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Clinical and economic aspects of the use of nebivolol in the treatment of elderly patients with heart failure
Full text linkDonatella Del Sindaco1, Maria Denitza Tinti2, Luca Monzo2, Giovanni Pulignano2,1Heart Failure Unit, Division of Cardiology, INRCA Institute of Care and Research for Elderly, Rome, Italy; 2Heart Failure Clinic, Division of Cardiology/CCU, San Camillo Hospital, Rome, ItalyAbstract: Heart failure is a common and disabling condition with morbidity and mortality that increase dramatically with advancing age. Large observational studies, retrospective subgroup analyses and meta-analyses of clinical trials in systolic heart failure, and recently published randomized studies have provided data supporting the use of beta-blockers as a baseline therapy in heart failure in the elderly. Despite the available evidence about beta-blockers, this therapy is still less frequently used in elderly compared to younger patients. Nebivolol is a third-generation cardioselective beta-blocker with L-arginine/nitric oxide-induced vasodilatory properties, approved in Europe and several other countries for the treatment of essential hypertension, and in Europe for the treatment of stable, mild, or moderate chronic heart failure, in addition to standard therapies in elderly patients aged 70 years old or older. The effects of nebivolol on left ventricular function in elderly patients with chronic heart failure (ENECA) and the study of effects of nebivolol intervention on outcomes and rehospitalization in seniors with heart failure (SENIORS) have been specifically aimed to assess the efficacy of beta-blockade in elderly heart failure patients. The results of these two trials demonstrate that nebivolol is well tolerated and effective in reducing mortality and morbidity in older patients, and that the beneficial clinical effect is present also in patients with mildly reduced ejection fraction. Moreover, nebivolol appears to be significantly cost-effective when prescribed in these patients. However, further targeted studies are needed to better define the efficacy as well as safety profile in frail and older patients with comorbid diseases.Keywords: beta-blockers, therapy, older, left ventricular dysfunction, prognosi
Exercise: a "new drug" for elderly patients with chronic heart failure
No full textPatients with chronic heart failure (CHF) experience progressive deterioration of functional capacity and quality of life (QoL). This prospective, randomized, controlled trial assesses the effect of exercise training (ET) protocol on functional capacity, rehospitalization, and QoL in CHF patients older than 70 years compared with a control group. A total of 343 elderly patients with stable CHF (age, 76.90±5.67, men, 195, 56.9%) were randomized to ET (TCG, n=170) or usual care (UCG, n=173). The ET protocol involved supervised training sessions for 3 months in the hospital followed by home-telemonitored sessions for 3 months. Assessments, performed at baseline and at 3 and 6 months, included: ECG, resting echocardiography, NT-proBNP, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire, and comprehensive geriatric assessment with the InterRAI-HC instrument. As compared to UCG, ET patients at 6 months showed: i) significantly increased 6MWT distance (450±83 vs. 290±97 m, p=0.001); ii) increased ADL scores (5.00±2.49 vs. 6.94±5.66, p=0.037); iii) 40% reduced risk of rehospitalisation (hazard ratio=0.558, 95%CI, 0.326-0.954, p=0.033); and iv) significantly improved perceived QoL (28.6±12.3 vs. 44.5±12.3, p=0.001). In hospital and home-based telemonitored exercise confer significant benefits on the oldest CHF patients, improving functional capacity and subjective QoL and reducing risk of rehospitalisation
Reasons why patients suffering from chronic heart failure at very low risk for mortality die
No full textBACKGROUND:
A proper prognostic stratification is crucial for organizing an effective clinical management and treatment decision-making in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). In this study, we selected and characterized a sub-group of CHF patients at very low risk for death aiming to assess predictors of death in subjects with an expected probability of 1-year mortality near to 5%.
METHODS:
We used the Cardiac and Comorbid Conditions HF (3C-HF) Score to identify CHF patients with the best mid-term prognosis. We selected patients belonging to the lowest quartile of 3C-HF score (≤9 points).
