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Background This study assessed the sociodemographic, functional, and clinical determinants of antithrombotic treatment in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) attended in the internal medicine setting. Methods A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted in NVAF patients who attended internal medicine departments for either a routine visit (outpatients) or hospitalization (inpatients). Results A total of 961 patients were evaluated. Their antithrombotic management included: no treatment (4.7%), vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) (59.6%), direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) (21.6%), antiplatelets (6.6%), and antiplatelets plus anticoagulants (7.5%). Permanent NVAF and congestive heart failure were associated with preferential use of oral anticoagulation over antiplatelets, while intermediate-to high-mortality risk according to the PROFUND index was associated with a higher likelihood of using antiplatelet therapy instead of oral anticoagulation. Longer disease duration and institutionalization were identified as determinants of VKA use over DOACs. Female gender, higher education, and having suffered a stroke determined a preferential use of DOACs. Conclusions This real-world study showed that most elderly NVAF patients received oral anticoagulation, mainly VKAs, while DOACs remained underused. Antiplatelets were still offered to a proportion of patients. Longer duration of NVAF and institutionalization were identified as determinants of VKA use over DOACs. A poor prognosis according to the PROFUND index was identified as a factor preventing the use of oral anticoagulation.

Objectives To determine whether nutritional risk is associated with the mortality of elderly patients hospitalized with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Design Prospective, multicenter cohort study. Setting Internal medicine departments in Spain. Participants Inpatients >75 years with NVAF. Measurements We measured the thrombotic and hemorrhagic risk at admission using the CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scales, respectively, and the nutritional risk with the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) index. We established 4 degrees of nutritional risk: null (CONUT score 0-1 point), low (2-4 points), moderate (5-8 points) and high (9-12 points). We also conducted a 1-year follow-up. Results We included 449 patients, with a mean age of 85.2(5.2) years. The nutritional risk was null for 70(15.6%) patients, low for 206 45.9%), moderate for 152(33.8%) and high for 21(4.7%). At the end of one year, 177(39.4%) patients had died. The score on the CONUT index was higher for the deceased patients (4.6 vs. 3.6, p

The introduction of singular therapies, such as proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors (PCSK9i), to lower high cholesterol levels requires better classification of patients eligible for intensive lipid lowering therapy. According to the European Medicines Administration, PCSK9i are recommended in primary prevention in familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients. Therefore, an FH diagnosis is not simply an academic issue, because it has many clinical implications. The bases of a diagnosis of FH are not entirely clear. The availability of genetic testing, including large genome-wide association analyses and whole genome studies, has shown that some patients with a clinical diagnosis of definite FH have no mutations in the genes associated with the disease. This fact does not exclude the very high cardiovascular risk of these patients, and an early and intensive lipid lowering therapy is recommended in all FH patients. Because an FH diagnosis is a cornerstone for decisions about therapies, a precise definition of FH is urgently required. This is an expert consensus document from the Spanish Atherosclerosis Society. We propose the following classification: familial hypercholesterolemia syndrome integrated by (1) heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: patients with clinically definite FH and a functional mutation in one allele of the LDLR, ApoB:100, and PCSK9 genes; (2) homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: mutations affect both alleles; (3) polygenic familial hypercholesterolemia: patients with clinically definite FH but no mutations associated with FH are found (to be distinguished from non-familial, multifactorial hypercholesterolemia); (4) familial hypercholesterolemia combined with hypertriglyceridemia: a subgroup of familial combined hyperlipidaemia patients fulfilling clinically definite FH with associated hypertriglyceridemia.

Aim: To analyze the use of oral anticoagulants in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation in clinical practice. Patients & methods: Cross-sectional and multicenter study performed in atrial fibrillation patients >= 75 years treated with oral anticoagulants >= 3 months. Results: 837 patients (83.0 +/- 5.0 years; CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc 5.0 +/- 1.4; HAS-BLED 2.1 +/- 0.9; 70.8% vitamin K antagonists; 29.2% direct oral anticoagulants [DOACs]) were included. Poor adherence was observed in 27.9% of patients. Higher scores in the Pfeiffer's test and FRAIL scale were associated with poorer adherence. Among patients treated with DOACs, 62.3% received the lower doses. Having high CHADS(2) score and being older were associated with the use of low doses. Conclusion: 28% of patients had a poor adherence to anticoagulant treatment. 62% of patients were treated with the lower doses of DOACs.

