COMBINATION OF AZILSARTAN MEDOXOMIL AND CHLORTHALIDONE: IS IT POSSIBLE TO FIGHT SYSTEMIC HYPERTENSION AND OBESITY TOGETHER?

Arterial hypertension (AH) and obesity are the main risk factors of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Adipous tissue is not only a depot for energetic compounds, but is an active endocrine organ synthetizing biologically active substances that facilitate development of AH. Patients with AH and obesity are in the high cardiovascular risk group and demand effective combination antihypertension therapy. One of such drugs is the fixed combination of azilsartan medoxomil and chlorthalidone, which safety and efficacy are confirmed by various trials. Our clinical case demonstrates positive action of Edarbi Сlo on office and 24-hour blood pressure (BP), main parameters of aorta stiffness and structural and functional condition of myocardium at rest, as in exertion in patient with AH and obesity

POSSIBILITIES OF IVABRADINE, A SELECTIVE INHIBITOR OF ION F-CHANNELS OF SINUS NODE, IN PREVENTION OF ANTHRACYCLINE CARDIOTOXICITY IN PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER

Aim. To study the efficacy of ivabradine in the prevention of cardiotoxic effects due to chemotherapeutic drugs in patients with breast cancer. Material and methods. The open randomized uncontrolled study included 55 patients with breast cancer who had to undergo chemotherapy by anthracyclines. The inclusion criterion was a heart rate >70 beats/min. Collection of complaints and anamnesis, ECG, echocardiography, routine laboratory tests were performed in all patients initially and after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. All patients were treated with polychemotherapy with anthracyclines in combination with cyclophosphamide and fluorouracil. The patients included into the study were randomized into two groups. Patients of the main group (n=23) were additionally prescribed ivabradine in a daily dose of 10 mg followed by a dose titration. Patients of the control group (n=32) received only polychemotherapy. Results. In the main group a decrease in heart rate was observed already by the first month (from 83.6±9.5 to 67.1±7.5 beats/min, p<0.001) and persisted until the 6th month (74.2±14.9 beats/min, p<0.001). In the main group, the frequency of complaints of palpitation significantly decreased by the 1st month of treatment (from 60.9% to 30%, p=0.05) with a slight increase in further observation. A significant increase in the left atrium diameter (from 35.0±4.0 to 35.9±3.9 cm; p=0.009), the left atrium volume (from 42.0±12.8 to 43.7±11.6 ml; p=0.02), the end diastolic left ventricle (LV) volume (from 81.5±16.5 to 88.8±16.5 ml, p=0.007) and the end systolic LV volume (from 30.7±8.1 to 32.3±6.2 ml; p=0.01) were found in the main group in a month after polychemotherapy. Dynamics of the main echocardiographic indices was similar in the control group. By 6 months of observation the indexed mass of LV myocardium significantly increased in the control group (from 66.9±14.6 to 74.3±19.0 g/m2; p=0.024) in the absence of that in the main group (from 65.4±15.2 to 70.7±11.3 g/m2; p>0.05). A significant change in the LV ejection fraction was not found in both groups. Significant differences in LV global longitudinal strain were found between groups in 1, 3 and 6 months of observation (p<0.05), but after 12 months the groups were comparable in longitudinal strain values. Conclusion. Ivabradine therapy in patients with breast cancer and heart rate >70 beats/min was safe and did not cause bradycardia. Ivabradine use was accompanied by a significant reduction in a number of patients with complaints of palpitation, contributed to the preservation of normalLV global longitudinal deformation in chemotherapy, while the control group had negative changes with a maximum by the 6th month of follow-up

Clinical and instrumental predictors of upcoming cardiac free wall rupture due to acute miocardial infarction

Medical records and autopsy reports of 839 patients admitted to City Hospital N52 were reviewed. 42 patients died from cardiac free wall rupture. Single-factorial analysis was performed to find out the predictors of upcoming cardiac free wall rupture and multi-factorial analysis was performed to determine independent predictors of free wall rupture. A number of cardiac free wall rupture predictors were identified: 1) long-term chest pain (> 1,5 hours); 2) early appearance of Q-wave and rapid inversion of T-wave during first hours of Q-AMI; 3) ST-elevation > 4 mm in two or more ECG leads; 4) prolongation of QRST-complex; 5) ECG evidence of acute interventricular conduction disturbances; 6) hyperkinesias of intact myocardium in accordance with ejection fraction 75 years; 6) primary Q-AMI; 7) ST-elevation > 4 mm in two or more ECG leads. Early cardiac free wall rupture due to acute Q-AMI could be predicted with the help of anamnestic, clinical and instrumental data analysis

Rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in stable cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether rivaroxaban alone or in combination with aspirin would be more effective than aspirin alone for secondary cardiovascular prevention. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 27,395 participants with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily), rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily), or aspirin (100 mg once daily). The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction. The study was stopped for superiority of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group after a mean follow-up of 23 months. RESULTS: The primary outcome occurred in fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group than in the aspirin-alone group (379 patients [4.1%] vs. 496 patients [5.4%]; hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.86; P<0.001; z=−4.126), but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group (288 patients [3.1%] vs. 170 patients [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.05; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in intracranial or fatal bleeding between these two groups. There were 313 deaths (3.4%) in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group as compared with 378 (4.1%) in the aspirin-alone group (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.96; P=0.01; threshold P value for significance, 0.0025). The primary outcome did not occur in significantly fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group than in the aspirin-alone group, but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease, those assigned to rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin had better cardiovascular outcomes and more major bleeding events than those assigned to aspirin alone. Rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily) alone did not result in better cardiovascular outcomes than aspirin alone and resulted in more major bleeding events