Objectives: We aimed to assess the clinical pharmacist-initiated telephone-based patient education and self-management support for patients with cardiovascular disease during the nationwide lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A prospective single-center telephone-based cross-sectional study was conducted among patients at the Cardiology Department and its speciality clinic at a 1,800-bed tertiary care hospital in Southern India. A validated 8-item clinical pharmacist aided on-call questionnaire with two Domains was administered during and after lockdown (15 March and 8 June 2020). Clinical pharmacist-provided educational assistance on self-management practices were in accordance with the guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and World Health Organization. Comparisons was performed using sign test and association of responses were analyzed using the Goodman and Kruskal's gamma test. All the tests were two-tailed, p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: Of the 1,080 patients, 907 consented with a response rate of (83.9%) and 574 (96.36%) patients were analyzed post-intervention. Majority of the patients were male (54.7%) and had Acute Coronary Syndrome [NSTEMI (42.10%), STEMI (33.92%) and Unstable Angina (9.86)]. The majority of subjects had at least two co-morbid conditions [(Type II Diabetes (48.33%), Hypertension (50.11%)] and were rural population (82.5%) as self-employed (43.1%) with a middle-class economy (31.6%). In the Domain-1 of checklist the awareness toward complications caused by COVID-19 in cardiovascular diseases (Z = −19.698, p = 0.000) and the importance of universal safety precautions enhanced after clinical pharmacist assistance [(Z = −8.603, p = 0.000) and (Z = −21.795, p = 0.000)]. In Domain-II of checklist there was a significant improvement in patients awareness toward fatal complications caused by COVID-19 (Z = −20.543, p = 0.000), maintenance of self-hygiene (Z = −19.287, p = 0.000), practice of universal safety precautions (Z = −16.912, p = 0.000) and self-isolation (Z = −19.545, p = 0.000). The results of our study population varied from baseline evaluation (41.7%, n = 907) to post-intervention (95%, n = 574) based on Literacy, employment status and economic status.Conclusions: The proactive role of clinical pharmacists in providing instructional services in collaboration with cardiologist during the pandemic circumstances increased patients understanding and mitigated infection exposure among patients, health care professionals and also assuring the continuity of care in patients with established cardiovascular diseases.

Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) reflects visceral adiposity and is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aimed to assess the correlation of echocardiographic EFT with the severity of CAD and to determine the EFT cut-off to predict CAD. EFT was measured in 503 patients undergoing coronary angiogram. Mean EFT was significantly higher in the CAD group than control group (5.55 ± 1.21 mm vs 3.25 ± 1.15 mm, p < 0.0001). EFT correlated with Gensini score (r = 0.906, p < 0.001). EFT cut-off ≥ 4.75 mm had 87% sensitivity and 63% specificity for prediction of significant CAD (AUC: 0.831, p < 0.001).

Background: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) often have associated problems either as a reason or as a corollary of the disease and drug-related problems (DRPs) are more likely to precipitate despite the presence of standard guidelines. This research is intended to evaluate the nature and extent of DRPs and examine their clinical significance in the presence of a clinical pharmacist. Methods: A clinical pharmacist-initiated cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Cardiology unit in a tertiary care teaching hospital for a year. The patient's medications were audited for DRPs using PCNE V 8.0.1 and drug-interactions by Micromedex. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied whenever required by using SPSS v 25.0. Results: A total of 1120 patients screened, 432 patients were enrolled in the study by obtaining consent. The majority were in the age group 41-60 years of whom (294 (68.05 %)) were males. DRPs (367) were identified in (225 (52%)) patients of which (243 (66.13%) were due to problems in prescription, 27 (1.90%) treatment duration, followed by dispensing 43 (11.71%), drug use process 41 (11.17%) and patient-related 38 (10.35%)). The overall incidence of DRPs was 51.85%. Most risk factors were associated with DRPs (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Drug-related problems are common in patients with acute coronary syndrome due to comorbidities and its related polypharmacy. Physician and clinical pharmacist collaboration can help in the early detection of DRPs, and alleviate the adversities emphasising optimal pharmacotherapeutic management.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of diastolic dysfunction (DD) and left ventricular filling pressures (LVFP) by echocardiography is complex in patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF). The American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (ASE/EACVI) jointly published recommendations in 2016 to simplify the diagnosis and classification of DD and the assessment of LVFP. We aimed to study the impact of the updated 2016 ASE/EACVI guidelines vis-à-vis the 2009 ASE recommendations on prevalence of DD and LVFP in patients with preserved EF. METHODS: Five hundred patients referred to the echocardiography laboratory from March 2020 to May 2020 were analyzed. Patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 50% were excluded. All patients underwent comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography. DD and LVFP were assessed by the 2016 ASE/EACVI and 2009 ASE recommendations.The concordance between the guidelines was analyzed by kappa coefficient and overall proportion of agreement. RESULTS: Mean age was 53 ± 13 years and 63.4% were men. Prevalence of DD and abnormal LVFP were significantly lower with the 2016 recommendations than with the 2009 recommendations (9.4% vs. 16.8%, p < 0.001 and 8.4% vs. 12.8%, p < 0.05). Patients with Grade 1 DD (100%) and Grade 2 DD (46.4%) were reclassified by the 2016 recommendations. Indeterminate diastolic function (9.8%) was strikingly high according to the 2016 recommendations. The concordance between the two recommendations was moderate (kappa = 0.569). The overall proportion of agreement was 85.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of DD and abnormal LV filling pressures were lower with application of the 2016 ASE/EACVI recommendations in patients with preserved EF. There was moderate agreement between the 2009 and 2016 recommendations.

