Carotid plaque detection improves the predictve value of CHA2DS2-VASc score in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrilation: The ARAPACIS Study

Abstract Background and aims Vascular disease (VD), as assessed by history of myocardial infarction or peripheral artery disease or aortic plaque, increases stroke risk in atrial fibrillation (AF), and is a component of risk assessment using the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score. We investigated if systemic atherosclerosis as detected by ultrasound carotid plaque (CP) could improve the predictive value of the CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score. Methods We analysed data from the ARAPACIS study, an observational study including 2027 Italian patients with non-valvular AF, in whom CP was detected using Doppler Ultrasonography. Results VD was reported in 351 (17.3%) patients while CP was detected in 16.6% patients. Ad…

Impact of lifestyle on metabolic syndrome in apparently healthy people.

Parallel to the increase in obesity, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is continually increasing, with increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular atherosclerosis diseases. Despite the importance of this public health problem, the relative impact of diet and physical activity on MetS prevalence has yet to be established. We investigated the association between lifestyle, in terms of both habitual dietary pattern and physical activity, and MetS in a cohort of adults without known diabetes and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Four hundred seventy-seven randomly selected adult participants were cross-sectionally investigated. Each participant answered a food frequency questi…

Periodic fever: a case report.

The malnutrition in the elderly: A clinical approach

Habitual fish intake and clinically silent carotid atherosclerosis

Background: Fish consumption is recommended as part of a healthy diet. However, there is a paucity of data concerning the relation between fish consumption and carotid atherosclerosis. We investigated the association between habitual fish consumption and asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis, defined as the presence of plaques and/or increased intima-media thickness (≥ 0.90 mm), in non-diabetic participants. Methods: Nine hundred-sixty-one (range of age: 18–89 yrs; 37.1% males) adult participants without clinically known atherosclerotic disease were randomly recruited among the customers of a shopping mall in Palermo, Italy, and cross-sectionally investigated. Each participant answered a foo…

Major adverse cardiovascular events in non-valvular atrial fibrillation with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the ARAPACIS study

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increases the risk of mortality in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. Data on the relationship of COPD to major cardiovascular events (MACE) in AF have not been defined. The aim of the study is to assess the predictive value of COPD on incident MACE in NVAF patients over a 3-year follow-up. In the Atrial Fibrillation Registry for Ankle-Brachial Index Prevalence Assessment-Collaborative Italian Study (ARAPACIS) cohort, we evaluate the impact of COPD on the following clinical endpoints: MACE (including vascular death, fatal/non-fatal MI and stroke/TIA), cardiovascular (CV) death and all-cause mortality. Among 2027 NVAF patients, pati…

Statins and osteoporosis: Myth or reality?

Circulating levels of soluble adhesion molecules in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis

BACKGROUND: During inflammation, activated vascular endothelial cells and other cell types express various adhesion molecules, which facilitate the binding of circulating leukocytes and their extravasation in surrounding tissue (i.e. renal tissue). The serum concentration of circulating soluble adhesion molecules is supposed to reflect the degree of this activation. OBJECTIVE: In the first part of the study, we determined if the serum levels of the soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM)-1 and the soluble endothelial cell-leukocyte adhesion molecule (sELAM)-1, in patients affected by microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), associated with myeloperoxidase (MPO)-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic an…

Androgen excess and cardiovascular risk.

Cardiovascular diseases represent the major cause of death in most of developed countries and ultimately kill as many men as women. Both genders are exposed to the same risk factors but their rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are very different until old age. This represents a crucial point; in fact, only at age 75 and over cardiovascular rates of women approximate those of men. It has been suggested that differences in hormonal status and mainly in androgen levels may explain such gender disparity. Consistently with this hypothesis, it has been shown that women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have elevated cardiovascular risk despite their young age. However, the possib…

CPK increase as an occult marker of cerebrovascular disease: a case report.

A practical method to determine the "atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype"