Association between Clinical Frailty Scale and mortality 24 months after hospitalisation in adult patients with COVID-19.

Background: The clinical frailty scale (CFS) was used as a triage tool for medical decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFS has been posed as a suitable risk marker for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. We evaluated whether the CFS is associated with mortality 24 months after hospitalisation for COVID-19.

Evaluation of a group-based online informed consent conversation (eConsent) in participants from a low-risk vaccination clinical trial.

Background: Electronic informed consent (eConsent) usage has expanded in recent years in Europe, especially during the pandemic. Slow recruitment rate and limitations in participant outreach are the challenges often faced in clinical research. Given the benefits of eConsent and group counselling reported in the literature, group eConsent was implemented in recruitment for the SWITCH-ON study.

Monitoring antihypertensive drug concentrations to determine nonadherence in hypertensive patients with or without a kidney transplant.

Background: Nonadherence to antihypertensive drugs (AHDs) is a major contributor to pseudo-resistant hypertension. The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of nonadherence to AHDs among patients visiting the nephrology and vascular outpatient clinics.

Methods: Patients were eligible to participate in this prospective observational study if they used at least two AHDs that could be measured with a validated UHPLC-MS/MS method and had an office blood pressure at least 140 and/or at least 90 mmHg.

Immunogenicity of bivalent omicron (BA.1) booster vaccination after different priming regimens in health-care workers in the Netherlands (SWITCH ON): results from the direct boost group of an open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Bivalent mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines encoding the ancestral and omicron spike (S) protein were developed as a countermeasure against antigenically distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants. We aimed to assess the (variant-specific) immunogenicity and reactogenicity of mRNA-based bivalent omicron (BA.1) vaccines in individuals who were primed with adenovirus-based or mRNA-based vaccines encoding the ancestral spike protein.

[When will we treat patients with a polypill shortly after myocardial infarction?].

The 'polypill' stands for fixed-dosed combination pills with generic drugs that act on multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Data from randomized controlled trials show consistent beneficial effects of treatment with a polypill on both cardiovascular risk factors and relevant marjor cardiovascular endpoints. However, polypills are not readily available worldwide and only a limited number of polypills is marketed in Europe.

[How to cope with the nocebo effects of statins?].

Statins are effective drugs that can reduce the risk of new cardiovascular events. Although in randomized, placebo-controlled trials statins are associated with a low risk of mild muscle complaints such as myalgia, in daily practice up to 30% of patients report complaints attributed to statin use. Two recent studies have shown statin-associated muscle complaints are mainly related to the nocebo effect.

Association between renal sympathetic denervation and arterial stiffness: the ASORAS study.

Objectives: Renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) reduces blood pressure (BP). However, one out of three patients does not exhibit a significant BP response to the therapy. This study investigates the association between noninvasive vascular stiffness indices and RDN-mediated BP reduction.

Analyzing the immunogenicity of bivalent booster vaccinations in healthcare workers: The SWITCH ON trial protocol.

Unlabelled: Vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has contributed greatly to providing protection against severe disease, thereby reducing hospital admissions and deaths. Several studies have reported reduction in vaccine effectiveness over time against the Omicron sub-lineages. However, the willingness to receive regular booster doses in the general population is declining.

Ad26.COV2.S priming provided a solid immunological base for mRNA-based COVID-19 booster vaccination.

The emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants led to the recommendation of booster vaccinations after Ad26.COV2.S priming.

Durability of Immune Responses After Boosting in Ad26.COV2.S-Primed Healthcare Workers.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants raised questions regarding the durability of immune responses after homologous or heterologous boosters after Ad26.COV2.S-priming.

Adequacy of blood pressure control in high-risk hypertensive patients: The DEGREE study.

Introduction: Hypertension is a modifiable risk factor in patients at the highest risk for cardiovascular events. New invasive treatment options are becoming available that might be particularly appealing for high-risk patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of high-risk patients on routine therapy that do not meet guideline recommended ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) targets.

Immunogenicity and Reactogenicity of Vaccine Boosters after Ad26.COV2.S Priming.

Background: The Ad26.COV2.S vaccine, which was approved as a single-shot immunization regimen, has been shown to be effective against severe coronavirus disease 2019.

Association between Clinical Frailty Scale score and hospital mortality in adult patients with COVID-19 (COMET): an international, multicentre, retrospective, observational cohort study.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the scarcity of resources has necessitated triage of critical care for patients with the disease. In patients aged 65 years and older, triage decisions are regularly based on degree of frailty measured by the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). However, the CFS could also be useful in patients younger than 65 years.

No association between use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers prior to hospital admission and clinical course of COVID-19 in the COvid MEdicaTion (COMET) study.

Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19, conflicting theories have circulated on the influence of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) on incidence and clinical course of COVID-19, but data are scarce. The COvid MEdicaTion (COMET) study is an observational, multinational study that focused on the clinical course of COVID-19 (i.e.

COvid MEdicaTion (COMET) study: protocol for a cohort study.

Various theories about drugs such as ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) in relation to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 are circulating in both mainstream media and medical literature. These are based on the fact that ACE2 facilitates SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion via binding of a viral spike protein to ACE2. However, the effect of ACE inhibitors, ARBs and other drugs on ACE2 is unclear and all theories are based on conflicting evidence mainly from animal studies.

[Medicines: what has the last decade given us and what can we expect in the coming 10 years?].

Recent years have seen important changes in pharmacology. New techniques have been developed which are increasingly aimed at smaller groups of patients or even individual patients. In the past, thousands of chemical molecules were tested on a potential molecular target and the most effective molecules were selected.

[The polypill for cardiovascular disease: why is it used so infrequently?].

Cardiovascular polypills or fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy have been advocated to improve treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease since 2003. Yet, it is still used infrequently in current practice. This is in contrast to the widespread use of fixed-dose drug combinations for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria worldwide.

Combined use of polypill components in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objectives A polypill containing aspirin, a statin and blood pressure (BP)-lowering agents has been proposed for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. To increase adherence and reduce the gaps between indicated and used therapy, a polypill might be of interest for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Our aim was to assess the prevalence of the combined use of polypill components in patients with T2DM over time.

Impact of switching from different treatment regimens to a fixed-dose combination pill (polypill) in patients with cardiovascular disease or similarly high risk.

Aims Cardiovascular fixed-dose combination pills, or polypills, may help address the widespread lack of access and adherence to proven medicines. Initiation of polypill-based care typically entails switching from current separately taken medications. Given the heterogeneity in usual care, there is interest in the impact of polypill treatment across different patterns of prior medication regimen.

Estimated cardiovascular relative risk reduction from fixed-dose combination pill (polypill) treatment in a wide range of patients with a moderate risk of cardiovascular disease.

Aims: Recent data indicate that fixed-dose combination (FDC) pills, polypills, can produce sizeable risk factor reductions. There are very few published data on the consistency of the effects of a polypill in different patient populations. It is unclear for example whether the effects of the polypill are mainly driven by the individuals with high individual risk factor levels.

The combined use of aspirin, a statin, and blood pressure-lowering agents (polypill components) and the risk of vascular morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background And Aims: Patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD) are likely to receive a combination of aspirin, a statin, and blood pressure (BP)-lowering agents. Combining these pharmacologic agents into a cardiovascular combination pill, such as a polypill, could be considered to reduce prescription gaps and nonadherence in high-risk patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the concomitant use of aspirin, a statin, and BP-lowering agent(s) in patients with CAD on vascular morbidity and mortality in current clinical practice in an observational study to provide insights in the combination pill concept related to feasibility and applicability.