Long-term effects of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors on cardiovascular outcomes and death: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: Phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i), which are widely used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), have been found to exhibit systemic vascular benefits by improving endothelial function. In this context, we sought to evaluate the effects of PDE5i on long-term cardiovascular outcomes and mortality.

Methods And Results: A comprehensive search of electronic databases was conducted up to 30 May 2023.

Effect of DASH vs. mediterranean diet accompanied by a salt restriction on metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with high normal blood pressure or grade 1 hypertension: secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Lifestyle interventions are recommended as the first-line treatment to control metabolic syndrome components and improve cardiometabolic risk factors. However, studies directly comparing the cardiometabolic effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) vs. the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) accompanied by salt restriction are currently lacking.

Cardiometabolic Care: Assessing Patients with Diabetes Mellitus with No Overt Cardiovascular Disease in the Light of Heart Failure Development Risk.

The mechanisms leading to the development of heart failure (HF) in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are multifactorial. Assessing the risk of HF development in patients with DM is valuable not only for the identification of a high-risk subgroup, but also equally important for defining low-risk subpopulations. Nowadays, DM and HF have been recognized as sharing similar metabolic pathways.

Current Management of Hypertension in Older Adults.

Hypertension is a major global health issue and it accounts for a big proportion of disability and mortality worldwide even in adults aged 65 years and above. Moreover, advanced age per se is an independent risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events and there is abundant scientific evidence supporting the beneficial effects of blood pressure lowering, within certain limits, in this subset of hypertensive patients. The aim of this review article is to summarize the available evidence regarding the appropriate management of hypertension in this specific subgroup, in an era of a constantly increasing aging population.

Sex-related cardiovascular prognosis in patients with hypertensive emergencies: a 12-month study.

Current evidence on the prognosis of patients with a hypertensive crisis and predisposing factors is limited. We registered the clinical phenotype of patients with HC admitted to the emergency department, while those with a hypertensive emergency (HE) were hospitalized. One-year outcomes, i.

Twenty-Four-Hour Pulsatile Hemodynamics Predict Brachial Blood Pressure Response to Renal Denervation in the SPYRAL HTN-OFF MED Trial.

Background: Renal denervation (RDN) lowers blood pressure (BP), but BP response is variable in individual patients. We investigated whether measures of pulsatile hemodynamics, obtained during 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, predict BP drop following RDN.

Methods: From the randomized, sham-controlled SPYRAL HTN-OFF MED Pivotal trial, we performed a post hoc analysis of BP waveforms from 111 RDN patients and 111 sham controls, obtained with a brachial cuff-based sphygmomanometer.

Catheter ablation in grown-up congenital heart disease patients: A single-center experience.

Background: Supraventricular and ventricular tachyarrhythmias represent a common complication in grown-up patients with congenital heart defects (CHD) associated with worsening of functional capacity and increased morbidity. The aim of this study was to present the experience of our department on catheter ablation (CA) addressing safety and efficacy concerns.

Methods: Consecutive patients with CHD treated with CA between 2002 and 2021 in our hospital were included in this study.

Profile and management of hypertensive urgencies and emergencies in the emergency cardiology department of a tertiary hospital: a 12-month registry.

Aims: Currently there are scarce epidemiological data regarding prevalence, clinical phenotype, and therapy of hypertensive urgencies (HU) and emergencies (HE). The aim of this article was to record the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and management of patients with HU and HE assessed in an emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital.

Methods And Results: The population consisted of patients presenting with HE and HU in the ED (acute increase in systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 180 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥120 mmHg with and without acute target organ damage, respectively).

Hyperuricaemia and gout in cardiovascular, metabolic and kidney disease.

During the last century, there has been an increasing prevalence of hyperuricaemia noted in many populations. While uric acid is usually discussed in the context of gout, hyperuricaemia is also associated with hypertension, chronic kidney disease, hypertriglyceridaemia, obesity, atherosclerotic heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. Here we review the connection between hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic diseases.

COVID-19 pandemic and cardiovascular disease: where do we stand?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which recently has been characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) having killed almost 250,000 people worldwide as of May 4, 2020. Despite the fact that SARS-CoV-2 seems to predominantly affect the respiratory system leading to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, it is now evident that it may also affect the cardiovascular system in multiple ways. The current paper is a review of the most recent literature regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection and its associated main cardiovascular clinical manifestations.

Renal Denervation for Treating Hypertension: Current Scientific and Clinical Evidence.

Initial studies of catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) for uncontrolled HTN using radiofrequency ablation in the main renal arteries showed that RDN was effective in lowering office blood pressure (BP). However, the first randomized sham-controlled trial, SYMPLICITY-HTN-3, did not show significantly lower office or 24-h ambulatory systolic BP compared with sham treatment. Subsequent studies in both animals and humans demonstrated the potential importance of more distal and branch renal artery radiofrequency ablation, and a second-generation multielectrode system became available.

Management of supine hypertension in patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension: scientific statement of the American Autonomic Society, European Federation of Autonomic Societies, and the European Society of Hypertension.

: Supine hypertension commonly occurs in patients with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension due to autonomic failure. Supine hypertension promotes nocturnal sodium excretion and orthostatic hypotension, thus, interfering with quality of life. Perusal of the literature on essential hypertension and smaller scale investigations in autonomic failure patients also suggest that supine hypertension may predispose to cardiovascular and renal disease.

Safety and performance of diagnostic electrical mapping of renal nerves in hypertensive patients.

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and performance of renal nerve stimulation (RNS) for diagnostic mapping of the renal nerves.

Methods And Results: In this first-in-man study, twenty hypertensive patients underwent RNS using the ConfidenHT system. Bilateral stimulations were performed at three to four sites per artery at 2 and 4 mA.

Consensus statement on the definition of neurogenic supine hypertension in cardiovascular autonomic failure by the American Autonomic Society (AAS) and the European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS) : Endorsed by the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH).

Purpose: Patients suffering from cardiovascular autonomic failure often develop neurogenic supine hypertension (nSH), i.e., high blood pressure (BP) in the supine position, which falls in the upright position owing to impaired autonomic regulation.

ST-Segment Depression in Hyperventilation Indicates a False Positive Exercise Test in Patients with Mitral Valve Prolapse.

Objectives. Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a known cause for false positive exercise test (ET). The purpose of this study was to establish additional electrocardiographic criteria to distinguish the false positive exercise results in patients with MVP.

Right-sided chest leads in exercise testing for detection of coronary restenosis.

Background: The incorporation of right-sided chest leads (V(3)R through V(5)R) into standard exercise testing has been reported to improve its diagnostic utility.

Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to evaluate any improvement in the ability of exercise testing in detecting restenosis, using additional V(3)R through V(5)R leads, in asymptomatic patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the right coronary artery (RCA) or/and left circumflex (LCX).

Methods: We studied 172 consecutive patients (54 +/- 7 years old, 106 males) undergoing PCI in RCA or/and LCX.