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In a large international registry of patients with PE, improvements in length of stay and changes in the initial treatment were accompanied by a reduction in short-term all-cause and PE-specific mortality.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is commonly associated with heart failure (HF) in clinical practice since they share the same pathogenic mechanism. Both conditions incur significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the prognosis of COPD and HF combined is poorer than for either disease alone. Nevertheless, usually only one of them is diagnosed. An active search for each condition using clinical examination and additional tests including plasma natriuretic peptides, lung function testing, and echocardiography should be obtained. The combination of COPD and HF presents many therapeutic challenges. The beneficial effects of selective β1-blockers should not be denied in stable patients who have HF and coexisting COPD. Additionally, statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin-receptor blockers may reduce the morbidity and mortality of COPD patients. Moreover, caution is advised with use of inhaled β2-agonists for the treatment of COPD in patients with HF. Finally, noninvasive ventilation, added to conventional therapy, improves the outcome of patients with acute respiratory failure due to hypercapnic exacerbation of COPD or HF in situations of acute pulmonary edema. The establishment of a combined and integrated approach to managing these comorbidities would seem an appropriate strategy. Additional studies providing new data on the pathogenesis and management of patients with COPD and HF are needed, with the purpose of trying to improve quality of life as well as survival of these patients.

The aim of our study was to analyse changes in the incidence, diagnostic procedures, comorbidity, length of hospital stay, costs and in-hospital mortality of patients hospitalised for pulmonary embolism in Spain over a 10-year period.We included all patients who were hospitalised for pulmonary embolism (ICD-9-CM codes 415

Inadequate HL is prevalent among COPD patients and it is related to health status and relevant clinical outcomes of the disease. HL needs to be considered when planning the care for COPD patients.

Background: COPD is currently the fourth cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world. Patients with COPD experience a progressive deterioration and disability, which lead to a worsening in their healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this work is to assess the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of patients with stable COPD followed in primary care and to identify possible predictors of disease.

BackgroundDiabetes mellitus has long been associated with cardiovascular events. Nevertheless, the higher burden of traditional cardiovascular risk factors reported in high-income countries is offset by a more widespread use of preventive measures and revascularization or other invasive procedures. The aim of this investigation is to describe trends in number of cases and outcomes, in-hospital mortality (IHM) and length of hospital stay (LHS), of hospital admissions for major cardiovascular events between type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and matched non-diabetes patients.MethodsRetrospective study using National Hospital Discharge Database, analyzed in 4 years 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, in Spain. We included patients (≥ 40 years old) with a primary diagnosis of myocardial infarction, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, aortic aneurysm and dissection and acute lower limb ischemia in people with T2DM. Cases were matched with controls (without T2DM) by ICD-9-CM codes, sex, age, province of residence and year.ResultsWe selected 130,011 matched couples (50,427 with myocardial infarction, 60,236 with stroke, 2599 with aortic aneurysm and dissection and 16,749 with acute lower limb ischemia. Among T2DM patients we found increasing numbers of admissions overtime for stroke (10,794 in 2002 vs 17,559 in 2014), aortic aneurysm and dissection (390 vs 841) and acute lower limb ischemia (3854 vs. 4548). People were progressively older (except for myocardial infarction), had more comorbidities (especially T2DM patients), and were more frequently coded overtime for cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, obesity, hypertension, lipid disorders) and renal diseases. LHS and IHM declined overtime, though IHM only did it significantly in T2DM patients. Multivariable adjustment showed that T2DM patients had a significantly 15% higher mortality rate during admission for myocardial infarction, a 6% higher mortality for stroke, and a 6% higher mortality rate for “all cardiovascular events combined”, than non-diabetic matched controls.ConclusionsThe number of hospital admissions for stroke, aortic aneurysm and dissection and acute lower limb ischemia increased overtime, but remained stable for myocardial infarction. T2DM is associated to higher IHM after major cardiovascular events. Further research is needed to help us understand the reasons for an apparently increased mortality in T2DM patients when admitted to hospital for some major cardiovascular events.