European heart journal
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This paper provides an update for 2014 on the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and in particular coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, across the countries of Europe. Cardiovascular disease causes more deaths among Europeans than any other condition, and in many countries still causes more than twice as many deaths as cancer. ⋯ The differing recent trends have therefore led to increasing inequalities in the burden of CVD between countries. For some Eastern European countries, including Russia and Ukraine, the mortality rate for CHD for 55-60 year olds is greater than the equivalent rate in France for people 20 years older.
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European heart journal · Nov 2014
Practice Guideline2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of aortic diseases: Document covering acute and chronic aortic diseases of the thoracic and abdominal aorta of the adult. The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Aortic Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
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Venous thrombo-embolism is the third most frequent acute cardiovascular syndrome after myocardial infarction and stroke. Recently published landmark trials paved the way for significant progress in the management of the disease and provided the evidence for the ESC Pulmonary Embolism (PE) Guidelines 2014 update. Risk stratification strategies for non-high-risk PE continue to evolve, with an increasing emphasis on clinical prediction rules and right ventricular (RV) assessment on computed tomographic pulmonary angiography. ⋯ A multicentre prospective phase 4 trial will determine whether early discharge and out-of-hospital treatment of low-risk PE with the oral factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban is feasible, effective, and safe. For intermediate-risk PE defined on the basis of imaging tests and laboratory biomarkers, the bleeding risks of full-dose thrombolytic treatment appear too high to justify its use, unless clinical signs of haemodynamic decompensation appear. Patients in whom PE has resulted in chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary hypertension and who are not suitable for pulmonary endarterectomy, may be expected to benefit from emerging pharmaceutical and interventional treatment options.