV disease (CVD) were associated with lower PAT ratio. PAT-AIx correlated positively with female sex, advancing age, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and smoking and inversely to heart rate, height, BMI, and prevalent CVD. Black race was associated with lower BPA, higher PAT ratio, and PAT-AIx. Microvessel vasodilator function was not associated with PWV. Higher PAT-AIx was modestly correlated to higher PWV and PAT ratio and inversely correlated to BPA., Conclusion: Metabolic risk factors are related to impaired microvessel vasodilator function in Brazil. However, in contrast to studies from the United States, black race was not associated with an impaired microvessel vasodilator response, implying that vascular function may vary by race across populations. PAT-AIx relates to HTN, may be a valid measure of wave reflection, and provides distinct information from arterial stiffness., (© 2014 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.)

Objective: Increases in resting-state heart rate and decreases in its variability are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, yet contradictory findings have been reported for the effects of the mood and anxiety disorders and of antidepressants. The authors investigated heart rate and heart rate variability in a large cohort from Brazil, using propensity score weighting, a relatively novel method, to control for numerous potential confounders., Method: A total of 15,105 participants were recruited in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health. Mood and anxiety disorders were ascertained using the Portuguese version of the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised. Heart rate and its variability were extracted from 10-minute resting-state electrocardiograms. Regressions weighted by propensity scores were carried out to compare participants with and without depressive or anxiety disorders, as well as users and non-users of antidepressants, on heart rate and heart rate variability., Results: Use of antidepressants was associated with increases in heart rate and decreases in its variability. Effects were most pronounced for the tricyclic antidepressants (Cohen's d, 0.72-0.81), followed by serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (Cohen's d, 0.42-0.95) and other antidepressants (Cohen's d, 0.37-0.40), relative to participants not on antidepressants. Only participants with generalized anxiety disorder showed robust, though small, increases in heart rate and decreases in its variability after propensity score weighting., Conclusions: The findings may, in part, underpin epidemiological findings of increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Many factors that have an adverse impact on cardiac activity were controlled for in this study, highlighting the importance of cardiovascular risk reduction strategies. Further study is needed to examine whether, how, and when such effects contribute to morbidity and mortality.

The modern definition of Global Health has expanded its scope beyond neglected diseases and low-income and underdeveloped countries. The current initiatives focus on improvement of health, reduction of disparities and protection against global threats, seeking for interaction with health practices, policies and systems. There has been a growing interest on Global Health research, given the epidemiological transition currently underway in low and mid-income countries and the increasing epidemiological importance of cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases, to the detriment of infectious diseases and nutritional deficiencies. Various aspects-formerly neglected-of these diseases, such as epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis and therapy, have been addressed in Global Health publications, leading to a better understanding of the importance of health as a public good, beyond borders. Scientific evidence supports broader initiatives in which governments, foundations and the civil society must share responsibilities and funding to achieve health equity, the main goal of Global Health., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Objective: To investigate associations between metabolic syndrome (MS) and 24-hour blood pressure parameters as a measure of cardiovascular risk (CVR)., Subjects and Methods: 136 hypertensive subjects, of both sexes, aged between 29 and 83 years were studied. CVR was defined as having at least three of the following conditions: 1) systolic/diastolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 140/90 mmHg, absence/attenuation of nighttime fall in BP during sleep, pulse pressure (PP) ≥ 53 mmHg; 2) 24-h PP > 53 mmHg, 3) nighttime PP > 53 mmHg, 4) daytime PP > 53 mmHg and 5) nighttime fall in BP during sleep., Results: The 24-h PP, daytime PP and nighttime PP were elevated in 54% of the population. Hypertriglyceridemia (52%), low HDL (72.8%), abdominal obesity (60.3%), MS (58.1%), dyslipidemia (88.8%), overweight (74.3%) and obesity (33.8%) were also elevated. Age-adjusted MS was associated with higher CVR (OR = 4.5 and 3.6), 24-h PP (OR = 2.3 and 4.7), and daytime PP (OR = 2.2 and 4.6)., Conclusions: MS was highly prevalent and correlated with altered 24-hour blood pressure parameters.

Objective: To evaluate psychometric validity and reliability properties of the CARDIOSATIS-Team scale and measure physician satisfaction before and after the implementation of the project. This scale was designed to evaluate physician satisfaction with the healthcare delivered for cardiovascular diseases in cities that participate in a telemedicine system., Methods: The scale was applied in 82 cities of Minas Gerais, before and after the implementation of a telecardiology system. The analysis of the psychometric properties of CARDIOSATIS-Team scale included: construct validity using factorial analysis; internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's Alpha; Pearson's correlation between items; Spearman's correlation between domains and global scale and; discriminant analysis., Results: The factor analysis of the principal components extracted two factors that explained 66.5% of the variance in satisfaction scores: healthcare delivery and diagnosis structure and satisfaction with the care delivered. Cronbach's Alfa for internal consistency reliability of the scale showed values of 0.92 for the global scale and up to 0.84 for factors. Inter-factor and inter-scale correlations were adequate, showing values of 0.59 to 0.89 and 0.73 to 0.85, respectively. The scale was able to distinguish the two moments of its application (before and after intervention), showing high satisfaction for most items measured afterwards (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: We can conclude based on the present study that the telemedicine system improved provider satisfaction and that the CARDIOSATIS-Team scale is a good tool to evaluate provider satisfaction with care delivered for CVD. Its appropriate characteristics in terms of validity and internal consistency reliability justify its utilization in other studies.

