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Browsing by Author "Cardim, N"

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  • Polypill use for the prevention of cardiovascular disease: a position paper
    Publication . Araújo, F; Caldeira, D; Aguiar, C; Antunes, JP; Cardim, N; Cunha, V; Fonseca, L; Moura, JP; Paixão-Dias, VM; Ribeiro, H; Cruz, VT; Gavina, C
    Cardiovascular (CV) guidelines stress the need for global intervention to manage risk factors and reduce the risk of major vascular events. Growing evidence supports the use of polypill as a strategy to prevent cerebral and cardiovascular disease, however it is still underused in clinical practice. This paper presents an expert consensus aimed to summarize the data regarding polypill use. The authors consider the benefits of polypill and the significant claims for clinical applicability. Potential advantages and disadvantages, data regarding several populations in primary and secondary prevention, and pharmacoeconomic data are also addressed.
    2023Journal article Open access Show more
  • The amount of late gadolinium enhancement outperforms current guideline-recommended criteria in the identification of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at risk of sudden cardiac death
    Publication . Freitas, P; Ferreira, AM; Arteaga-Fernández, E; de Oliveira Antunes, M; Mesquita, J; Abecasis, J; Marques, H; Saraiva, C; Matos, DN; Rodrigues, R; Cardim, N; Mady, C; Rochitte, CE
    BACKGROUND: Identifying the patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in whom the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) justifies the implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in primary prevention remains challenging. Different risk stratification and criteria are used by the European and American guidelines in this setting. We sought to evaluate the role of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in improving these risk stratification strategies. METHODS: We conducted a multicentric retrospective analysis of HCM patients who underwent CMR for diagnostic confirmation and/or risk stratification. Eligibility for ICD was assessed according to the HCM Risk-SCD score and the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association (ACCF/AHA) algorithm. The amount of LGE was quantified (LGE%) and categorized as 0%, 0.1-10%, 10.1-19.9% and ≥ 20%. The primary endpoint was a composite of SCD, aborted SCD, sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT), or appropriate ICD discharge. RESULTS: A total of 493 patients were available for analysis (58% male, median age 46 years). LGE was present in 79% of patients, with a median LGE% of 2.9% (IQR 0.4-8.4%). The concordance between risk assessment by the HCM Risk-SCD, ACCF/AHA and LGE was relatively weak. During a median follow-up of 3.4 years (IQR 1.5-6.8 years), 23 patients experienced an event (12 SCDs, 6 appropriate ICD discharges and 5 sustained VTs). The amount of LGE was the only independent predictor of outcome (adjusted HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04-1.12; p <  0.001) after adjustment for the HCM Risk-SCD and ACCF/AHA criteria. The amount of LGE showed greater discriminative power (C-statistic 0.84; 95% CI: 0.76-0.91) than the ACCF/AHA (C-statistic 0.61; 95% CI: 0.49-0.72; p for comparison < 0.001) and the HCM Risk-SCD (C-statistic 0.68; 95% CI: 0.59-0.78; p for comparison = 0.006). LGE was able to increase the discriminative power of the ACCF/AHA and HCM Risk-SCD criteria, with net reclassification improvements of 0.36 (p = 0.021) and 0.43 (p = 0.011), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The amount of LGE seems to outperform the HCM Risk-SCD score and the ACCF/AHA algorithm in the identification of HCM patients at increased risk of SCD and reclassifies a relevant proportion of patients.
    2019Journal article Open access Show more
  • 2023Journal article Open access Show more
  • World Heart Federation Cholesterol Roadmap: The Portuguese case
    Publication . Abreu, A; Dores, H; Gonçalves, L; Franco, F; Silveira, C; Proença, G; Teresa Timóteo, A; Cardim, N; Pedro, M; Fiuza, M; Ferreira, D; Bento, L; Patrício, L; Caldeira, D; Bravo Baptista, S; Santos, J; Rocha, E; Raimundo, A; Catarino, C; Carrageta, M; Mexia, R; Araújo, F; Pereira, H; Santos, R; Pinto, FJ
    Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) remains the major cause of premature death and disability; effective cardiovascular (CV) risk prevention is fundamental. The World Heart Federation (WHF) Cholesterol Roadmap provides a framework for national policy development and aims to achieve ASCVD prevention. At the invitation of the WHF, a group of experts from the Portuguese Society of Cardiology (SPC), addressed the cholesterol burden at nationally and discussed possible strategies to include in a Portuguese cholesterol roadmap. The literature review showed that the cholesterol burden in Portugal is high and especially uncontrolled in those with the highest CV risk. An infographic scorecard was built to include in the WHF collection, for a clear idea about CV risk and cholesterol burden in Portugal, which would also be useful for health policy advocacy. The expert discussion and preventive strategies proposal followed the five pillars of the WHF document: awareness improvement; population-based approaches for CV risk and cholesterol; risk assessment/population screening; system-level approaches; surveillance of cholesterol and ASCVD outcomes. These strategies were debated by all the expert participants, with the goal of creating a national cholesterol roadmap to be used for advocacy and as a guide for CV prevention. Several key recommendations were outlined: include all stakeholders in a multidisciplinary national program; create a structured activities plan to increase awareness in the population; improve the quality of continuous CV health education; increase the interaction between different health professionals and non-health professionals; increment the referral of patients to cardiac rehabilitation; screen cholesterol levels in the general population, especially high-risk groups; promote patient self-care, engage with patients' associations; use specific social networks to spread information widely; create a national database of cholesterol levels with systematic registry of CV events; redefine strategies based on the evaluation of results; create and involve more patients' associations - invert the pyramid order. In conclusion, ASCVD and the cholesterol burden remain a strong global issue in Portugal, requiring the involvement of multiple stakeholders in prevention. The Portuguese cholesterol roadmap can provide some solutions to help urgently mitigate the problem. Population-based approaches to improve awareness and CV risk assessment and surveillance of cholesterol and ASCVD outcomes are key factors in this change. A call to action is clearly needed to fight hypercholesterolemia and ASCVD burden.
    2024Journal article Open access Show more