Our objective was to construct and validate a Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI) for 1-year mortality from a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) routinely carried out in elderly patients in a geriatric acute ward. The CGA included clinical, cognitive, functional, nutritional, and social parameters and was carried out using six standardized scales and information on medications and social support network, for a total of 63 items in eight domains. A MPI was developed from CGA data by aggregating the total scores of the eight domains and expressing it as a score from 0 to 1. Three grades of MPI were identified: low risk, 0.0-0.33; moderate risk, 0.34-0.66; and severe risk, 0.67-1.0. Using the proportional hazard models, we studied the predictive value of the MPI for all causes of mortality over a 12-month follow-up period. MPI was then validated in a different cohort of consecutively hospitalized patients. The development cohort included 838 and the validation cohort 857 elderly hospitalized patients. Of the patients in the two cohorts, 53.3 and 54.9% were classified in the low-risk group, respectively (MPI mean value, 0.18 ± 0.09 and 0.18 ± 0.09); 31.2 and 30.6% in the moderate-risk group (0.48 ± 0.09 and 0.49 ± 0.09); 15.4 and 14.2% in the severerisk group (0.77 ± 0.08 and 0.75 ± 0.07). In both cohorts, higher MPI scores were significantly associated with older age (p = 0.0001), female sex (p = 0.0001), lower educational level (p = 0.0001), and higher mortality (p = 0.0001). In both cohorts, a close agreement was found between the estimated mortality and the observed mortality after both 6 months and 1 year of follow-up. The discrimination of the MPI was also good, with a ROC area of 0.751 (95%CI, 0.70-0.80) at 6 months and 0.751 (95% CI, 0.71-0.80) at 1 year of follow-up. We conclude that this MPI, calculated from information collected in a standardized CGA, accurately stratifies hospitalized elderly patients into groups at varying risk of mortality.

In insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients survival is significantly affected by the development of nephropathy which leads to renal failure and increased cardiovascular mortality [1].Raised albumin excretion rate (AER) per se is strongly related to early cardiovascular morbidity and mortality both in insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent (NIDDM) diabetic patients [2,3]. Moreover IDDM patients with microalbuminuria, a Diabetologia (1997) Summary Life expectancy is shorter in the subset of insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients who are susceptible to kidney disease. Familial factors may be important. In this study the prevalence of cardiovascular disease mortality and morbidity and of risk factors for cardiovascular disease was compared in the parents of 31 IDDM patients with elevated albumin excretion rate (AER > 45 m g/min; group A) with that of parents of 31 insulin-dependent diabetic patients with normoalbuminuria (AER < 20 m g/min; group B). The two diabetic patient groups were matched for age and duration of disease. Information on deceased parents was obtained from death certificates and clinical records and morbidity for cardiovascular disease was ascertained using the World Health Organization questionnaire and Minnesota coded ECG. Hyperlipidaemia was defined as serum cholesterol higher than 6 mmol/l and/or plasma triglycerides higher than 2.3 mmol/l and/or lipid lowering therapy; arterial hypertension as systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure higher than 90 mmHg and/or antihypertensive treatment. The percentage of dead parents was similar in the two groups (26 vs 20 % for parents of group A vs group B, respectively), but the parents of the diabetic patients with elevated AER had died at a younger age (58 ± 10 vs 70 ± 14 years; p < 0.05). Parents of diabetic patients with nephropathy had a more than three times greater frequency of combined mortality and morbidity for cardiovascular disease than that of the parents of diabetic patients without nephropathy (26 vs 8 %; odds ratio 3.96, 95 % CI 1.3 to 12.2; p < 0.02). Living parents of group A had a higher prevalence of arterial hypertension (42 vs 14 % p < 0.01) and hyperlipidaemia (49 vs 26 % p < 0.05) as well as higher levels of lipoprotein (a) [median (range) 27.2 (1-107) vs 15.6 (0.2-98) mg/dl; p < 0.05]. They also had reduced insulin sensitivity [insulin tolerance test: median (range) K itt index: 3.7 (0.7-6.2) vs 4.8 (0.7-6.7)% per min; p < 0.05]. In the families of IDDM patients with elevated AER there was a higher frequency of risk factors for cardiovascular disease as well as a predisposition to cardiovascular disease events. This may help explain, in part, the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease mortality and morbidity in those IDDM patients who develop nephropathy.

Background: Polymorphism in the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is the major genetic risk factor associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, it is still unclear if a relationship exists between the APOE Ε4 allele and vascular dementia (VaD) in elderly subjects. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of APOE alleles in elderly patients with VaD compared to AD patients and to control subjects with no cognitive impairment (NoCI). Patients and Methods: We evaluated 396 consecutive patients aged ≧65 years with definite or suspected cognitive impairment with a clinical (Mini-Mental State Examination, Clinical Dementia Rating, Geriatric Depression Scale), functional (Activities of Daily Living, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living), comorbidity (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale) and instrumental (CT scan, NMR) assessment. Diagnosis of dementia was made according to NINCDS-ADRDA and NINDS-AIREN Work Group and the DSM-IV. APOE genotypes were analyzed by a recently described method resulting in positive/negative chain reaction products for each APOE genotype. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Pearson χ², the Kruskal-Wallis test and the ANOVA post hoc comparisons. Results: A total of 287 elderly patients (males = 138, females = 149, mean age = 77.8 ± 6.9 years, range = 65–98) with diagnoses of VaD (n = 97), AD (n = 82) or NoCI (n = 108) were included in the study. A significantly higher APOE Ε4 allele frequency was observed in AD patients compared to VaD and/or NoCI subjects, while no differences were found between VaD patients and subjects with NoCI (AD = 24.3%, VaD = 10.3, NoCI = 8.7, p < 0.05). Furthermore, a significantly lower APOE Ε3 allele frequency was observed in AD patients compared to VaD and/or NoCI subjects but not between VaD and NoCI patients (AD = 71.3%, VaD = 80.9, NoCI = 83.4, p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the APOE Ε2 allele (VaD = 8.8%, AD = 4.4, NoCI = 7.9, p = n.s.) among the 3 groups. Conclusions: In this population, the frequency of the APOE Ε4 allele is lower in VaD than in AD.