RESUMEN
The first cases of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) were reported on 21 February in the small town of Vo' near Padua in the Veneto region of Italy. This event led to 19,286 infected people in the region by 30 June 2020 (39.30 cases/10,000 inhabitants). Meanwhile, Rovigo Local Health Unit n. 5 (ULSS 5), bordering areas with high epidemic rates and having one of the world's oldest populations, registered the lowest infection rates in the region (19.03 cases/10,000 inhabitants). The aim of this study was to describe timing and event management by ULSS 5 in preventing the propagation of infection within the timeframe spanning from 21 February to 30 June. Our analysis considered age, genetic clusters, sex, orography, the population density, pollution, and economic activities linked to the pandemic, according to the literature. The ULSS 5 Health Director General's quick decision-making in the realm of public health, territorial assistance, and retirement homes were key to taking the right actions at the right time. Indeed, the number of isolated cases in the Veneto region was the highest among all the Italian regions at the beginning of the epidemic. Moreover, the implementation of molecular diagnostic tools, which were initially absent, enabled health care experts to make quick diagnoses. Quick decision-making, timely actions, and encouraging results were achieved thanks to a solid chain of command, despite a somewhat unclear legislative environment. In conclusion, we believe that the containment of the epidemic depends on the time factor, coupled with a strong sense of awareness and discretion in the Health Director General's decision-making. Moreover, real-time communication with operating units and institutions goes hand in hand with the common goal of protecting public health.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19/prevención & control , Control de Enfermedades Transmisibles/organización & administración , Pandemias , Anciano , COVID-19/epidemiología , Toma de Decisiones , Femenino , Humanos , Italia/epidemiología , MasculinoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Sacubitril/valsartan, the first agent to be approved in a new class of drugs called angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs), has been shown to reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity compared to enalapril in outpatient subjects with chronic heart failure (HF) and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, there is little real-world evidence about the efficacy of ARNIs in elderly hypertensive patients with HFrEF and comorbidities. METHODS: In this prospective open-label study, 108 subjects, 54 of them (mean age 78.6⯱â¯8.2 years, 75.0 % male), with HFrEF (29.8⯱â¯4.3 %) and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II-III symptoms were assigned to receive ARNIs twice daily, according to the recommended dosage of 24/26, 49/51, 97/103â¯mg. Patients were gender- and age-matched with a control arm of patients with HFrEF receiving the optimal standard therapy for HF. The clinic blood pressure (BP), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), uric acid (UA), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and NYHA class were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 12 months. During the follow-up, the clinical outcomes, including mortality and re-hospitalization for HF, were collected. RESULTS: NYHA class significantly improved in the ARNI arm compared to the control (24.9 vs. 6.4 %, shifting from class III to II, and 55.4 vs. 25.2 %, from class II to I, pâ¯<â¯0.05 for all). A significant improvement in LVEF and eGFR levels was found in the ARNI arm compared to controls (42.4 vs. 34.2 %, 73.8 vs. 61.2â¯mL/min, respectively; pâ¯<â¯0.001 for all). NT-proBNP, clinic systolic and diastolic BP, blood glucose, HbA1c and UA values were reduced in both treatment arms, but they were lower in the ARNI arm compared controls (3107 vs. 4552â¯pg/mL, 112.2 vs. 120.4 and 68.8 vs. 75.6â¯mmHg, 108.4 vs. 112.6â¯mg/dL, 5.4 vs. 5.9 % and 5.9 vs. 6.4â¯mg/dL, respectively, pâ¯<â¯0.05). Mortality and re-hospitalization for HF was lower in the ARNI arm than controls (20.1 vs. 33.6 % and 27.7 vs. 46.3 % respectively; pâ¯<â¯0.05 for all). Gender differences were not found in either arm. No patients refused to continue the study, and no side effects to the ARNI treatment were observed. CONCLUSIONS: In elderly patients with HFrEF and comorbidities, ARNI treatment seems effective and safe. The improvement in LVEF and cardiac remodeling, BP, eGFR, serum glucose, UA and HbA1c could be the mechanisms by which ARNIs play their beneficial role on clinical outcomes. However, these results need to be confirmed in studies involving a greater number of subjects, and with a longer follow-up.
Asunto(s)
Aminobutiratos/uso terapéutico , Compuestos de Bifenilo/uso terapéutico , Insuficiencia Cardíaca/tratamiento farmacológico , Insuficiencia Cardíaca/fisiopatología , Volumen Sistólico/efectos de los fármacos , Valsartán/uso terapéutico , Anciano , Aminobutiratos/administración & dosificación , Aminobutiratos/efectos adversos , Compuestos de Bifenilo/administración & dosificación , Compuestos de Bifenilo/efectos adversos , Enfermedad Crónica , Estudios Clínicos como Asunto , Combinación de Medicamentos , Femenino , Insuficiencia Cardíaca/diagnóstico , Insuficiencia Cardíaca/etiología , Humanos , Hipertensión/complicaciones , Masculino , Readmisión del Paciente , Pronóstico , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Resultado del Tratamiento , Valsartán/administración & dosificación , Valsartán/efectos adversos , Disfunción Ventricular Izquierda/tratamiento farmacológicoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of cardiovascular risk (CV) in the elderly is far from being defined, and the reasons why some subjects retain a healthy body while growing old while others are affected by different diseases or die prematurely are still unknown. AIMS: To compare the CV risk pattern in two elderly cohorts living in North-East Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Risk Of Vascular complications: Impact of Genetics in Old people (ROVIGO) study is a population-based study including 580 unrelated elderly subjects representative of general population living in Rovigo in the Veneto region. They were compared to a cohort of 580 age-gender-matched unrelated subjects from the CArdiovascular STudy in the Elderly (CASTEL) living in the same region in Castelfranco Veneto and Chioggia. RESULTS: Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, and prevalence of coronary heart disease, heart failure and chronic pulmonary disease were lower in the ROVIGO than in the CASTEL cohort, while high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and the prevalence of diabetes were higher in the former than in the latter. In the ROVIGO cohort, diabetes, left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary and cerebrovascular diseases were more represented in men. In the CASTEL cohort, systolic BP was higher in women. In both cohorts, the lipid pattern was less favourable and HR higher in women, chronic pulmonary disease more represented in men. CONCLUSIONS: People living in Rovigo were at lower CV risk than those in Castelfranco Veneto and Chioggia, mainly due to lower BP values, better lipid pattern and lower prevalence of CV and pulmonary disease.