Reproducibility of daytime hypertension, night-time hypertension, and nocturnal blood pressure dipping patterns in young to middle age patients with stage 1 hypertension.

Objective: To investigate the reproducibility of ambulatory BP sub-periods and nocturnal dipping phenotypes assessed twice 3 months apart in young-to-middle-age untreated individuals screened for stage 1 hypertension.

Design And Methods: We investigated 1096, 18-to-45-year old participants from the HARVEST. Their office BP was 145.

Papillomavirus infection and male infertility: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aims: Increasing attention is being paid to the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in men and specifically reproduction. Growing evidence suggests an association between HPV infection with many adverse effects including the impairment of semen parameters, the increase of blastocyst apoptosis, the reduction of endometrial implantation of trophoblastic cells, as well as the increase rate of miscarriages and spontaneous preterm birth.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, CINHAL, PsycINFO, and ERIC from inception to 2nd of July 2024, for studies that investigated the association between HPV infection with sperm parameters and fertility outcomes.

Assessing the state of obesity care: Quality, access, guidelines, and standards.

Background: An international panel of obesity medicine experts from multiple professional organizations examined patterns of obesity care and current obesity treatment guidelines to identify areas requiring updating in response to emerging science and clinical evidence.

Aims: The panel focused on multiple medical health and societal issues influencing effective treatment of obesity and identified several unmet needs in the definition, assessment, and care of obesity.

Methods: The panel was held in Leesburg, Virginia in September 2019.

Belantamab mafodotin in triple-refractory multiple myeloma patients: A retro-prospective observational study in Italy.

Belantamab mafodotin is the first-in-class antibody-drug conjugates targeting B-cell maturation antigen to have demonstrated effectiveness in triple-class refractory multiple myeloma (TCR-MM) patients. We performed a retrospective study including 78 TCR patients, with at least four prior lines of therapy (LOTs), who received belantamab mafodotin within named patient program and expanded access program in Italy between 2020 and 2022. Median age was 65 years (range 42-86 years), ECOG performance status was ≥1 in 45% of patients.

Assessment and management of exaggerated blood pressure response to standing and orthostatic hypertension: consensus statement by the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability.

Recent evidence suggests that an exaggerated blood pressure (BP) response to standing (ERTS) is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes, both in young and old individuals. In addition, ERTS has been shown to be an independent predictor of masked hypertension. In the vast majority of studies reporting on the prognostic value of orthostatic hypertension (OHT), the definition was based only on systolic office BP measurements.

Healthy overweight and obesity in the young: Prevalence and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events.

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of metabolically healthy overweight/obesity and to study its longitudinal association with major adverse cardiovascular and renal events (MARCE).

Methods And Results: The study was conducted in 1210 young-to-middle-age subjects grouped according to their BMI and metabolic status. The risk of MARCE was evaluated during 17.

Blood pressure response to standing is a strong determinant of masked hypertension in young to middle-age individuals.

Objective: The pathophysiologic mechanisms of masked hypertension are still debated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the blood pressure response to standing is a determinant of masked hypertension in young individuals.

Design And Methods: We studied 1078 individuals (mean age 33.

Location and allocation: Inequity of access to liver transplantation for patients with severe acute-on-chronic liver failure in Europe.

There is growing evidence that liver transplantation (LT) is the most effective treatment for acute-on-chronic liver failure grade-3 (ACLF-3). This study examines whether and how this evidence translates into practice by analyzing the variability in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, listing strategies, and LT activity for patients with ACLF-3 across transplantation centers in Europe. Consecutive patients who were admitted to the ICU with ACLF-3, whether or not they were listed and/or transplanted with ACLF-3, between 2018 and 2019 were included across 20 transplantation centers.

Home blood pressure monitoring: methodology, clinical relevance and practical application: a 2021 position paper by the Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability of the European Society of Hypertension.

The present paper provides an update of previous recommendations on Home Blood Pressure Monitoring from the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring and Cardiovascular Variability sequentially published in years 2000, 2008 and 2010. This update has taken into account new evidence in this field, including a recent statement by the American Heart association, as well as technological developments, which have occurred over the past 20 years. The present document has been developed by the same ESH Working Group with inputs from an international team of experts, and has been endorsed by the ESH.

Development and application of global assays of hyper- and hypofibrinolysis.

Numerous methods for evaluation of global fibrinolytic activity in whole blood or plasma have been proposed, with the majority based on tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) addition to initiate fibrinolysis. We propose that such an approach is useful to reveal hypofibrinolysis, but t-PA concentrations should be kept to a minimum. In this paper, we describe a low-concentration t-PA plasma turbidity assay to evaluate several congenital factor deficiencies, including plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and plasminogen deficiency, as well as hemophilia A and B.

Cardiovascular Risk in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.

New evidence suggests that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has a strong multifaceted relationship with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events, regardless of traditional risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Given the pandemic-level rise of NAFLD-in parallel with the increasing prevalence of obesity and other components of the metabolic syndrome-and its association with poor cardiovascular outcomes, the question of how to manage NAFLD properly, in order to reduce the burden of associated incident cardiovascular events, is both timely and highly relevant. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge of the association between NAFLD and cardiovascular disease, and also to discuss possible clinical strategies for cardiovascular risk assessment, as well as the spectrum of available therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD and its downstream events.

Changes in the Prescription of Glucose-Lowering Medications in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After a Cardiovascular Event: A Call to Action From the DATAFILE Study.

