Ugo Oliviero

The association between LDL-c levels and cardiovascular outcomes suggests tailoring lipid-lowering therapies according to total cardiovascular risk. We aimed to evaluate the adherence to guidelines-oriented dyslipidaemia’s treatment in an outpatient population referring to ARCA cardiologists, and assess the efficacy of treatment’s optimization for each specific level of risk. Three thousand seventy-five patients enrolled in this prospective study were classified according to cardiovascular risk category, and their therapies were optimized. At the beginning and the 3 month follow-up visit, LDL-c data were collected, and further therapies were prescribed to the patients that did not reach the target. A significant LDL-c reduction was observed in all subgroups at different cardiovascular risk at the end of the study (p < 0.05). The number of patients assuming statins, both in monotherapy and in combination with ezetimibe, increased during the follow-up (63% at the enrollment vs 89% after 12 months). At the enrollment, only 1.4% of patients were treated with PCSK-9 inhibitors while after 12 months the percentage increased both in high (5.8%) and very high-risk (18.4%) patients. At the beginning of the study, only 698/3075 patients (22.7%) reached lipid targets. At the end of the study, carried out by the referring cardiologists in the pertaining healthcare districts and specifically aimed to control the lipid profile, the percentage of patients on target increased in all risk categories (68.5%). Our results suggest carefully implementing measures that encourage outpatients and their cardiologists to achieve the targeted lipid profile according to cardiovascular risk.

Echocardiographic assessment of aortic pulse wave velocity for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction - Minerva Cardiology and Angiology 2021 February;69(1):9-11 - Minerva Medica - Journals

SCODIAC was a pilot study which revealed an increasing use of SGLT2i in 123 outpatients affected with Heart Failure (HF) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. SCODIAC-II study, the second phase of the program, has been carried out to determine diagnostic and therapeutic pathways in a larger group of patients and to verify whether the use of innovative antidiabetic therapies could modify echocardiographic parameters and cardiovascular therapies. 406 HF-diabetic patients, referred to Cardiologists and Diabetologists of pertaining healthcare districts in Campania, were enrolled in this retrospective study and divided in Group A, composed of 136 patients with preserved Ejection Fraction (HF-pEF)(> 45%) and Group B, formed of 270 patients with reduced EF (HF-rEF)(≤ 45%). All patients had performed periodic clinical and echocardiographic evaluations. The antidiabetic therapies resulted modified after 1 year with a greater use of GLP1-AR, gliptins and SGLT2i. Cardiovascular therapies resulted also modified with a greater use of sacubitril/valsartan and a reduction of ACEi and ARBs in HF-rEF patients. Echocardiography E velocity, A velocity and E/e’ ratio resulted markedly reduced in 25 HF-pEF and in 60 HF-rEF patients treated with SGLT2i, in respect to both the whole sample of subjects at beginning and the other diabetic patients. LAVi resulted reduced only in HF-pEF patients and EF increased only in HF-rEF patients. The approach to the patients with HF and diabetes must necessarily take place in the healthcare districts, be multidisciplinary and integrated. SGLT2i could improve left ventricular function in HF-rEF patients and modify cardiovascular therapies, almost in this setting of patients. Trial registration The protocol was approved by the University of Naples Federico II Ethics Committee and registered at ClinicalTrial.gov (CT04375943). The principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.

Vascular function in dilated cardiomyopathy of different etiology has been poorly investigated. Moreover, reference values of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in chronic heart failure (CHF) need to be updated according to the new standardized protocols. We characterized the vascular impairment in different stages of post-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (PI-DC) or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (I-DC). Eighty consecutive outpatients with CHF in different New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes (45 PI-DC, 35 I-DC) and 50 control subjects underwent FMD and brachial distensibility coefficient measurement. Patients with CHF showed a marked impairment in FMD compared with controls that worsened from classes NYHA I-II to III-IV, independently of etiology (P < .05). New York Heart Association I-II PI-DC patients showed a worse FMD compared with NYHA I-II I-DC patients (P < .05). Brachial distensibility coefficient values were significantly lower in patients with CHF compared with controls (P < .001) without differences between PI-DC and I-DC. In conclusion, advanced CHF is characterized by vascular impairment that is independent of etiology. In the early stages of CHF, endothelial dysfunction is more severe in patients with PI-DC compared with I-DC probably due to the high cardiovascular risk profile. In I-DC, vascular function impairment is independent of cardiovascular risk factors and could participate in the pathogenesis of I-DC.

