Physical activity for coronary heart disease: cardioprotective mechanisms and effects on prognosis

A sedentary lifestyle is one of the five major risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) along with hypertension, abnormal values of blood lipids, smoking and obesity. After an acute myocardial infarction, risk factors continue to contribute synergically to the clinical progression and prognosis of CHD. Regular physical exercise has been shown to improve exercise capacity and quality of life, to reduce symptoms and to decrease the risk of new coronary events in patients with CHD. Regular physical activity with its favourable effects on coronary risk factors, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, tendency to thrombosis, on autonomic tone and myocardial ischemia, may play a role in reducing the risk of new coronary events and death. In view of the clinical benefits yielded and its well-documented cardioprotective mechanisms, regular physical activity should be regarded, by general practitioners and cardiologists, as a true and effective form of therapy for patients with CHD

Progressive right ventricular dysfunction and exercise impairment in patients with heart failure and diabetes mellitus: insights from the T.O.S.CA. Registry

Findings from the T.O.S.CA. Registry recently reported that patients with concomitant chronic heart failure (CHF) and impairment of insulin axis (either insulin resistance-IR or diabetes mellitus-T2D) display increased morbidity and mortality. However, little information is available on the relative impact of IR and T2D on cardiac structure and function, cardiopulmonary performance, and their longitudinal changes in CHF

Coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction are associated with stroke in patients affected by persistent non-valvular atrial fibrillation: a case-control study

Persistent non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as stroke, and its rate is expected to rise because of the ageing population. The absolute rate of stroke depends on age and comorbidity. Risk stratification for stroke in patients with NVAF derives from populations enrolled in randomized clinical trials. However, participants in clinical trials are often not representative of the general population. Many stroke risk stratification scores have been used, but they do not include transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE), pulsate wave Doppler (PWD) and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), simple and non- invasive diagnostic tools. The role of TTE, PWD and TDI findings has not been previously determined. Our study goal was to determine the association between TTE and PWD findings and stroke prevalence in a population of NVAF prone outpatients

IN "POLPO ... SITION" E ALTRI BREVI RACCONTI

Assalito dalla felicità corsi al mare, guardai l’acqua e fui preso da una forza, non mia, non umana che mi trascinò in acqua. Lì venni rapito da fantastiche sensazioni, l’adrenalina salì a mille, vidi un enorme creatura che suscitò in me delle emozioni mai provate prima, si era avvicinata talmente tanto che stava per toccarmi e, appena lo fece, il mio corpo si illuminò magicamente, le mie mani iniziarono pian piano ad assottigliarsi, il mio petto diventava sempre più piccolo e tondo e da lì a poco, ero diventato un polpo

Circulating microRNA-150-5p as a novel biomarker for advanced heart failure: A genome-wide prospective study

Background: Circulating microRNAs (miRs) are promising biomarkers for heart failure (HF). Previous studies have provided inconsistent miR "signatures." The phenotypic and pathophysiologic heterogeneity of HF may have contributed to this inconsistency. In this study we assessed whether advanced HF (AHF) patients present a distinct miR signature compared with healthy subjects (HS) and mild to moderate HF (MHF) patients. Methods: The study consisted of 2 phases: a screening phase and a validation phase. In the screening phase, 752 miRs were profiled in HS and MHF and AHF patients (N = 15), using the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) technique and global mean normalization. In the validation phase, the miRs found to be significantly dysregulated in AHF patients compared with both HS and MHF patients were validated in 15 HS, 25 patients with MHF and 29 with AHF, using RT-qPCR, and normalizing to exogenous (cel-miR-39) and endogenous controls. Results: In the screening phase, 5 miRs were found to be significantly dysregulated: -26a-5p; -145-3p; -150-5p; -485-3p; and -487b-3p. In the validation phase, miR-150-5p was confirmed to be significantly downregulated in AHF patients when compared with both HS and MHF patients, irrespective of the normalization method used. miR-26a-5p was confirmed to be significantly dysregulated only when normalized to cell-miR-39. Dysregulation of the other miRs could not be confirmed. miR-150-5p was significantly associated with maladaptive remodeling, disease severity and outcome. Conclusions: Our data suggest miR-150-5p as a novel circulating biomarker for AHF. The association of miR-150-5p with maladaptive remodeling, disease severity and outcome supports the pathophysiologic relevance of downregulated miR-150-5p expression to AHF