Objective: To evaluate the viability of a probabilistic record linkage strategy to identify patients who underwent complex cardiology procedures among the total deceased population., Methods: The processing cost was estimated based on 1,672 records of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting that were compared with all death records in Brazil in 2005. The accuracy of the linkage strategy was based on the probabilistic linkage of 99 hospital admissions records of patients, with known vital status, who underwent cardiac surgery at a single cardiology institute, with the death records of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, in 2005. Linkage was conducted in four stages: standardizing the databases, blocking, matching, and rating peers. Blocking in five steps was used, with blocking keys formed by a combination of variables such as Soundex codes for the first and last names, sex, and year of birth. The variables used for matching were "full name" with the use of Levenshtein distance and "birth date"., Results: The second and fifth blocking steps resulted in the largest number of formed pairs and the largest processing times for the matching. The fourth step required a lower processing cost. In the accuracy study, after five blocking steps, the sensitivity of the linkage was 90.6%, and the specificity was 100%., Conclusions: The probabilistic strategy used has high accuracy and can be used in studies of the effectiveness of high-complexity, high-cost cardiology procedures.

Satisfaction is an important measure of quality care, of adherence to the treatment and adequate use of health services. The objective here is to build two scales which evaluates team' and patients' satisfaction with cardiovascular disease treatment provided through a distance telecardiology project. The procedure followed international standards for development of measure instruments, including operational definition of satisfaction contents and its area for evaluation; item definition; pre-test and pilot study. The literature review, focal groups and discussion with specialists had delimited the domains to be included in the scales and the elaboration of its items. The CARDIOSATIS-Team included 15 items and the CARDIOSATIS-Patient included 11. Satisfaction was measured through a five-point Likert scale. The scales' items comprised satisfaction with physical structure, human resources, capacity of resolution, attention and care offered by the service and the satisfaction with the received/given care. The scales also included open questions. CARDIOSATIS scales have showed to be an easy and accessible instrument very well accepted by medical team and patients. Preliminary results presented good characteristics of validity and reliability.

Background: Although cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of morbimortality in Brazil, the access of small-town populations to electrocardiography and cardiology assessment is limited. The use of telecardiology to assist the access of distant towns to electrocardiography and a second opinion in cardiology is promising; however, it has not been formally assessed., Objective: To assess the feasibility of implementing a low-cost public telecardiology system in small Brazilian towns., Methods: A total of 82 towns in the state of Minas Gerais, with a population < 10,500 inhabitants, presenting > 70% coverage by the Family Health Program (Programa Saude da Familia-PSF), local government compliance and internet access, were selected. Each town was supplied with digital electrocardiography (ECG) device and a team was trained. The implementation was coordinated by HC/UFMG, together with four university hospitals in the state of Minas Gerais (UFU, UFTM, UFJF and UNIMONTES). The ECG assessments were carried out in the towns and sent through the Internet for prompt analysis by an on-duty telecardiology team. Online and offline discussions on the medical cases were carried out through the Internet, as well as refreshment courses., Results: During the implementation period, a total of 253 health professionals were trained. From July 2006 to November 2008, the project assisted 42,664 patients, with a total of 62,865 ECG assessments being performed. A total of 2,148 emergency cases were treated, as well as 420 teleconsultations. The intermediate evaluation showed good acceptance of the implemented technology and a 70% decrease in patient referrals to other reference centers., Conclusion: The use of the customary resources in informatics to assist the access of small-town populations to electrocardiography and specialized cardiology assessment is feasible.

Introduction: A telecardiology remote cardiology medical care system was implemented in 82 municipalities of Minas Gerais State, Brazil to support basic network services in the early diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases., Objective: To investigate the factors associated with the implementation of this program in the municipalities., Method: This 2006 ecological study involved 393 candidate municipalities to implement the system. The municipalities were divided into two groups: non-random intervention (n = 82) and comparative (n = 311). The social, structure, healthcare needs, and governability indexes of the two groups of municipalities were compared by descriptive and multiple regression analysis using the generalized estimation equation model., Results: After fitting for other characteristics, participation of the municipalities in the intervention was associated with a higher social responsibility index (OR: 2.44, CI: 1.50-3.96) and lower healthcare needs (OR: 2.29, CI: 1.24-4.22)., Conclusion: Greater efforts by municipality management was the key to attracting and implementing the remote cardiology intervention, even when fitted for lower healthcare needs, which suggests greater municipal political and social engagement. This translated to improved access to cardiovascular health care for Brazilian rural and remote populations in the intervention municipalities.