Background: COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-II) has become a global pandemic disrupting public health services. Telemedicine has emerged as an important tool to deliver care during these situations. Patients receiving Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) require structured monitoring which has posed a challenge during this pandemic. We aimed to evaluate the impact of Virtual anticoagulation clinic (VAC), a Telehealth model on the quality of anticoagulation, adverse events, and patient satisfaction vis-a-vis standard Anticoagulation clinic (ACC) care.Materials and methods: A bidirectional cohort study was conducted in the Department of Cardiology, JSS Hospital, Mysore. Two hundred and twenty-eight patients in the VAC and 274 patients in the ACC fulfilling inclusion criteria were the subjects of the study. Telehealth tools like WhatsApp and telephone were used. Time in therapeutic range (TTR), Percentage of International normalized ratio in range (PINRR), and adverse events were analyzed and compared between the VAC group and the ACC group, between pre-COVID and COVID ACC groups, and between the VAC group and the same pre-COVID cohort. Patient satisfaction was assessed by a questionnaire at the end of 8 months. Descriptive statistics were used for the patient characteristics and inferential statistics for the comparisons between pre-VAC and VAC care.Results: The mean TTR was 75.4 ± 8.9% and 71.2 ± 13.4% in the VAC group and ACC group, respectively (p &lt; 0.001). The mean PINRR was 66.7 ± 9.4% and 62.4 ± 10.9% in the VAC group and ACC group respectively, (p &lt; 0.001). There was no significant difference in TTR between the VAC group and the same pre-COVID cohort. The TTR differential between the pre-COVID and COVID ACC groups was significant. In either group, no major adverse events were seen. The most common tools used for data exchange were WhatsApp (83%) and SMS (17%). Seventy-four percent of patients were extremely satisfied with the overall VAC care.Conclusions: Virtual anticoagulation clinic, a telehealth model can be used as an alternative option to deliver uninterrupted anticoagulation care during pandemic times.

Prescription of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin-type-9 inhibitors (PCSK9i) under the Italian AIFA's reimbursement scheme is limited to specialized Centers/physicians appointed by the Regions and Autonomous Provinces. Patient access to PCSK9i is still very limited and varies considerably across Regions. Our aim was to analyse updated records from AIFA Registry to understand determinants of alirocumab uptake at the regional level. Methods: We analysed regional distribution of patients enrolled in the alirocumab registry (April/19-March/20) in correlation with: number of prescribing centers and units appointed by each Region; number of previous hospitalizations (from published Ministry of Health statistics) for Acute Myocardial infarction (AMI) and number of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in 2018 and 2016-2018. Classical statistics were performed (maxmin-SD-RSQ) and data were plotted as XY graphs. Results: As of 30/03/20, a total of 325 centers and 541 operational units are appointed for prescription of PCSK9i in the Italian Regions with wide distribution disparities: statistics per million population (PMP) show the number of centers per Region varies from 2.23 to 20.87 PMP with mean (SD) 8.03 (4.32) PMP and median 7.39 PMP; statistics by operational units: mean 11.9 (5.96) PMP median 9.81, range (25.04 -2.89) PMP. No correlation was shown between number/100.000 residents of alirocumab patients enrolled and number/PMP of appointed centers or operational units; similarly, no correlation was shown with number/PMP of AMI or PTCA hospitalizations. Conclusions: Correlation between patient enrollment on PCSK9i and number of appointed centers and operating units in Italy, is far from being established: this may depend on local infrastructural diversities (geographical distribution, location and accessibility of centers), as well as on specific regional healthcare strategies and policies. Further research should investigate correlation of local coverage and prescription for new, innovative anti-hyperlipidemics, with definition and enforcement of structured pathways in post-CV event management.

