Optimal Control of all Modifiable Vascular Risk Factors Among Patients With Atherosclerotic Disease. A Real-Life Study

Associations Between Estimated Pulse Wave Velocity and Five-Year All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease with and without Standard Modifiable Risk Factors: Evidence From NHANES 1999-2016

Aim

The study aimed to analyze the associations between estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) and 5-year mortality in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) patients with and without standard modifiable risk factors (SMuRFs), which included smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia.

Methods

The present retrospective cohort study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2016. Patients with ASCVD who completed both the questionnaire survey and serum testing were included. Patients were categorized into the ≥1 SMuRF group if they had at least one SMuRF, while those without any SMuRFs were classified into the SMuRF-less group. The ePWV, which was calculated using the age and mean blood pressure, was evenly divided into three categories: low (Q1), medium (Q2), and high (Q3). Multivariable weighted Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses were utilized to explore the risk factors associated with 5-year mortality in patients with and without SMuRFs. And restricted cubic spline curve (RCS) was used to assess their nonlinear correlation.

Results

A total of 1901 patients with ASCVD were included in the study. For the patients in ≥1 SMuRF group, the Q3 group included patients who were older, with a higher proportion of males, more comorbidities, and a lower body mass index than the Q1 group (P<0.05). The Cox proportional-hazard regression model results revealed, the Q3 group had a higher risk of 5-year mortality than the Q1 group [hazard ratio (HR) 4.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) (2.66, 6.95), P<0.001]. RCS demonstrated a linear trend between high level of ePWV and decreased risks of mortality. Similar results were observed in the SMuRF-less group [HR 10.62, 95% CI (1.22, 92.06), P=0.032].

Conclusion

A high level of ePWV signified a higher risk of 5-year mortality in ASCVD patients with and without SMuRFs.

Mortality and burden related with aortic aneurysms and dissections. The importance of information and education

BACKGROUND

In this study we correlated changes of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases with trends of age standardized mortality rates and burden for aortic aneurysms and dissections.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the Global Burden of Diseases and EUROSTAT.

FINDINGS

There was a significant increase of expenditure for health from 1980 and 2019. In the period 1980-2000, despite higher health spending, age standardized mortality rates increased in almost all European countries. During the period 2000-2019, in Western European Countries and in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia there was a correlation between higher health expenditure and decrease of ASMR. The most important changes between the period 1980-2000 and the period 2000-2019 was the proportion of health expenditure devoted to preventive care and to the increased use of aspirin and statins.

INTERPRETATION

Information about risk factors for cardiovascular diseases have leads to decreased aortic aneurysm related mortality and burden.

Effect of timing of administration on lipid-lowering efficacy of statins-meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

To investigate the effect of timing of statin administration on lipid-lowering efficacy.

METHODS

Computer searches of Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases from 1986 to 2023. The impact of administration time on the lipid-lowering efficacy of statin drugs was investigated. Following a series of screenings, a funnel plot was constructed to assess its symmetry, and Egger and Beggar tests were conducted using StataMP-64 to evaluate publication bias. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 to combine MD values.

RESULTS

Fifteen papers (1352 participants) met and included the criteria. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the effect of morning and evening administration time on plasma triglycerides (TG) (P > 0.05) and plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (P > 0.05) was not statistically significant. There were significant reductions in total cholesterol (TC) (MD: 0.15 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.06-0.23, P < 0.01) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (MD: 0.10 mmol/L, 95% CI: - 0.00-0.20, P < 0.01) in the night group. According to the analysis results of the half-life of statins, only short half-life statins showed that nocturnal administration reduced LDL-C (MD: 0.21 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.09-0.33, P < 0.01) and TC (MD: 0.32 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.18-0.46, P < 0.01) levels and was better than morning administration. Long half-life statins did not show significant differences. In addition, the administration time of short half-life statins also showed that night administration tended to reduce TG (MD: 0.16 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.02-0.30, P < 0.05) levels. In subgroup analysis according to clinical factors in patients aged < 55 years, there was no significant difference in the timing of administration between the two groups; the efficacy of statins in lowering lipids in patients aged ≥ 55 years was significantly different in the TC group (P < 0.01) and LDL-C group (P < 0.01). The administration time of the TC group (P < 0.05) and LDL-C group (P < 0.05) in the Americas, Europe, and Asian groups was significantly different for statins. In addition, the American group also showed that the administration time of the two groups was significantly different from the TG group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The efficacy of administering short half-life statin drugs at night in reducing plasma levels of TC, LDL-C, and TG surpasses that of morning administration. However, this study did not determine the impact of timing of statin administration in patients taking long half-life statins on the efficacy of the medication. Therefore, it is recommended to consider patient adherence when. The study was registered on PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) as CRD42022372105 (available at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ ).