Publications by authors named "Martino F Pengo"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined how effective and safe nifedipine GITS and ramipril are for treating hypertension in Chinese versus European patients through a post-hoc analysis of a multinational trial.
  • - The research found that while both medications reduced blood pressure similarly across ethnic groups, ethnic differences impacted age, body mass index, and certain blood pressure measurements, and the response to treatment varied between the two groups.
  • - The safety profiles noted significant differences, with fewer adverse events in Chinese patients taking nifedipine, while Europeans experienced more ankle edema with nifedipine and dry cough with ramipril.
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  • Patients with hypertension who engage with mobile health technologies show lower blood pressure and better understanding of their condition.
  • This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the TWEETS scale specifically for Italian patients with hypertension for the first time.
  • Results indicated that TWEETS is effective and reliable for measuring patient engagement with mHealth devices, but more research is needed across different populations to confirm its applicability.
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Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is associated with hypertension, and OSA treatment can reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), but with a modest mean effect size and vast heterogeneity among studies. The aim of this individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis was to understand which OSA phenotypes could benefit the most in terms of BP reduction.

Methods: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials that compared continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) with either passive or active treatment was conducted.

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Article Synopsis
  • Randomized clinical trials do not currently support using continuous positive airway pressure for treating asymptomatic obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), especially in low-risk patients.
  • The OSCAR algorithm was proposed to help doctors manage asymptomatic moderate-severe OSA by focusing on weight loss, symptoms, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
  • Research found no significant difference in the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) between patients with moderate-severe OSA and those without OSA, indicating that more studies are needed on this topic.
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  • Sleep is essential for health, yet the impact of non-respiratory sleep disorders on cardiovascular health is often overlooked.* -
  • Evidence indicates that factors like sleep duration, circadian rhythm, insomnia, and hypersomnolence disorders significantly affect cardiovascular health, while sleep-related movement disorders show a moderate link.* -
  • It's important to identify and manage sleep disorders in individuals at high risk for cardiovascular issues to improve overall health outcomes.*
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  • The study investigates how different methods of measuring blood pressure variability (OBP, HBP, and ABP) are related and agree with each other, particularly before and after starting treatment for high blood pressure.
  • Participants included untreated hypertensive individuals who were given either ramipril or nifedipine GITS for 10 weeks, with their blood pressure variability assessed using standard deviation and coefficient of variation.
  • Results showed only weak-to-moderate correlations between home and ambulatory BP measurements, indicating that while they can identify individuals with high blood pressure variability, they do not align well with office measurements.
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  • * Researchers developed and tested a brief Italian version of the Perception of Risk of Heart Disease Scale (PRHDS) on a sample of 772 healthy adults.
  • * The findings show that the scale has good psychometric properties, suggesting it can effectively gauge cardiovascular risk perception among Italian adults.
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High blood pressure is the leading cause of death and disability globally and an important treatable risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and chronic kidney diseases. Digital technology, including mobile health solutions and digital therapy, is expanding rapidly in clinical medicine and has the potential to improve the quality of care and effectiveness of drug treatment by making medical interventions timely, tailored to hypertensive patients' needs and by improving treatment adherence. Thus, the systematic application of digital technologies could support diagnosis and awareness of hypertension and its complications, ultimately leading to improved BP control at the population level.

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  • * A meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials found that CPAP slightly improves insulin sensitivity and reduces total cholesterol levels, with greater benefits observed in pre-diabetic/type 2 diabetic patients and those with more severe OSA.
  • * Overall, while CPAP may offer some metabolic benefits, its effects are generally modest and may be more pronounced in specific subgroups of OSA patients.
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Introduction: Variable D-dimer trends during hospitalization reportedly result in distinct in-hospital mortality. In this multinational case series from the first and second waves, we show the universality of such D-dimer trends.

Methods: We reviewed 405 patients with COVID-19 during the first wave admitted to three institutions in the United States, Italy, and Colombia, and 111 patients admitted to the U.

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Electrical stimulation has recently been introduced to treat patients with Obstructive sleep apnoea There are, however, few data on the effects of transcutaneous submental electrical stimulation (TES) on the cardiovascular system. We studied the effect of TES on cardiorespiratory variables in healthy volunteers during head-down-tilt (HDT) induced baroreceptor loading. Cardiorespiratory parameters (blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, tidal volume, airflow/minute ventilation, oxygen saturation, and end-tidal CO2/O2 concentration) were recorded seated, supine, and during head-down-tilt (50) under normoxic, hypercapnic (FiCO 5%) and poikilocapnic hypoxic (FiO 12%) conditions.

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Pulmonary vascular diseases (PVDs), defined as arterial or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, are associated with autonomic cardiovascular dysregulation. Resting heart rate variability (HRV) is commonly used to assess autonomic function. Hypoxia is associated with sympathetic overactivation and patients with PVD might be particularly vulnerable to hypoxia-induced autonomic dysregulation.

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Background And Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with heart derangements detected at echocardiography as higher left ventricular mass index (LVMI), higher left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and impaired diastolic function. However, the currently used parameter to define OSA diagnosis and severity, the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI), poorly predicts cardiovascular damage, cardiovascular events, and mortality. Our study aimed to assess if other polygraphic indices of OSA presence and severity, in addition to AHI, might better predict echocardiographic cardiac remodeling.

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Many modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors have been associated with hypertension. However, current screening programs are still failing in identifying individuals at higher risk of hypertension. Given the major impact of high blood pressure on cardiovascular events and mortality, there is an urgent need to find new strategies to improve hypertension detection.

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The majority of the current international obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) guidelines base the recommendation to treat OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) on the presence of symptoms (principally, albeit not exclusively on daytime hypersomnolence). In nonsleepy patients, even with severe OSA, controversies remain, as clear evidence supporting CPAP treatment of this subgroup of OSA patients is lacking. However, given the nonnegligible proportion of non-sleepy OSA patients, clinicians often face a serious dilemma since CPAP treatment in these patients may prove to be not cost-effective.

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