Predictors and prognosis of delirium among older subjects in cardiac intensive care unit: focus on potentially preventable forms.

Background: Delirium is a common and potentially preventable condition in older individuals admitted to acute and intensive care wards, associated with negative prognostic effects. Its clinical relevance is being increasingly recognised also in cardiology settings. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence, incidence, predictors and prognostic role of delirium in older individuals admitted to two cardiology intensive care units.

Assessment of Carotid Intima-Media Thickness as an Early Marker Of Vascular Damage In Hypertensive Children.

Background: The increased carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) correlates with the presence of atherosclerosis in adults and describes vascular abnormalities in both hypertensive children and adolescents.

Objective: To assess CIMT as an early marker of atherosclerosis and vascular damage in hypertensive children and adolescents compared with non-hypertensive controls and to evaluate the influence of gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) on CIMT on each group.

Methods: Observational cohort study.

Effects of low blood pressure in cognitively impaired elderly patients treated with antihypertensive drugs.

Importance: The prognostic role of high blood pressure and the aggressiveness of blood pressure lowering in dementia are not well characterized.

Objective: To assess whether office blood pressure, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or the use of antihypertensive drugs (AHDs) predict the progression of cognitive decline in patients with overt dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cohort study between June 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012, with a median 9-month follow-up of patients with dementia and MCI in 2 outpatient memory clinics.

Left ventricular cavity obliteration during dobutamine stress echocardiography in diabetic patients.

Prevalence of dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (DLVO) during dobutamine stress-echo (DSE) seems disproportionally high among diabetic patients. We retrospectively identified 212 diabetic (D+) and 212 non diabetic (D-) subjects, who underwent DSE for suspected coronary artery disease (CAD); we evaluated DSE-induced DLVO prevalence and correlates. During DSE, 105 patients in D+ (50%) and 83 in D- group (39%, P = 0.