Effect of single-pill versus free equivalent combinations on persistence and major adverse cardiovascular events in hypertension: a real-world analysis.

Objectives: Hypertension guidelines recommend the use of single-pill combinations (SPCs) of antihypertensive drugs to improve treatment persistence and blood pressure control. This study aimed to investigate the long-term effects of ramipril/amlodipine (R/A) SPC versus free equivalent dose combinations (FEC) on cardiovascular outcomes and treatment persistence.

Methods: This retrospective, observational study analysed the database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund.

White-coat effect and masked hypertension in patients with high-normal office blood pressure: results of the Hungarian ABPM Registry.

Objective: Blood pressure (BP) lowering therapy in hypertension can markedly reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In case of high-normal office blood pressure (oBP), the initiation of antihypertensive medication is recommended by guidelines in patients with very high cardiovascular risk. The aims of this study were to evaluate the presence of white-coat high-normal BP (WhHNBP) and masked hypertension in high-normal oBP and to explore the prevalence of untreated very high cardiovascular risk patients.

All-Cause Mortality of Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure in the Same Patient: Does the Order Matter?

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) often coexist due to the common elements of the pathomechanism they share. The potential significance of the order these entities present in the same patient is ill-defined. Herein, we report our results from a nationwide database on the occurrence of various sequences AF and HF may present, the time delays between the two conditions and all-cause mortality associated with different scenarios.

May Measurement Month 2021: an analysis of blood pressure screening results from Hungary.

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are still the leading cause of mortality in Hungary. Therefore, screening programmes identifying subjects with hypertension have an important role in CVD prevention. In 2017, the International Society of Hypertension initiated May Measurement Month (MMM) aimed at raising awareness of elevated BP.

Management of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease referred to Hypertension Excellence Centres among 27 countries. On behalf of the European Society of Hypertension Working Group on Hypertension and the Kidney.

Objective Real-life management of patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) among European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centres (ESH-ECs) is unclear : we aimed to investigate it. Methods A survey was conducted in 2023. The questionnaire contained 64 questions asking ESH-ECs representatives to estimate how patients with CKD are managed.

Cortical signatures of auditory looming bias show cue-specific adaptation between newborns and young adults.

Adaptive biases in favor of approaching, or "looming", sounds have been found across ages and species, thereby implicating the potential of their evolutionary origin and universal basis. The human auditory system is well-developed at birth, yet spatial hearing abilities further develop with age. To disentangle the speculated inborn, evolutionary component of the auditory looming bias from its learned counterpart, we collected high-density electroencephalographic data across human adults and newborns.

Cardio-ankle vascular index for predicting cardiovascular morbimortality and determinants for its progression in the prospective advanced approach to arterial stiffness (TRIPLE-A-Stiffness) study.

Background: The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) measure of arterial stiffness is associated with prevalent cardiovascular risk factors, while its predictive value for cardiovascular events remains to be established. The aim was to determine associations of CAVI with cardiovascular morbimortality (primary outcome) and all-cause mortality (secondary outcome), and to establish the determinants of CAVI progression.

Methods: TRIPLE-A-Stiffness, an international multicentre prospective longitudinal study, enrolled >2000 subjects ≥40 years old at 32 centres from 18 European countries.

Frequency of office blood pressure measurements and the seasonal variability of blood pressure: results of the Hungarian Hypertension Registry.

Purpose: Hypertension is a major public health problem, thus, its timely and appropriate diagnosis and management are crucial for reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The aim of the new Hungarian Hypertension Registry is to evaluate the blood pressure measurement practices of general practitioners (GPs), internists and cardiologists in outpatient clinics, as well as to assess the seasonal variability of blood pressure.

Materials And Methods: Omron M3 IT devices were used during four-month periods between October 2018 and April 2023 in GP practices and in hypertension clinics.

A RAND/UCLA-Modified VAS Study on Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Virtual Care in Daily Clinical Practice of Vascular Medicine.

Telemedicine is increasingly used in several fields of healthcare, including vascular medicine. This study aimed to investigate the views of experts and propose clinical practice recommendations on the possible applications of telemedicine in vascular medicine. A clinical guidance group proposed a set of 67 clinical practice recommendations based on the synthesis of current evidence and expert opinion.

