Panminerva medica
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Review
Exercise for slowing the progression of atherosclerotic process: effects on inflammatory markers.
Atherosclerosis is a dynamic process driven by all cardiovascular risk factors that can be briefly divided into an early and a late phase. Inflammation is one of the fundamental substrates that initiates the atherosclerotic process in the early stages and promotes and maintains it in the final stages. ⋯ The present review aimed at investigating the effect of physical exercise on inflammatory mediators, both the positive ones that have a proinflammatory effect (interleukin 6, c-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor α, interferon γ, high-mobility group box-1), and the negative ones which have an anti-inflammatory effect (interleukin 10). Pooled data support the evidence that physical exercise can directly modulate the activity of inflammatory cytokines slowing down or preventing the formation of the atherosclerotic stage.
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Multicenter Study
A novel algorithm for the computation of the diastolic pressure ratio in the invasive assessment of the functional significance of coronary artery disease.
Invasive functional assessment is a mainstay in the management of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), but there is uncertainty on the comparative accuracy of diagnostic indices of functional significance. We aimed to validate the diagnostic performance of a novel non-hyperemic diastolic pressure ratio (dPR). ⋯ This multicenter registry suggests this novel dPR algorithm provides results that are numerically equivalent to iFR. Pending further studies, physicians may consider using this novel dPR algorithm to gauge the functional significance of a coronary lesion.
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The increased efficacy of cancer therapy has resulted in greater cancer survival and increasing number of people with cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The sharing of risk factors, the bidirectional relationship between cancer and cardiovascular diseases and the cardiotoxic effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are the cause of the rapid expansion of cardio-oncology. All strategies to preserve cardiovascular health and mitigate the negative effect of cancer therapy, by reducing the cardiovascular risk, must be pursued to enable the timely and complete delivery of anticancer therapy and to achieve the longest remission of the disease. ⋯ Furthermore, particular attention will be paid to how CORE can counterbalance the negative effect of therapies in those at heightened cardiovascular risk after a cancer diagnosis. Barriers for implementation, including personal, family, social and of the health care system barriers for a widespread diffusion of the CORE will also be discussed. Finally, there will be a call-to-action, for randomized clinical trials that can test the impact of CORE, on morbidity and mortality.
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Since CR was introduced, studies have been carried out to discover the effect of CRHPs on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and on heart-disease patients' quality of life. The first meta-analyses showed improvement in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, although the studies were conducted in the coronary pre-reperfusion era, before the generalized use in secondary prevention of drugs such as statins, beta-blockers, or renin-angiotensin-system inhibitors, which have produced a decrease in cardiovascular mortality. In Europe, analyzing 25 studies with more than 200,000 patients. ⋯ Compared to the usual treatments in cardiology, the patients who underwent CRHPs presented fewer readmissions for cardiovascular reasons (17% vs. 43.38%, P<0.001), fewer major cardiovascular events (11.9% vs. 27.2%, P<0.001) and new revascularizations (9.3% vs. 21.32%, P=0.001), with lower cardiovascular mortality (0 vs. 2.2%, P=0.014). It also led to better control of the RFCV (66% vs. 19.85%, P<0.001) and favored lifestyle changes in these patients (91% vs. 61%, P<0.001). Therefore, in our setting, the performance of CRHPs was shown to be effective in reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and in the secondary prevention of coronary patients.