Background: Although, by itself, atrial fibrillation is associated with an impairment of quality of life antithrombotic therapy may play a role. Objective: To evaluate the satisfaction with anticoagulant treatment in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who attended internal medicine departments in Spain. Methods: Patients from two different cross-sectional studies were combined. To measure the satisfaction with anticoagulant treatment, the Anti-Clot-Treatment Scale (ACTS) questionnaire was completed by every patient. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the variables associated with satisfaction of patients receiving oral anticoagulants. Results: A total of 1,309 patients (mean age 78.5 +/- 8.4 years; 49.3% men; CHA(2)DS(2)VASC 4.9 +/- 1.5; HAS-BLED 2.0 +/- 0.9) were included in the study, of whom 902 (68.9%) were taking vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and 407 (31.1%) direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). Overall, satisfaction with oral anticoagulation was high (ACTS Burdens scale 49.69 +/- 9.45; ACTS Benefits scale 11.35 +/- 2.61). The perceived burdens with anticoagulant treatment were lower in men, as well as in patients with no dependency, normal renal function, who were not polymedicated, or who had moderate bleeding risk. Among patients taking VKA, those subjects with a lower number of International Normalized Ratio (INR) determinations in the last 6 months or with an optimal time in the therapeutic range exhibited a lower perceived burden. Patients taking DOACs (vs VKA) showed a lower perceived burden with anticoagulation. Benefits with anticoagulation were higher in men, younger patients, those with no dependency, or low bleeding risk. Perceived benefits were higher in patients taking DOACs (vs VKA). Conclusion: Satisfaction with oral anticoagulation was high in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, who were attending internal medicine departments daily in Spain. Among patients taking VKA, those subjects with a lower number of INR determinations in the last 6 months or with an optimal time in the therapeutic range exhibited a lower perceived burden with anticoagulant therapy. Patients taking DOACs (vs VKA) showed lower perceived burdens and higher perceived benefits with anticoagulation.

Background and objective: To evaluate the adherence to the recommendations in clinical practice performed by the Therapeutic Positioning Report (TPR) of the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Sanitary Products about the treatment with oral anticoagulants in patients aged >= 75 years old with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) treated in Internal Medicine departments in Spain. Patients and methods: Observational, cross-sectional and multicenter study in which 837 patients aged >= 75 years old with NVAF, with stable treatment with oral anticoagulants at least 3 months before inclusion, and that had started treatment with oral anticoagulants before the inclusion period were included. Results: Mean age was 83.0 +/- 5.0 years old, mean CHADS(2) score 3.2 +/- 1.2, mean CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score 5.0 +/- 1.4, and mean HAS-BLED score 2.1 +/- 0.9. A percentage of 70.8 of patients were treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and the rest of patients with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). A percentage of 65.6 of patients treated with VKA did not follow the recommendations made by the TPR compared with 43.0% of patients treated with DOACs (p < 0.0001). In the case of VKA, the main reason for being considered as not appropriate according to the TPR was having poor control of anticoagulation and not switching to DOACs, whereas in the case of DOACs, it was not receiving the adequate dose according to the TPR. Conclusions: In a high proportion of anticoagulated elderly patients with NVAF in Spain, the recommendations performed by the TPR are not followed, particularly with VKA, since patients are not switched to DOACs despite time in therapeutic range. (C) 2017 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Source: doi: 10.1186/s12916-016-0570-1 Background:To determine the shape of the associations of HbA1c with mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in non-diabetic individuals and explore potential explanations. Methods: The associations of HbA1c with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and primary cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were assessed in non-diabetic subjects ≥50 years from six population-based cohort studies from Europe and the USA and meta-analyzed. Very low, low, intermediate and increased HbA1c were defined as Results:Overall, 6,769 of 28,681 study participants died during a mean follow-up of 10.7 years, of whom 2,648 died of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, 2,493 experienced a primary cardiovascular event. A linear association with primary cardiovascular events was observed. Adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors explained about 50 % of the excess risk and attenuated hazard ratios (95 % confidence interval) for increased HbA1c to 1.14 (1.03–1.27), 1.17 (1.00–1.37) and 1.19 (1.04–1.37) for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events, respectively. The six cohorts yielded inconsistent results for the association of very low HbA1c levels with the mortality outcomes and the pooled effect estimates were not statistically significant. In one cohort with a pronounced J-shaped association of HbA1c levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (NHANES), the following confounders of the association of very low HbA1c levels with mortality outcomes were identified: race/ethnicity; alcohol consumption; BMI; as well as biomarkers of iron deficiency anemia and liver function. Associations for very low HbA1c levels lost statistical significance in this cohort after adjusting for these confounders.Conclusions: A linear association of HbA1c levels with primary cardiovascular events was observed. For cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, the observed small effect sizes at both the lower and upper end of HbA1c distribution do not support the notion of a J-shaped association of HbA1c levels because a certain degree of residual confounding needs to be considered in the interpretation of the results. Keywords: Glycated hemoglobin, Cardiovascular disease, Myocardial infarction, Stroke, Mortality, Cohort study, Meta-analysis