The economic burden of obesity in 4 south-eastern European countries associated with obesity-related co-morbidities.

Objective: To provide an assessment of the cost burden of obesity across a spectrum of obesity-related comorbidities (ORCs) for four countries in South-Eastern Europe (SEE).

Methods: A micro-costing analysis from the public payer perspective was conducted to estimate direct healthcare costs associated with ten obesity-related comorbidities (ORCs) in Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, and Romania. A survey was administered to obtain healthcare resource use and unit cost data.

Incidence and predictors of heart failure with improved ejection fraction category in a HFrEF patient population.

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and predictive factors of the development of heart failure with improved ejection fraction (HFimpEF) category during a 1 year follow-up period in a heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patient population managed in a heart failure outpatient clinic.

Methods And Results: The study evaluated data from patients enrolled in the Hungarian Heart Failure Registry (HHFR). The incidence and predictive factors of the development of the HFimpEF category after 1 year follow-up were assessed in the group of patients who had HFrEF at baseline.

Useful Electrocardiographic Signs to Support the Prediction of Favorable Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a cornerstone therapeutic opportunity for selected patients with heart failure. For optimal patient selection, no other method has been proven to be more effective than the 12-lead ECG, and hence ECG characteristics are extensively researched. The evaluation of particular ECG signs before the implantation may improve selection and, consequently, clinical outcomes.

Auditory learning of recurrent tone sequences is present in the newborn's brain.

The seemingly effortless ability of our auditory system to rapidly detect new events in a dynamic environment is crucial for survival. Whether the underlying brain processes are innate is unknown. To answer this question, electroencephalography was recorded while regularly patterned (REG) versus random (RAND) tone sequences were presented to sleeping neonates.

The importance of socio-economic determinants of health in the care of patients with peripheral artery disease: A narrative review from VAS.

Socio-economic determinants of health (SDoH) include various nonmedical factors in the socio-economic sphere with a potentially significant impact on health outcomes. Their effects manifest through several mediators/moderators (behavioral characteristics, physical environment, psychosocial circumstances, access to care, and biological factors). Various critical covariates (age, gender/sex, race/ethnicity, culture/acculturation, and disability status) also interact.

Mortality on DOACs Versus on Vitamin K Antagonists in Atrial Fibrillation: Analysis of the Hungarian Health Insurance Fund Database.

Purpose: Limited real-world data are available on the survival of patients treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) versus with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). In this nationwide registry, we analyzed the mortality risk of patients with nonvalvular AF taking DOACs versus VKAs, with a special attention to the early treatment period.

Methods: The Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) database was searched to identify patients treated with VKA or DOAC as a thromboembolic prophylaxis for nonvalvular AF between 2011 and 2016.

Evaluation of lipoprotein(a) in the prevention and management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A survey among the Lipid Clinics Network.

Background And Aims: The European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) Lipid Clinics Network promoted a survey in order to identify and understand how and when lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is tested and clinically evaluated in lipid clinics throughout Europe, and the challenges that may prevent evaluation from being carried out.

Methods: This survey was divided into three areas of inquiry: background and clinical setting information of clinicians, questions for doctors who claimed not to measure Lp(a), in order to understand what were the reasons for not ordering the test, and questions for doctors who measure Lp(a), to investigate the use of this value in the management of patients.

Results: A total of 151 centres clinicians filled in the survey, out of 226 invited.

Improved Accuracy of Lymph Node Staging and Long-Term Survival Benefit in Colorectal Cancer With Arterial Methylene Blue Infiltration.

methylene blue (MB) injection into the main supplying arteries of the colorectal specimen after surgical removal is an uncomplicated technique to support lymph node harvest during pathological evaluation. The primary aim of this randomized, interventional, bicentric trial was to evaluate the impact of MB injection on lymph node yield, with secondary aims assessing the accuracy of lymph node staging and the effect on 5-year overall survival for patients undergoing resection of colorectal cancer. In the study period between December 2013 and August 2015, 200 colorectal resections were performed at two independent onco-surgery centers of Hungary.