Search results for "Cardiology"
showing 10 items of 6064 documents
Current insights into the German lipoprotein apheresis standard: PCSK9-inhibitors, lipoprotein apheresis or both?
2017
Abstract According to current European guidelines, lipid lowering therapy for progressive cardiovascular disease including cardiovascular events has to be focused on a target level for LDL-C. In contrast for Lp(a) a threshold has to be defined with respect to the method of measurement. However, due to new lipid lowering drug developments like PCSK9-inhibitors (PCSK-9-I) a therapeutic algorithm for patients with severe hypercholesterolemia or isolated Lipoprotein(a)-hyperlipoproteinemia with progressive cardiovascular disease may be necessary to manage the use of PCSK9-I, lipoprotein apheresis (LA) or both. The therapeutic approach for patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia i…
Effects of intravenous furosemide plus small-volume hypertonic saline solutions on markers of heart failure.
2021
Aims: We sought to compare the effects of furosemide + hypertonic saline solution (HSS) treatment in patients with acute decompensated heart failure in comparison with furosemide alone and the response in a compensated state after an acute saline load with regard to serum levels of heart failure biomarkers. Methods and results: We enrolled 141 patients with acute decompensated heart failure with reduced ejection fraction admitted to our Internal Medicine ward from March 2017 to November 2019. A total of 73 patients were randomized to treatment with i.v. high-dose furosemide plus HSS, whereas 68 patients were randomized to i.v. high-dose furosemide alone. Patients treated with furosemide plu…
Beyond Statins: New Lipid Lowering Strategies to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk
2014
Statins are the first-line therapy in LDL-Cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction and its clinical use has contributed to significant prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Yet, a significant proportion of patients remain at high risk. Recently, a number of new therapies have been developed to further lower LDL-C. These agents may provide clinical benefit on top of statin therapy in patients with high residual risk, severe hypercholesterolemia or as an alternative for patients who are intolerant to statins. We review four novel approaches based on the inhibition of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), apolipoprotein-B100 (apoB), Cholesteryl ester transport pro…
An Exploratory Look at Bicuspid Aortic Valve (Bav) Aortopathy: Focus on Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms
2019
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart malformation. BAV patients are at increased risk for aortic valve disease (stenosis/regurgitation), infective endocarditis, thrombi formation and, in particular, aortic dilatation, aneurysm and dissection. This review aims at exploring the possible interplay among genetics, extracellular matrix remodeling, abnormal signaling pathways, oxidative stress and inflammation in contributing to BAV-associated aortopathy (BAV-A-A). Novel circulating biomarkers have been proposed as diagnostic tools able to improve risk stratification in BAV-A-A. However, to date, the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to BAV-A-A remain …
Electrocardiography for Assessment of Hypertensive Heart Disease: A New Role for an Old Tool
2016
Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH), detected either by electrocardiography (ECG) or echocardiography (ECHO), has long been recognized as a powerful predictor of serious cardiovascular (CV) sequelae. A very large and highly consistent body of evidence indicates that LVH is not only an adaptation to increased hemodynamic load in hypertension, but is also independently associated with an enhanced risk for myocardial infarction, cardiac sudden death, congestive heart failure, and stroke in the general population, as well as in patients with systemic hypertension, coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and atrial fibrillation. Intriguingly, the cumulative incidence of cardiovascula…
Genetically determined hypercholesterolaemia results into premature leucocyte telomere length shortening and reduced haematopoietic precursors
2020
Abstract Aims Leucocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening is a marker of cellular senescence and associates with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A number of cardiovascular risk factors affect LTL, but the correlation between elevated LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and shorter LTL is debated: in small cohorts including subjects with a clinical diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). We assessed the relationship between LDL-C and LTL in subjects with genetic familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) compared to those with clinically diagnosed, but not genetically confirmed FH (CD-FH), and normocholesterolaemic subjects. Methods and results LTL was measured in mononuclear cells-d…
Obesity and cardiovascular risk: the new public health problem of worldwide proportions
2004
Obesity could be considered a new global health epidemic above all others, especially when it is characterized by central fat distribution. This is illustrated by dramatic provisional data, indicating a continuous increase in the trend of overweight and obese individuals in several countries, including the USA and countries in Europe. Several epidemiological, pathophysiological and clinical studies clearly indicate that two of the major independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease or events are being overweight, and obesity. Accordingly, weight loss and prevention of weight gain has to be considered one of the most important strategies to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseas…
Endothelial function, adipokine serum levels and white matter hyperintesities in subjects with diabetic foot syndrome.
2019
Abstract Context No study has analyzed the prevalence of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in subjects with diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) and their relationship to adipokine serum levels and indexes of endothelial and cognitive performance. Objective To evaluate omentin and vaspin serum levels and the prevalence of WMHs in subjects with DFS and to analyze their relationship with other endothelial, arterial stiffness, and cognitive functions. Design Case-control study enrolling 40 subjects with DFS, 40 diabetic subjects without foot complications, 40 controls with foot lesions without diabetes, and 40 patients without diabetes mellitus. Main Outcome Measures Pulse wave velocity (PWV), augm…
A novel component of the metabolic syndrome: The oxidative stress
2009
The metabolic syndrome (MS) represents a cluster of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors associated to CV disease and type 2 diabetes. It is still under debate whether MS is a mere aggregation of risk factors or it represents a clinical entity with visceral obesity as underlying pathophysiological trigger. The publication of several diagnostic criteria of MS by scientific associations or experts panels reflects this uncertainty in understanding the real nature of MS. Besides the metabolic disturbances of MS, as visceral obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL cholesterol, hypertension and hyperglycemia, novel mechanisms of arterial damage have been identified. This paper reviews the evidence sho…