BackgroundAtrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all‐cause mortality may guide interventions.Methods and ResultsIn the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose‐adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all‐cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention‐to‐treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS 2 score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow‐up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan–Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all‐cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33–1.70, P<0.0001) and age ≥75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51–1.90, P<0.0001) were associated with higher all‐cause mortality. Multiple additional characteristics were independently associated with higher mortality, with decreasing creatinine clearance, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, male sex, peripheral vascular disease, and diabetes being among the most strongly associated (model C‐index 0.677).ConclusionsIn a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, ≈7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereas <1 in 10 deaths were caused by nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. Optimal prevention and treatment of heart failure, renal impairment, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes may improve survival.Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT00403767.
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is successfully used in patients with advanced prostatic cancer, but there are many concerns about its systemic side effects, especially due to advanced age and frequent comorbidities in most patients. In patients treated with ADT there are metabolic changes involving the glycaemic control and lipid metabolism, increased thrombotic risk, an increased risk of myocardial infarction, severe arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. Still, these adverse effects can be also due to the subsequent hypogonadism. Men with heart failure or coronary artery disease have a lower level of serum testosterone than normal men of the same age, and hypogonadism is related to higher cardiovascular mortality. Many clinical studies compared the cardiovascular effects of hypogonadism post orchiectomy or radiotherapy with those of ADT but their results are controversial. However, current data suggest that more intensive treatment of cardiovascular risk factors and closer cardiological follow-up of older patients under ADT might be beneficial. Our paper is a narrative review of the literature data in this field.
We assessed the effects of antiandrogen therapy on ECG parameters of ventricular repolarization related to arrhythmic risk in 35 patients aged 70.3 ± 7 years with advanced prostate cancer treated with degarelix associated with enzalutamide (group A, 26 patients) or degarelix monotherapy (group B, 9 patients). We analyzed Fridericia corrected Q-T interval (QTc), Q-T dispersion (QTd), J-Tpeak interval (JTp), mean and maximum Tpeak-Tend interval (Tpe) and Tpe/QT ratio, Tpeak-Tend dispersion (Tped), index of cardio-electrophysiological balance (iCEB) from ECG tracings, and occurrence of ventricular premature beats (VPB) recorded by Holter ECG, before initiation of medication (M0) and after 6 months of treatment (M1). The groups had similar demographics except for a higher prevalence of prior myocardial infarction in group B (p = 0.01). All patients had low serum testosterone at M1. Baseline QTc, QTd, maxTpe/QT, meanTpe, maxTpe, Tped values were higher in B compared to A. They had a significant prolongation at M1 only in A. 20 patients in A and 6 in B had a 10% prolongation or decrease of iCEB (p = 0.66). In 5 patients, VPB severity increased from non-complex to complex: 3 in A and 2 in B (p = 0.31), but no sustained ventricular arrhythmia was registered. In conclusion, after 6 months of treatment, patients with hypogonadism on degarelix associated with enzalutamide had significant prolongation of QTc, QTd, maxTpe, meanTpe/ QT, maxTpe/QT, Tped compared to patients on degarelix alone. The proportion of patients with 10% iCEB variation was similar between groups. There was no record of severe arrhythmias during the first 6 months of treatment.
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The objective of the study was to analyze the characteristics of the patients with preserved ejection fraction heart failure (HfpEF) who develop hyponatremia, in relationship with the diabetes mellitus (DM). The current study is an observational retrospective one, that included 36 patients(25 women, 11 men), aged 66.6� 3.1 years, hospitalized for decompensated chronic heart failure, with a left ventricular ejection fraction ]40%. 33% (n=12) of the enrolled patients had hyponatremia, which was strong associated with DM (75% vs 17%, p[0.0005). In hyponatremic patients group was no association between DM and age, gendre, smoking, artrial hypertension, dyslipidemia, ejection fraction distribution or NTproBNP. As for medication at admission, we found an association of the presence of DM with betablockers(100% vs 67%, p[0.05) and with statins( 89% vs 67%, p[0.05). In our study, DM and non-DM patients with low serum sodium values and HfpEF have quite similar clinical profile, since the differences we found do not explain the high prevalence of DM in hyponatremic patients. As a conclusion, the presence of DM itself may explain the high prevalence of DM in hyponatremic patients, but is necessary to have larger studies with more variables included to assess HFpEF patients with DM and hyponatremia.
The aim of the study is to quantify ventricular interactions by comparing tissue and spectral systolic echocardiographic parameters to allow the early identification of ventricular dysfunction. Clinical, paraclinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic evaluations were performed. Right ventricular hypertrophy was diagnosed in the M mode subcostal echocardiographic section. RV hypertrophy was defined by a right ventricular free wall thickness of ] 5 mm in diastole. We assessed the following RV and LV tissue and spectral systolic indices: apical systolic excursion of the lateral mitral ring (MAPSE), apical systolic excursion of the lateral tricuspid ring (TAPSE), left (Svs) and right (Svd) ventricular tissue systolic velocities, and RV and LV ejection times. We calculated the following to assess systolic ventricular interdependence: MAPSE/TAPSE, the normal value of which was considered as 0.66 � 0.14, and Svs/Svd, the normal value of which was considered as 0.76 � 0.21. The study group was compared to a control group with the same clinical features but without ventricular hypertrophy. Twenty-one patients were included in the study: 13 men (62%) and eight women (38%) with a mean age of 56 � 3.8 years. We compared the values between the study group and control group, with the following results: TAPSE = 20.4 � 0.9 vs. 24.1 � 0.76 and MAPSE/TAPSE = 0.74 � 0.06 vs. 0.75 � 0.04. MAPSE was comparable between the groups. Svs was comparable between the groups (0.09 � 0.01 vs. 0.12 � 0.02), whereas Svd was different between the groups (0.11 � 0.03 vs 0.16 � 0.03). Svs/Svd was 0.81 � 0.05 in the study group and 0.75 � 0.08 in the control group. LV ejection time was comparable between the two groups (299.8 � 23.6 ms vs. 303.3 � 28 ms), whereas, RV ejection time differed between the groups (275 � 17 ms vs. 245.5 � 28.5). Changes in TAPSE and MAPSE/TAPSE, in addition to Svd and Svs/Svd, are related to right ventricular dysfunction and suggest pathological changes in the interdependence mechanism of the ventricles in patients with RV hypertrophy. In addition, RV free wall thickness was strongly correlated with ventricular interdependence parameters, with the exception of MAPSE. Assessing these parameters and proportions in clinical practice will facilitate the early detection and appropriate treatment of right ventricular dysfunction.
Hypertension is one of the main risk factors for developing left ventricle failure. The study was conducted at outpatient Clinic – Medlife, Memorial Hospital. It was an observational study. We analyzed the exercise-induced secretion of NT-pro BNP in hypertensive patients with normal ejection fraction and no symptoms or signs of heart failure. Comparing the levels of NT-pro BNP before and after exercise proved to be a good mean for diagnosing left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) in hypertensive patients with left ventricular remodeling.
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