Background. The efficacy of risk model scores to predict venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ambulatory cancer patients is under investigation, aiming to stratify on an individual risk basis the subset of the cancer population that could mostly benefit from primary thromboprophylaxis. Materials and Methods. We prospectively assessed 843 patients with active cancers, collecting clinical and laboratory data. We screened all the patients with a duplex ultrasound (B-mode imaging and Doppler waveform analysis) of the upper and lower limbs to evaluate the right incidence of VTE (both asymptomatic and symptomatic). The efficacy of the existing Khorana risk model in preventing VTE was also explored in our population. Several risk factors associated with VTE were analyzed, leading to the construction of a risk model. The Fine and Gray model was used to account for death as a competing risk in the derivation of the new model.

The results of this meta-analysis indicate that restriction of dietary sodium intake reduces arterial stiffness. This effect seems be at least in part independent of the changes in blood pressure.

The results of this analysis indicate that habitual moderate coffee intake is not associated with higher risk of HPT in the general population and that in fact a non-linear inverse dose-response relationship occurs between coffee consumption and risk of HPT.

The results of this meta-analysis suggest that statin therapy reduces AS. This effect appears to be at least in part independent of the changes in blood pressure and lipid profile.

Central blood pressure (cBP) is highly associated with cardiovascular risk. Although reduction of salt intake leads to lower peripheral blood pressure (BP), the studies on cBP provided inconsistent results. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and a meta‐analysis of the available intervention trials of salt reduction on cBP values to reach definitive conclusions. A systematic search of the online databases available (up to December 2018) was conducted including the intervention trials that reported non‐invasively assessed cBP changes after two different salt intake regimens. For each study, the mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were pooled using a random‐effect model. Sensitivity, heterogeneity, publication bias, subgroup, and meta‐regression analyses were performed. Fourteen studies met the pre‐defined inclusion criteria and provided 17 cohorts with 457 participants with 1‐13 weeks of intervention time. In the pooled analysis, salt restriction was associated with a significant reduction in augmentation index (9.3%) as well as central systolic BP and central pulse pressure. There was a significant heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 70%), but no evidence of publication bias. Peripheral BP changes seemed to partially interfere on the relationship between salt restriction and cBP. The results of this meta‐analysis indicate that dietary salt restriction reduces cBP. This effect seems to be, at least in part, independent of the changes in peripheral BP.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between cholesterol contained in very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL-C), intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL-C), low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins, and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaques in 228 postmenopausal women (63.1 ± 8.2 years) who participated in the ATENA Project and underwent clinical, biochemical (including the assay of lipoproteins using the Lipoprint system), and carotid ultrasound tests. Very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol had a statistically significant linear association with cIMT ( P< .001), which remained significant after adjustment for age, smoking, systolic blood pressure, glucose, and body mass index ( r = .20, P < .05). Higher concentrations of IDL-C and cholesterol contained in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL-C, ie, VLDL-C + IDL-C) were associated with plaques in the common carotid (tertile III/tertile I: odds ratio [OR] = 2.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21-5.32, P < .02; OR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.05-5.01, P < .05, respectively), after adjustment for main cardiovascular risk factors. In conclusion, high concentrations of VLDL-C and TRL-C are independently associated with the presence of carotid plaques. Their assay represents a useful tool for improving our knowledge on the role of different classes of lipoproteins in atherosclerosis.

No abstract

No abstract