Lipoprotein(a) as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Diseases: Pathophysiology and Treatment Perspectives.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, despite all the progress achieved as regards to both prevention and treatment. Having high levels of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease that operates independently. It can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease even when LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels are within the recommended range, which is referred to as residual cardiovascular risk.

A new integrated approach to cardiac mechanics: reference values for normal left ventricle.

The association between left ventricular (LV) myocardial deformation and hemodynamic forces is still mostly unexplored. The normative values and the effects of demographic and technical factors on hemodynamic forces are not known. The authors studied the association between LV myocardial deformation and hemodynamic forces in a large cohort of healthy volunteers.

Prediction of early- and long-term mortality in adult patients acutely admitted to internal medicine: NRS-2002 and beyond.

Background & Aims: In hospitalized patients malnutrition is a risk factor for adverse clinical outcomes. The Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) represents a quick and simple tool to identify malnutrition risk in this population. No study tested the predictive power of NRS-2002 on mortality adjusting for confounders related to patient's complexity, thus considering conditions such as functional status, illness-related severity and inflammation.