Background: Obesity and diabetes mellitus are two major factors related with the risk of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases. Co-existing hypertension with diabetes mellitus and obesity has poor prognosis for cardiovascular diseases. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) correlates more closely to target organ damage than clinic blood pressure. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess and compare ABPM pattern among obese and nonobese diabetes mellitus patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among fifty obese and fifty nonobese diabetic patients who were classified based on their body mass index as per the WHO criterion. The clinical blood pressure measurements were measured on each subject using a digital sphygmomanometer, and 24 h ABPM was done and ABPM parameters such as dipping pattern, 24 h systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), Mean SBP, mean DBP, diurnal variability of SBP, DBP, Mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, SD systole (Standard Deviation systole), SD diastole, white coat hypertension was derived and compared between the two groups. Results: Around 37 (74%) obese and 18 (36%) nonobese showed non dipping pattern in SBP and 28 (66.7%) of obese and 14 (33.3%) of nonobese showed a nondipping pattern in DBP and was found to be statistically significant ( P < 0.001). On comparison between normotensive obese and normotensive nonobese, it was found that SBP non dipping pattern18 (67%) versus 9 (29%) and DBP nondipping pattern 12 (45%) versus 5 (16%) was statistically significant with P = 0.004, 0.016, respectively. Conclusion: Obese diabetes mellitus subjects had altered ABPM parameters and increased prevalence of nondipping status. In addition, obese diabetic patients who did not give prior history of hypertension were also found to have higher nondipping SBP and DBP patterns.

BACKGROUND COVID -19 pandemic is a disaster. Nationwide lockdown imposed during this pandemic rendered healthcare inaccessible to several patients. Telehealth is a potential alternative utilizing a virtual platform to deliver health care. Patients taking Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) need continuity of care to achieve and maintain optimal anticoagulation. Moreover, significant numbers of patients taking VKAs have multiple comorbidities making them susceptible to severe COVID-19 infection. Virtual anticoagulation clinic (VAC) was launched to ensure uninterrupted care with reduced exposure of these patients to COVID-19. OBJECTIVE We aimed to study the impact of newly launched Virtual anticoagulation clinic on the quality of anticoagulation and patient satisfaction. METHODS Prospective observational study was conducted on patients enrolled in to the VAC. Out of 356 patients receiving dedicated Anticoagulation clinic care at JSS Hospital, Mysore 128 patients consented to receive anticoagulation care virtually. Digital platforms like WhatsApp, email and voice call/ SMS were used. Patients were monitored for anticoagulation related parameters like TTR, PINRR and adverse events. Patient satisfaction questionnaire (5-point Likert scale) was administered at the end of 3 months. RESULTS Mean age was 55.62 ± 13.77 years with 57% men. Hypertension (55.5%) and diabetes (38.3%) were the most common comorbidities. Atrial fibrillation (61%) was the most common indication. Mean TTR was 75.4± 8.9 %. PINRR was 66.7± 9.47%. 1.8% of INRs were in extreme range. WhatsApp (73%), email (19%) was the most common digital platform used. Voice call and SMS was used by 8% of patients. 74% were extremely satisfied with overall VAC care and 82% of patients were extremely satisfied to continue virtual care as assessed by 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS During the current COVID pandemic, Virtual anticoagulation clinic through digital technology platform was able to provide a satisfactory care to the patients who were on chronic VKA therapy over a short term. CLINICALTRIAL JSSMC/ IEC/ 090620 /01 NCT /2020-21