[Disease management for heart failure patients: role of wireless technologies for telemedicine. The ICAROS project].

Healthcare costs for heart failure are increasing. The need for a better care, however, has to be matched with a policy of cost containment. A way to improve the cost-effectiveness of heart failure care is the disease management approach, in which therapy, education and follow-up are tailored for each patient by a multidisciplinary team.

The relationship between systolic blood pressure and cardiovascular risk--results of the Brisighella Heart Study.

We examined the relationship of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, and pulse pressure to coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease risk in a prospective population-based European cohort. The Brisighella Heart Study included 2939 men and women between the ages of 14-84 without prior coronary heart disease or cerebrovascular disease and not taking antihypertensive therapy at baseline. Cox regression was used to obtain hazard ratios (HRs) for coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease as a function of baseline blood pressure parameters over a 23-year follow-up.

Systolic and pulse blood pressures (but not diastolic blood pressure and serum cholesterol) are associated with alterations in carotid intima-media thickness in the moderately hypercholesterolaemic hypertensive patients of the Plaque Hypertension Lipid Lowering Italian Study. PHYLLIS study group.

Objective: The Plaque Hypertension Lipid Lowering Italian Study (PHYLLIS), is the first study in patients with hypertension (diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 95-115 mmHg; systolic blood pressure (SBP) 150-210 mmHg), moderate hypercholesterolaemia (LDL-cholesterol 4.14-5.17 mmol/l (160-200 mg/dl) and initial carotid artery alterations (maximum intima-media thickness (IMT) Tmax > or = 1.

Intima-media thickness after pravastatin stabilizes also in patients with moderate to no reduction in LDL-cholesterol levels: the carotid atherosclerosis Italian ultrasound study.

The Carotid Atherosclerosis Italian Ultrasound study (CAIUS), a multicenter, double-blind clinical trial, performed in 305 asymptomatic, moderately hypercholesterolemic patients, clearly demonstrated beneficial effects of pravastatin on the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) progression. The database of the CAIUS study was examined in order to investigate the presence of a relationship, if any, between the activity of pravastatin on IMT progression rate and its hypocholesterolemic effect. Quantitative B-mode ultrasound imaging was used to quantify the individual mean maximum IMT progression rate in 3 years.

Effect of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension and primary hypercholesterolemia.

Certain hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, ie, statins, may cause vasodilation by restoring the endothelial dysfunction that frequently accompanies hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Several studies have found that a blood pressure reduction is associated with the use of statins, but conclusive evidence from controlled trials is lacking. After an 8-week placebo and diet run-in period, 30 persons with moderate hypercholesterolemia and untreated hypertension (total cholesterol 6.