Risk factor control among heart failure patients in the United States: Results from the NHANES 1999-2018

Background

Compliance with recommended pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments to modify risk factors is associated with improved outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF).

Methods

We conducted an analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) years 1999-2018 to evaluate the adequacy of risk factor control and compliance with recommended lifestyle and medications according to the clinical guidelines for the management of HF. Demographic, clinical, and healthcare-access factors associated with having risk factors uncontrolled or not receiving recommended medications were determined using logistic regression analyses.

Results

We collected 1906 participants aged 18 years or older with a self-reported history of HF. The majority were at target goals for blood pressure (45.07%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (22.04%), and glycated hemoglobin (72.15%), whereas only 19.09% and 27.38% were at targets for body mass index and waist circumference respectively. Besides, 79.49% and 67.23% of respondents reported smoking cessation and recommended alcohol consumption, whereas only 11.54% reported adequate physical activity. Proportion of taking beta blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEIs/ARBs) and diuretics was 54.77%, 52.62% and 49.37%, respectively. Finally, the logistic regression analysis showed that metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus were associated with a higher likelihood of having risk factor uncontrolled, while metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease were predictors for not receiving recommended medications.

Conclusions

Risk factor control and adherence to recommended lifestyle and medications are non-ideal among HF patients in the USA. A systematic approach for risk factor optimization in people with HF is urgently needed.

Changes on Serum Troponin T Level before and after Taking Standard Therapy Medication in Heart Failure Patients

Patients with advanced heart failure (NYHA FC III and IV heart failure) had positive cardiac troponin levels in previous cohort studies. In heart failure, cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is a biomarker that is sensitive to myocardial damage, especially myocardial necrosis. However, there is still little information regarding changes in cTnT levels during standard therapy. This prospective observational study is aimed at evaluating changes in cTnT levels before and after theadministration of standard therapy and evaluating symptom improvement before and after the administration of standard therapy in patients with severe heart failure. Measurement of cTnT levels and symptom improvement parameters before treatment was carried out on the first day of the inpatient and measurement after therapy was carried out on the last day of the inpatient. Sampling was done by consecutive sampling and found 30 patients in the inpatient room of the SMF Cardiovascular Disease, Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya during the months of May-July 2017. The results of the study obtained the average cTnT levels before therapy 33.48 + 31.88 pg/ml and the average cTnT levels after therapy 46.32 + 52.68 pg/ml. Based on the statistical difference test with the Wilcoxon sign-ranked test, there was no significant change in cTnT levels (p = 0.318). On the parameter of clinical symptom improvement, there was a significant decrease in pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure before and after administration of therapy (p <0.05). There was no change in troponin T levels before and after the administration of therapy meant there was no worsening of myocardial necrosis.

Self-care education program improves quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure: A randomized controlled study protocol

OBJECTIVE

The objective of our research is to explore the efficiency of self-care education on the life quality in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients.

METHODS

The experiment will be implemented from July 2021 to July 2022 and was granted through the Research Ethics Committee of Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University (423507-037). Eighty patients are included in the study. The recruitment criteria of patients includes: the patients have been diagnosed with CHF by physician on the basis of echocardiography; being stabilized in the acute disease state; in accordance with medical record, the patients have no sensory-cognitive problems. Any reason for not participating in education course (such as not wishing to continue taking part in our experiment or discharge from hospital) is regarded as the exclusion criterion. The primary outcome is the patients' life quality, which is evaluated with Iranian heart failure quality of life questionnaire. Other outcomes include the incidence of hospitalization and total medical cost.

RESULTS

Table 1 suggests the comparison of patients' life quality between control group and study group after receiving the education of self-care.

CONCLUSION

The program of self-care education can be regarded as the proper method to improve the life quality in CHF patients.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The protocol was registered in Research Registry (researchregistry6225).

Analysis of carfilzomib cardiovascular safety profile across relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma clinical trials

Carfilzomib is a selective proteasome inhibitor approved for the treatment of relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). It has significantly improved outcomes, including overall survival (OS), and shown superiority vs standard treatment with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone and bortezomib plus dexamethasone. The incidence rate of cardiovascular (CV) events with carfilzomib treatment has varied across trials. This analysis evaluated phase 1-3 trials with >2000 RRMM patients exposed to carfilzomib to describe the incidence of CV adverse events (AEs). In addition, the individual CV safety data of >1000 patients enrolled in the carfilzomib arm of phase 3 studies were compared with the control arms to assess the benefit-risk profile of carfilzomib. Pooling data across carfilzomib trials, the CV AEs (grade ≥3) noted included hypertension (5.9%), dyspnea (4.5%), and cardiac failure (4.4%). Although patients receiving carfilzomib had a numeric increase in the rates of any-grade and grade ≥3 cardiac failure, dyspnea, and hypertension, the frequency of discontinuation or death due to these cardiac events was low and comparable between the carfilzomib and control arms. Serial echocardiography in a blinded cardiac substudy showed no objective evidence of cardiac dysfunction in the carfilzomib and control arms. Moreover, carfilzomib had no significant effect on cardiac repolarization. Our results, including the OS benefit, showed that the benefit of carfilzomib treatment in terms of reducing progression or death outweighed the risk for developing cardiac failure or hypertension in most patients. Appropriate carfilzomib administration and risk factor management are recommended for elderly patients and patients with underlying risk factors.

Risk factors for the development of serious medical complications after resection of meningiomas. Clinical article

OBJECT

While the surgical and neurological risks of meningioma surgery have been reported, much less effort has been devoted to studying the rates of serious medical complications following such a procedure. The authors performed a review of 834 patients who underwent craniotomy for meningioma at their institution and analyzed the rate of major cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and hepatic complications.

METHODS

The authors identified all patients between 1993 and 2007 who underwent craniotomy for meningioma. Clinical information was reconstructed using patient medical records, medication records, radiological data, and pathological specimens from both the author institution and outside medical facilities. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to test the association between the dependent variable (rate of medical complications) and all covariates with a p < 0.2 on univariate testing.

RESULTS

Fifty-seven patients (6.8%) experienced 61 serious medical complications following surgery for meningioma. Four patients died of medical complications. The most common complication was pneumonia, followed by renal dysfunction, arrhythmia, and deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolus. The development of a new or worsened neurological deficit (p < 0.00001), an age > 65 years (p < 0.03), hypertension (p < 0.02), and being on > 2 cardiac medications prior to surgery (p < 0.004) all demonstrated significantly increased rates of medical complications on univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, only a new or worsened neurological deficit remained a significant risk factor for the occurrence of serious medical complications (p < 0.00001).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the authors found that the rate of clinically detected serious medical complications is relatively low in this population (6.8%), given the duration and complexity of the meningioma operations, and is strongly linked to the subsequent development of significant medical complications. This information may be useful to surgeons in discussing the morbidity of surgery during the informed consent process.