Background Evidence accumulated that some glucose-lowering medications protect against cardiovascular events ( CVEs ) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and established cardiovascular disease. The present study evaluated if and how glucose-lowering medication prescription pattern changes in T2DM after a CVE. Methods and Results DATAFILE (Diabetes Therapy After a Cardiovascular Event) was a retrospective multicenter study conducted at 12 diabetes mellitus specialist outpatient clinics in Italy.

Validation protocols for blood pressure measuring devices: the impact of the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol and the development of a Universal Standard.

In the last three decades protocols for the validation of blood pressure measuring devices have been developed by the US Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, the British Hypertension Society, the German Hypertension League, the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on blood pressure Monitoring and the International Organization for Standardization. The European Society of Hypertension International Protocol required much smaller sample size than the other protocols, aiming to reduce the time, resources and cost of validation studies and thereby increase the number of validated devices. Given its specifications, the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol was adequate for 'high- and low-accuracy' devices, yet assessment of 'moderate accuracy' devices had high uncertainty with resultant high rate of device failure.

Recommendations and Practical Guidance for performing and reporting validation studies according to the Universal Standard for the validation of blood pressure measuring devices by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/European Society of Hypertension/International Organization for Standardization (AAMI/ESH/ISO).

: In the past 30 years, several organizations have developed protocols for clinical validation of blood pressure measuring devices. An international initiative was recently launched by the US Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring (ESH) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), aiming to reach consensus on a universal AAMI/ESH/ISO validation standard. The purpose of this statement by the ESH Working Group on Blood Pressure Monitoring is to provide practical guidance for investigators performing validation studies according to the AAMI/ESH/ISO Universal Standard (ISO 81060-2:2018), to ensure that its stipulations are meticulously implemented and data are fully reported.

Improving Clinical Performance of an Interprofessional Emergency Medical Team Through a One-day Crisis Resource Management Training.

Introduction: Errors are frequent in health care and Emergency Departments are one of the riskiest areas due to frequent changes of team composition, complexity and variety of the cases and difficulties encountered in managing multiple patients. As the majority of clinical errors are the results of human factors and not technical in nature or due to the lack of knowledge, a training focused on these factors appears to be necessary. Crisis resource management (CRM), a tool that was developed initially by the aviation industry and then adopted by different medical specialties as anesthesia and emergency medicine, has been associated with decreased error rates.

Relationship Between Electrocardiographic Findings and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Phenotypes in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy.

Background The new designation of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy defines a broader spectrum of disease phenotypes, which include right dominant, biventricular, and left dominant variants. We evaluated the relationship between electrocardiographic findings and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance phenotypes in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Methods and Results We studied a consecutive cohort of patients with a definite diagnosis of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, according to 2010 International Task Force criteria, who underwent electrocardiography and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance.

Improving the accuracy of blood pressure measurement: the influence of the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol (ESH-IP) for the validation of blood pressure measuring devices and future perspectives.

Introduction: The European Society of Hypertension (ESH) International Protocol (ESH-IP) for the validation of blood pressure (BP) measuring devices was published in 2002, with the main objective of simplifying the validation procedures, so that more BP monitors would be subjected to independent validation. This article provides an overview of the international impact of the ESH-IP and of the lessons learned from its use, to be able to justify further developments in validation protocols.

Methods: A review of published (PubMed) validation studies from 2002 to 2017 was performed.

A universal standard for the validation of blood pressure measuring devices: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation/European Society of Hypertension/International Organization for Standardization (AAMI/ESH/ISO) Collaboration Statement.

: In the last 30 years, several organizations, such as the US Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), the British Hypertension Society, the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Blood Pressure (BP) Monitoring and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have developed protocols for clinical validation of BP measuring devices. However, it is recognized that science, as well as patients, consumers and manufacturers would be best served if all BP measuring devices were assessed for accuracy according to an agreed single validation protocol that had global acceptance. Therefore, an international initiative was taken by AAMI, ESH and ISO experts who agreed to develop a universal standard for device validation.

Implanted Closed-Loop Gastric Electrical Stimulation (CLGES) System with Sensor-Based Feedback Safely Limits Weight Regain at 24 Months.

Background: Weight regain following bariatric surgery is not uncommon. Safe, effective weight loss treatment up to 1 year has been reported with the closed-loop gastric electrical stimulation (CLGES) system. Continuous recording of eating and activity behavior by onboard sensors is one of the novel features of this closed-loop electrical stimulation therapy, and may provide improved long-term weight maintenance by enhancing aftercare.

Post-implant Analysis of Epidemiologic and Eating Behavior Data Related to Weight Loss Effectiveness in Obese Patients Treated with Gastric Electrical Stimulation.

Objective: To determine possible preoperative predictors for obtaining clinically meaningful weight loss with gastric electrical stimulation (GES) using the "Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire" (TFEQ) as well as epidemiological data.

Methods: Ninety-seven obese participants in a prospective multicenter randomized study conducted in nine European centers were implanted laparoscopically with the abiliti® closed-loop GES system (CLGES). Five clinical variables and three preoperative TFEQ factor scores (F1-cognitive-restraint, F2-disinhibition, and F3-hunger) were analyzed in order to determine predictors of weight loss success defined as excess weight loss (EWL) > 30% and failure defined as EWL < 20% at 12 months post-surgery.

Hypovitaminosis D and orthostatic hypotension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Orthostatic hypotension is a common condition among older adults and is associated with a range of deleterious outcomes. Recently, interest has developed in hypovitaminosis D (defined as low 25 hydroxiyvitamin D levels) as a potential risk factor for orthostatic hypotension. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the association of orthostatic hypotension between study participants with and without hypovitaminosis D, including the adjustment of potential confounders (age, sex, BMI, renal function, comorbidities, seasonality, use of antihypertensive medications, and supplementation with cholecalciferol).