Background: Despite the progressive increase in life expectancy and the relationship between aging with multi-morbidities and the increased use of healthcare resources, current clinical practice guidelines (CPG) on cardiometabolic risk cannot be adequately applied to elderly subjects with multiple chronic conditions. Its management frequently becomes complicated by both, an excessive use of medications that may lead to overtreatment, drug interactions and increased toxicity, and errors in dosage and non-compliance. Concerned by this gap, the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine created a group of independent experts on cardiometabolic risk who discussed what they considered to be unanswered questions in the management of elderly patients. Discussion: Current guidelines do not specifically address the problem of elderly with multiple chronic conditions. For this reason, the combined use of the limited available evidence, clinical experience and common sense, could all help us to address this unmet need. In very old people, life expectancy and functionality are the most important factors for guiding potential treatments. Their higher propensity to develop serious adverse events and their shorter lifespan could prevent them from obtaining the potential benefits of the interventions administered. Summary: In this document, experts on cardiometabolic risk factors have established a number of consensual recommendations that have taken into account international guidelines and clinical experience, and have also considered the more effective use of healthcare resources. This document is intended to provide general recommendations for clinicians and to promote the effective use of procedures and medications.

10.1185/03007995.2013.850069 Abstract Objectives: The aim of this study was to ascertain the factors associated with non-achievement of triglyceride (TG) goals in a cohort of hypertriglyceridemic patients attending the lipid clinics of the Spanish Arteriosclerosis Society (LC-SAS). Methods: Patients with high TG levels (>2.2?mmol/L; 200?mg/dL) were included in this multicenter, prospective, observational study and followed up for 1 year. The TG goal was =2.2?mmol/L (200?mg/dL). Main limitations of this study are that etiologic diagnosis of hypertriglyceridemia was not done under unified criteria and drug compliance was not evaluated. Results: From 1394 patients initially included in the study, 929 (age range: 50?±?12 years, 26% women) were followed up for 1 year; 523 patients (56%) failed to reach the TG target. These patients were younger, had a higher body mass index (BMI), were more frequently smokers, hypertensive and diabetic and had more severe dyslipidemia. They were also more sedentary, their diet was of poorer quality and they had higher alcohol consumption. The independent predictors of treatment failure were hypertriglyceridemia severity, low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and high non-HDL-C, alcohol consumption and a raised BMI, while drug treatment had no predictive power. Conclusion: Independent predictors of failure to achieve hypertriglyceridemia treatment goals are inappropriate lifestyle, evidenced by insufficient weight loss, alcohol consumption and dyslipidemia severity.

