The American journal of medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Cholesterol Lowering and Stroke: No Longer Room for Pleiotropic Effects of Statins - Confirmation from PCSK9 Inhibitor Studies.
The relationship between cholesterol levels and stroke has been much less clear than the relationship between cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease. This is likely mostly due to the inadequate power of older studies and the low intensity of cholesterol-lowering interventions available at the time. Because a reduction in stroke has been, conversely, clearly observed in trials with statins, for long "pleiotropic" effects of such drugs, unrelated to cholesterol lowering, have been invoked. In a previous analysis of all randomized trials of cholesterol-lowering treatments reporting on stroke we had, however, reached the conclusion that any cholesterol lowering is related to a significant reduction of stroke, in a relationship that appeared to exist for both statin and nonstatin cholesterol-lowering interventions. Outcome results of the FOURIER trial with evolocumab, SPIRE-1 and -2 with bococizumab, and ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial with alirocumab now offer the opportunity of clearly confirming or confuting this concept. ⋯ These findings offer definitive proof that the pure total (and low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol lowering, with any available lipid-lowering intervention, reduces stroke risk proportional to the extent of cholesterol reduction, without the need of invoking "pleiotropic" effects of any such treatment.
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Acute declines in kidney function occur in approximately 20%-30% of patients with acute decompensated heart failure, but its significance is unclear, and the importance of its context is not known. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of a decline in kidney function in the context of decongestion among patients admitted with acute decompensated heart failure. ⋯ Decline in kidney function during therapy for acute decompensated heart failure is associated with improved outcomes as long as NT-proBNP levels are decreasing as well, suggesting that incorporation of congestion biomarkers may aid clinical interpretation of eGFR declines.
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Electrocardiography (ECG) is used to screen for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), but common ECG-LVH criteria have been found less effective in athletes. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the value of ECG for identifying athletes with LVH or a concentric cardiac phenotype. ⋯ The diagnostic capacity of all ECG-LVH criteria were inadequate and, therefore, not clinically useful in screening for LVH or a concentric phenotype in athletes. This is probably due to the weak association between LVM and ECG voltage.
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Restricting dietary sodium is a common recommendation given by clinicians to patients with heart failure and is one supported by current guidelines. However, the quality of evidence for this recommendation is suboptimal, and there is no consensus on the optimal level of sodium intake. ⋯ Nevertheless, sodium restriction is routinely recommended and remains a cornerstone of heart failure and blood pressure therapy. In this review we discuss the pros and cons of sodium restriction for patients with heart failure from the current literature.