RESULTS:
We recruited 1777 consecutive CHF patients at 3 Italian Cardiology Units (age 76±10years, 43% female, 32% with preserved ejection fraction). Subjects belonging to the lowest quartile of 3C-HF score were 609. During a median follow-up of 21 [12-40] months, 48 of these patients (8%) died, and 561 (92%) survived. The variables that contributed to death prediction by Cox regression multivariate analysis were older age (HR 1.03[CI 1.00-1.07]; p=0.04), male gender (HR 2.93[CI 1.50-5.51]; p=0.002) and a higher degree of renal dysfunction (HR 0.96[CI 0.94-0.98]; p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
The prognostic stratification of CHF patients by 3C-HF score allows one to select patients at different outcome and to identify the factors associated with death in outliers with a very low mortality risk at mid-term follow-up. The reasons why these patients do not outlive the matching part of subjects who expectedly survive are related to a declined renal function and unmodifiable conditions including older age and male gender
Incremental Value of Gait Speed in Predicting Prognosis of Older Adults With Heart Failure. Insights From the IMAGE-HF Study
Full text linkOBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between gait speed and the risk for death and/or hospital admission in older patients with heart failure (HF).
BACKGROUND:
Gait speed is a reliable single marker of frailty in older people and can predict falls, disability, hospital admissions, and mortality.
METHODS:
In total, 331 community-living patients ≥70 years of age (mean age 78 ± 6 years, 43% women, mean ejection fraction 35 ± 11%, mean New York Heart Association functional class 2.7 ± 0.6) in stable condition and receiving optimized therapy for chronic HF were prospectively enrolled and followed for 1 year. Gait speed was measured at the usual pace over 4 m, and cutoffs were defined by tertiles: ≤0.65, 0.66 to 0.99, and ≥1.0 m/s.
RESULTS:
There was a significant association between gait speed tertiles and 1-year mortality: 38.3%, 21.9%, and 9.1% (p < 0.001), respectively. On multivariate analysis, gait speed was associated with a lower risk for all-cause death (hazard ratio: 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.43 to 0.88) independently of age, ejection fraction <20%, systolic blood pressure, anemia, and absence of beta-blocker therapy. Gait speed was also associated with a lower risk for hospitalization for HF and all-cause hospitalization. When gait speed was added to the multiparametric Cardiac and Comorbid Conditions Heart Failure risk score, it improved the accuracy of risk stratification for all-cause death (net reclassification improvement 0.49; 95% confidence interval: 0.26 to 0.73, p < 0.001) and HF admissions (net reclassification improvement 0.37; 95% confidence interval: 0.15 to 0.58; p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Gait speed is independently associated with death, hospitalization for HF, and all-cause hospitalization and improves risk stratification in older patients with HF evaluated using the Cardiac and Comorbid Conditions Heart Failure score. Assessment of frailty using gait speed is simple and should be part of the clinical evaluation process
Reasons why patients suffering from chronic heart failure at very high risk for death survive
No full textBackground: An accurate prognostic stratification is essential for optimizing the clinical management and
treatment decision-making of patients with chronic heart failure (HF). Among the best available models,
we used the Cardiac and Comorbid Conditions HF (3C-HF) Score, to predict all-cause mortality in patients
with CHF. Methods: we selected and characterized the subgroup of patients at very high risk with the worst
mid-term prognosis belonging to the highest decile of 3C-HF score with the aim to assess predictors of survival
in subjects with an expected probability of 1-year mortality near to 45%.
Methods and results: We recruited 1777 consecutive chronic HF patients at 3 Italian Cardiology Units. Median age
was 76±10 years, 43% were female, and 32% had preserved ejection fraction. Subjects belonging to the highest decile
of 3C-HF score were 246 (13.8% of total population). During a median follow-up of 21 [12–40] months, 110 of
these patients (45%) survived and 136 (55%) died. The variables that contributed to survival prediction emerged
by Cox regression multivariate analysis were the lower degree of renal dysfunction and higher body mass index.
Conclusions: The prognostic stratification of chronic HF patients allows in daily practice to select patients at different
risk for death and identify prognosticators of survival in outliers at very high risk of death. The reasons why these
patients outlive the matching part of subjects who expectedly die are related to the maintenance of a satisfactory
renal function and body mass index
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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