Fundamento y objetivo: en algunos pacientes el diagnóstico de tuberculosis no es sospechado en el momento del ingreso hospitalario, favoreciendo su transmisión nosocomial. El objetivo del estudio era valorar el retraso diagnóstico que se produce en los pacientes ingresados con tuberculosis respiratoria en nuestro hospital y los factores que lo determinan. Pacientes y métodos: estudio retrospectivo de todos los pacientes hospitalizados con tuberculosis pulmonar entre 1995 y 2002. En cada paciente se registraron variables clínico-epidemiológicas y el tiempo desde el ingreso hasta el inicio del aislamiento respiratorio y del tratamiento antituberculoso. Resultados: 149 pacientes fueron diagnosticados de tuberculosis pulmonar durante una hospitalización. El diagnóstico no fue sospechado en las primeras 24 horas del ingreso en 102 pacientes (68% [IC95%, 61 a 75%]), de los cuales 66 (64,7% [IC95%, 56 a 74%]) tenían tinción de esputo positiva. En 62 pacientes (42% [IC95%, 34 a 50%]) se inició tratamiento tuberculostático pasados más de 7 días desde el ingreso, de ellos 34 (55% [IC95%, 43 a 67%]) tenían tinción de esputo positiva. Se asocian independientemente a mayor retraso diagnóstico: edad ≥ 60 años (OR 3,17 [IC95%; 1,27 a 7,87]; p = 0,013), presencia de enfermedad pulmonar crónica (OR 2,99 [IC95%; 1,21 a 7,38]; p = 0,017), tinción de esputo negativa (OR 4,51 [IC95%; 1,34 a 15,16]; p = 0,015) y ausencia de hemoptisis o melanoptisis (OR 2,96 [IC95%; 1,18 a 7,41]; p = 0,020). Conclusiones: El retraso en el diagnóstico y tratamiento de pacientes que ingresan con tuberculosis respiratoria es frecuente, incluso en pacientes con tinción de esputo positiva, por falta de sospecha clínica (sobre todo en pacientes ancianos, con patología pulmonar crónica o con manifestaciones atípicas de la enfermedad). Estos datos ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de mantener un alto índice de sospecha, desarrollar pruebas de diagnóstico rápido e iniciar precozmente un tratamiento empírico para mejorar el control de la enfermedad. Background and objectives: Sometimes tuberculosis diagnosis is missed at hospital admission. Delayed diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis among hospitalized patients could to contribute to nosocomial transmission. The objective of this study was to define the occurrence and associated patient risk factors among hospitalized patients with delayed diagnosis of respiratory tuberculosis. Methods and patients: A retrospective chart review was undertaken between 1995 and 2002 on all patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Time intervals between admission, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis were determined. Epidemiological and clinical features were evaluated for their effect on these time intervals. Results: Among 149 patients newly diagnosed to have active pulmonary TB, the diagnosis was initially missed in 102 (68% [95% CI, 61 to 75%]) of all hospitalized patients, of whom 66 (65% [95% CI, 56 to 74%]) were smear positive. Treatment was initiated after a week or more in 62 (42% [95% CI, 34% to 50%]) of all patients, of whom 34 (55% [95% CI, 43 to 67%])) were smear positive. Age ≥ 60 years (OR 3.17 [95% CI; 1.27 to 7.87]; p = 0.013), presence of chronic lung disease (OR 2.99 [95% CI; 1.21 to 7.38]; p = 0.017), negative sputum AFB smear (OR 4.51 [95% CI; 1.34 to 15.16]; p = 0.015) and absence of hemoptysis or melanoptysis (OR 2.96 [95% CI; 1.18 a 7.41]; p = 0.020), were independently associated with delays. Conclusions: The diagnosis and treatment of hospitalized patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is often delayed because absence of clinic suspicion owing to old age, chronic lung disease or atypical presentations and slow confirmation by culture. Improved clinical acumen, development of rapid diagnostic tests, and the institution of early empiric therapy are desirable objectives to improve the tuberculosis control.