Microalbuminuria during acute coronary syndrome: Association with 22-year mortality and causes of death. The ABC-8* study on heart disease. (*ABC is an acronym for Adria, Bassano, Conegliano, and Padova Hospitals).

Background: Microalbuminuria is associated with adverse outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients.

Methods: To evaluate the very long-term association between Microalbuminuria and the overall mortality and causes of death in this clinical setting, we prospectively studied 579 unselected ACS patients admitted to three hospitals. The baseline albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) was measured on days 1, 3, and 7 in 24-h urine samples.

Differences in Cancer Death Risk Long After ACS Among Selected Urban and Rural Areas in North Italy: The ABC-7a Study on Heart Disease.

Background: An increased risk of cancer death has been demonstrated for patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We are investigating possible geographic risk disparities.

Methods: This prospective study included 541 ACS patients who were admitted to hospitals and discharged alive in three provinces of Italy's Veneto region.

Risk of malignancy long after acute coronary syndrome in selected urban and rural areas and comparison with smoking risk: the ABC-7* study on Heart Disease.

Background: Increased cancer risk has been reported in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Objectives: To investigate geographic differences in risk malignancy long after ACS.

Methods: We enrolled 586 ACS patients admitted to hospitals in three provinces in the Veneto region of Italy in this prospective study.

Heart failure in women and men during acute coronary syndrome and long-term cardiovascular mortality (the ABC-3* Study on Heart Disease) (*Adria, Bassano, Conegliano, and Padova Hospitals).

Aims: We investigated the gender-based differences in the association between heart failure (HF) during acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and post-discharge, long-term cardiovascular (CV) mortality.

Methods And Results: The present study included 557 patients enrolled in three intensive coronary care units and discharged alive. HF during ACS was evaluated by Killip class and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

Predictors of ten-year event-free survival in patients with acute myocardial infarction (from the Adria, Bassano, Conegliano, and Padova Hospitals [ABC] study on myocardial infarction).

The long-term event-free survival (EFS) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is largely uninvestigated. We analyzed noninvasive clinical variables in association with long-term EFS after AMI. The present prospective study included 504 consecutive patients with AMI at 3 hospitals from 1995 to 1998 (Adria, Bassano, Conegliano, and Padova Hospitals [ABC] study).

Comparison of C-reactive protein and albumin excretion as prognostic markers for 10-year mortality after myocardial infarction.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an established prognostic marker in the setting of acute coronary syndromes. Recently, albumin excretion rate also has been found to be associated with adverse outcomes in this clinical setting. Our aim was to compare the prognostic power of CRP and albumin excretion rate for long-term mortality following acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Acute-phase inflammatory markers during myocardial infarction: association with mortality and modes of death after 7 years of follow-up.

Background: The relationship between acute-phase inflammatory markers in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and long-term outcomes is largely unexplored.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the predictive power of acute-phase inflammatory markers following AMI for short-term and long-term mortality separately and modes of death.

Methods: In 220 unselected patients with AMI [median age 67 (interquartile range 60-74) years, women 26%], blood neutrophil granulocytes, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and alpha1-acid glycoprotein were measured 1, 3 and 7 days after admission.

Atrial fibrillation during acute myocardial infarction: association with all-cause mortality and sudden death after 7-year of follow-up.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF/FL) is a common complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Indeed, the determinants of AF/FL in AMI-patients and the association of AF/FL with mortality are not well-known. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between presence of AF/FL and mortality in patients with AMI and to report on predictors of AF/FL.

Albumin excretion in acute myocardial infarction: a guide for long-term prognosis.

Background: Albumin excretion rate has been found to be associated with increased risk of mortality in several clinical settings. We assessed the relationship between urinary albumin and 7-year mortality in a cohort of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Methods: In this prospective study, we examined 505 white patients admitted with AMI to the intensive care unit of 3 hospitals.

Albumin excretion in diabetic patients in the setting of acute myocardial infarction: association with 3-year mortality.

Aims/hypothesis: Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased mortality in subjects with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We aimed to estimate the risk of mortality in AMI patients with and without diabetes using the urinary albumin : creatinine ratio (ACR).

Methods: This is a prospective study of 121 consecutive, non-selected diabetic AMI patients, 121 age- and sex-matched non-diabetic AMI patients and 61 diabetic non-AMI outpatients as control subjects.

Risk stratification after acute myocardial infarction: role of neurohormones, inflammatory markers and albumin excretion rate.

Activation of several neurohormonal systems occurs during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and is associated with short- and long-term outcomes. In the last few years, many circulating factors have received close attention but it is not clear which are the best prognostic indicators of mortality. Renin and natriuretic cardiac peptides appeared to be strong predictors of outcome in patients with AMI, and could represent helpful markers of risk in these patients.

C-reactive protein in acute myocardial infarction: association with heart failure.

Background: High C-reactive protein (CRP) levels have been associated with higher mortality rate in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, it is not known whether inflammation plays a role in the time-course of heart failure (HF) in this clinical setting. Our aim was to study the nature of the relationship between CRP and HF during AMI.

Heart rate during myocardial infarction: relationship with one-year global mortality in men and women.

Background: Elevated heart rate (HR) has been found to be related to an increased death rate in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but sex differences and optimal timing for HR measurement have not been sufficiently investigated.

Objectives: To verify the predictive value of HR for one-year mortality in a cohort of subjects hospitalized for AMI, with men and women considered separately.

Patients And Methods: HR was measured in 424 patients (303 men and 121 women) with constant sinus HR, on the first, third and seventh days after hospital admission for AMI.

Clinical features associated with pre-hospital time delay in acute myocardial infarction.

Background: The pre-hospital time delay in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is still a challenging problem since for many patients there are long intervals between the onset of symptoms and the initiation of therapy. The aim of this study was to verify which, among several clinical variables, are associated with a prolonged pre-hospital time delay.

Methods: Five hundred and twenty-six unselected patients with AMI and consecutively admitted to three coronary care units were enrolled.

Microalbuminuria during acute myocardial infarction; a strong predictor for 1-year mortality.

Aims: Urinary albumin excretion increases during acute myocardial infarction but little is known on the prognostic significance and the pathophysiological mechanisms of microalbuminuria in this clinical setting. The primary aim of the study was to examine whether urinary albumin excretion has predictive power for 1-year mortality after acute myocardial infarction. A secondary objective was to gain insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms of increased urinary albumin in myocardial infarction.

Lithium alone or in combination with carbamazepine for the treatment of rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder.

The authors retrospectively examined the clinical outcome (after 1, 2 and 5 years of beginning the therapeutic protocols) for 16 rapid-cycling bipolar affective disorder patients given either lithium alone or lithium plus carbamazepine. The results suggest that both therapeutic protocols have been safe and clinically effective. However, improvement was observed earlier in the patients given lithium and carbamazepine.