European journal of preventive cardiology
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Observational Study
Optimizing the evaluation of excess exercise ventilation for prognosis assessment in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Increased ventilatory (.VE) response to carbon dioxide output (.VCO2) is a key finding of incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing in both heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). As with heart failure, measures of excessive exercise ventilation considering high-to-peak exercise .VE-VCO2 might have higher prognostic relevance than those restrained to sub-maximal exercise in PAH. ⋯ Measurements of excessive exercise ventilation which consider all data points maximize the usefulness of incremental cardiopulmonary exercise testing in the prognosis evaluation of PAH.
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Observational Study
Cardiac rehabilitation after transcatheter versus surgical prosthetic valve implantation for aortic stenosis in the elderly.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation plays a leading role in the management of aortic stenosis in patients with comorbidities but no data are available about cardiac rehabilitation in these subjects. This study aimed to compare safety and efficacy of an early, exercise-based, cardiac rehabilitation programme in octogenarians after a traditional surgical aortic valve replacement versus transcatheter aortic valve implantation. ⋯ Cardiac rehabilitation is feasible, safe and effective in octogenarian patients after transcatheter aortic valve implantation as well as after traditional surgery. An early cardiac rehabilitation programme enhances independence, mobility and functional capacity and should be highly encouraged.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized trial evaluating the effects of change in dairy food consumption on cardio-metabolic risk factors.
It is currently not known whether dairy food influences the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes. This study evaluates effects of changing dairy intake on cardio-metabolic risk factors. ⋯ In healthy volunteers, dietary advice to change dairy intake for 1 month did not have a clinically significant effect on cardio-metabolic risk factors. These observations suggest that dairy food can be included as part of a normal healthy diet without increasing cardio-metabolic risk.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of different cardiac risk scores for coronary artery disease in symptomatic women: do female-specific risk factors matter?
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in women and there is a need for more accurate risk assessment scores. The aims of our study were to compare the accuracy of several widely used cardiac risk assessment scores in predicting the likelihood of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) on CT coronary angiography (CTCA) in symptomatic women and to explore which female-specific risk factors were independent predictors of obstructive CAD on CTCA and whether adding these risk factors to pre-test probability scores would improve their predictive value. ⋯ There is a large variability in prediction of obstructive CAD using different pre-test probability risk scores in symptomatic women. Logistic regression analysis revealed that oestrogen status and GDM were independently associated with the occurrence of obstructive stenosis on CTCA. The predictive ability of cardiac pre-test probability scores improved significantly with the addition of oestrogen status and GDM.
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The contribution of sufficient sleep duration to lower CVD risk in addition to sufficient physical activity, a healthy diet, (moderate) alcohol consumption, and non-smoking has not been investigated yet. ⋯ Sufficient sleep and adherence to all four traditional healthy lifestyle factors was associated with lower CVD risk. When sufficient sleep duration was added to the traditional lifestyle factors, the risk of CVD was further reduced.