Cardiac Rehabilitation for Older Women with Heart Failure

Background: the role that sex plays in impacting cardiac rehabilitation (CR) outcomes remains an important gap in knowledge. Methods: we assessed sex differences in clinical and functional outcomes in 2345 older patients with heart failure (HF) admitted to inpatient CR. Three outcomes were considered: (1) the composite outcome of death during the index admission to CR or transfer to acute care; (2) three-year mortality; (3) change in six-minute walking distance (6MWD) from admission to discharge. Sex differences in outcomes were assessed using multivariable Cox or logistic regression models. Results: the hazard ratios of the composite outcome and of three-year mortality for females vs. males were 0.71 (95%CI:0.50–1.00; p = 0.049) and 0.68 (95%CI:0.59–0.79; p p < 0.001). Conclusion: our findings suggest that older females with HF undergoing CR have better prognosis and garner similar improvement in 6MWD compared with their male counterparts. Nonetheless, females were more likely to achieve levels of functional capacity predictive of improved survival

Predicting Short-Term Mortality in Advanced Decompensated Heart Failure - Role of the Updated Acute Decompensated Heart Failure/N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Risk Score

BACKGROUND: The first few months after admission are the most vulnerable period in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed the association of the updated ADHF/N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) risk score with 90-day and in-hospital mortality in 701 patients admitted with advanced ADHF, defined as severe symptoms of worsening HF, severely depressed left ventricular ejection fraction, and the need for i.v. diuretic and/or inotropic drugs. A total of 15.7% of the patients died within 90 days of admission and 5.2% underwent ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation or urgent heart transplantation (UHT). The C-statistic of the ADHF/NT-proBNP risk score for 90-day mortality was 0.810 (95% CI: 0.769-0.852). Predicted and observed mortality rates were in close agreement. When the composite outcome of death/VAD/UHT at 90 days was considered, the C-statistic decreased to 0.741. During hospitalization, 7.6% of the patients died. The C-statistic for in-hospital mortality was 0.815 (95% CI: 0.761-0.868) and Hosmer-Lemeshow χ(2)=3.71 (P=0.716). The updated ADHF/NT-proBNP risk score outperformed the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry, the Organized Program to Initiate Lifesaving Treatment in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure, and the American Heart Association Get with the Guidelines Program predictive models. CONCLUSIONS: Updated ADHF/NT-proBNP risk score is a valuable tool for predicting short-term mortality in severe ADHF, outperforming existing inpatient predictive models

Clinical, haematological and biochemical findings in tigers infected by Leishmania infantum

Background A large number of animal species are susceptible to Leishmania infantum (Kinetoplastida, Trypanosomatidae) in endemic areas, including domestic and wild felids such as tigers (Panthera tigris). Knowledge on the infection of this endangered species is still at its infancy, and therefore this study aims to identify clinical presentation and clinicopathological findings of tigers naturally infected by L. infantum. Results Tigers either L. infantum-positive (group A) or -negative (group B) were apparently healthy or presented visceral leishmaniasis unrelated conditions, except for one animal in which a large non-healing cutaneous lesion was observed. However, histological exam and immunohistochemistry carried out on the lesion excluded the presence of L. infantum amastigotes. Biochemical analysis showed that the average concentration of total proteins, globulins and haptoglobin were significantly higher (p &lt; 0.01, p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively), while the albumin/globulin ratio significantly lower (p = 0.05) in group A compared with group B. The biochemical alterations were partially confirmed by the serum protein electrophoresis results revealing a significant increase in the total protein value (p = 0.01) and hypergammaglobulinemia (p = 0.03) but an unmodified albumin/globulin ratio in group A. Conclusions In this study tigers infected by L. infantum have shown to be mainly asymptomatic. The absence of clinical signs may lead veterinarians to overlook leishmaniasis in animals kept in captivity. Therefore, diagnostic and screening tests as serology should be part of routinely surveillance programs to be performed on tigers in zoological gardens located in endemic areas. Though only few protein-related laboratory abnormalities were recorded in infected animals, they could provide diagnostic clues for a first suspicion of L. infantum infection in tigers. Indeed, considering the high risk of zoonotic transmission in heavily frequented environment as zoos, a prompt diagnosis of L. infantum infection is of pivotal importance