[Risk profile in acute myocardial infarction: a necessary assessment for the population's comparisons].

Objective: The aim of this study is to show that differences of mortality, in acute myocardial infarction, observed between hospitals are not necessarily linked to a bad application of guidelines but can be linked to differences in the risk profile of the populations.

Methods: Two populations admitted for ST and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction in the same region in 2006 were compared: the population of Chalon-sur-Saône's hospital with a standard population from the observatoire des Infarctus de Côte d'Or (RICO). The risk profile of the two populations has been realised with the risk scores GRACE, EMMACE and the Simple Risk Index (SRI).

[Acute lung oedema during a tako-tsubo syndrome associated with mitral stenosis].

The tako-tsubo syndrome is the subject of a lot of publications focusing on the different circumstances of discovery (emotion, anesthetic stress...

[Recurrent delayed pericarditis after pacemaker implantation: a post-pericardiotomy-like syndrome?].

Introduction: Pacemaker implantation is a usual technique in cardiology which may be followed by acute pleural effusion and delayed unusual pericarditis.

Case Report: We reported the case of a 67 year-old man hospitalized for faintness. Rhythmical auricular disease was diagnosed and pacemaker was implanted without immediate complication.

[Risk assessment of hypertension: from population to individual].

Epidemiological studies have contributed to our understanding of several aspects of hypertension which could not have been remarked upon by clinical medicine alone: 1) the continuous nature of the relationship between the level of hypertension and cardiovascular risk has shown that the clinical definition by criteria based on numbers is arbitrary and should be adjusted according to the context and therapeutic management; 2) the risk of high blood pressure is strongly dependent on the presence or absence of other risk factors (smoking, diabetes, serum lipids, left ventricular hypertrophy), a factor which is not sufficiently taken into account in clinical practice; 3) assessment of the absolute risk of an individual on the basis of the respective roles of the principal risk factors is a useful guide to treatment. Moreover, population studies have shown that mild increases in blood pressure, associated with a long individual risk, are responsible for a large number of cardiovascular events because of the many people affected. Preventive action on the whole population is necessary in addition to individual therapeutic intervention in the clinical setting.