Background SCODIAC study revealed an increasing use of SGLT2 inhibitors in 123 patients affected with Heart Failure (HF) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), referred to Cardiologists and Diabetologists of the pertaining healthcare districts. SCODIAC Follow Up, the second phase of the program, has been carried out to determine diagnostic and therapeutic pathways in a larger group of HF diabetic patients and to verify whether the use of innovative antidiabetic therapies could modify echocardiographic parameters and influence cardiological therapy. Methods 406 patients affected with HF and T2DM, referred to Cardiologists and Diabetologists of pertaining healthcare districts in Campania, and followed for at least one year between 2018 and 2019, were enrolled in this retrospective study and divided in Group A, composed of 136 HF diabetic patients with preserved Ejection Fraction (HF-pEF) (> 45%) and Group B, formed of 270 HF diabetic patients with reduced EF (HF-rEF) (≤ 45%). All patients had performed periodic clinical evaluations and an echocardiographic exam every 12 months. Anthropometric parameters, HF etiology, co-morbidities, complications and ongoing therapies were collected. Results The clinical and laboratory parameters and the treatments adopted were assessed at beginning and after 12 months of treatment. The antidiabetic therapies resulted modified after one year with a greater use of GLP1 AR, gliptins and SGLT2i. Cardiological therapy resulted also modified with a greater use of ARNI and a reduction of ACE inhibitors and ARBs in HF-rEF patients. At the end of the study echocardiography E velocity, A velocity and E/E’ ratio resulted markedly reduced in 25 HF-pEF patients and in 60 HF-rEF patients treated with SGLT2i, in respect to both the whole sample of subjects at beginning and the other diabetic patients, while LAVi resulted reduced only in HF-pEF patients and EF increased only in HF-rEF patients. Conclusions The approach to the patients with HF and T2DM must necessarily take place in the healthcare districts and be multidisciplinary and integrated in order to tailor therapy to the characteristics of the patient. SGLT2i could improve left ventricular function in HF-rEF patients and modify cardiological therapeutic approach, almost in this setting of patients. Trial registration: The protocol was approved by the University of Naples Federico II Ethics Committee and registered at ClinicalTrial.gov (CT04375943). The principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.

Background: Carotid dolicoarteriopathies (CDA) are a common finding during the carotid ultrasound or angiography, but their potential role in the development of cerebrovascular diseases is still unclear. Aim of this study is to clarify the possible relationship between CDA and the occurrence of cerebral events. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on 2124 hypertensive patients with high cardiovascular risk that underwent carotid ultrasound from January 2000 to December 2008. Follow-up data on cerebrovascular events (transient ischemic attack and/or stroke occurrence) at 10 years were collected. Results: The global prevalence of CDA in the study population was 12.9% (274/2124), and carotid kinking was more frequent in females and in the left carotid axis. The percentage of cerebrovascular events among hypertensive patients with CDA was similar to those occurred in the group of patients without CDA (10.94% vs. 10.97%, P=NS), with no differences in the number of strokes (8.39% vs. 8.38% P=NS) and TIA (2.55% vs. 2.59% P=NS). Conclusions: CDA are not associated with a major occurrence of cerebrovascular events in a high-risk population of hypertensives.

Background and aim: The Adherence to Guidelines in the Treatment of patients with Chronic Heart Failure trial showed a poor adherence to the current therapeutic guidelines in 660 chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. The second phase, Adherence to Guidelines in the Treatment of patients with Chronic Heart Failure follow-up, was aimed to determine if periodic echocardiographic evaluations could improve the prognosis of CHF patients and/or increase the adherence to the guidelines. Material and methods: Among 528 CHF patients with reduced ejection fraction from the ALERT registry, 436 patients accepted to participate in the second phase of the study between February and September 2013 and completed the 3-year follow-up phase between February and September 2016. They were randomized into two groups: Group A (n = 218) followed by clinical evaluation and ECG every 3 months, and echocardiography every 6 months and Group B (n = 218) monitored only with clinical evaluation and ECG every 3 months. Results: The number of vascular events that occurred resulted as similar in both the groups: there were 78 hospitalizations (37 in Group A vs. 41 in Group B); 9 home-treated vascular events (4 in Group A and five in Group B); and 16 cardiovascular deaths (9 and 7, respectively). The adherence to the guidelines at the end of the trial resulted as significantly improved in both the groups in comparison with the basal evaluation, without differences between the two groups. Conclusion: A strict follow-up of CHF patients was associated with a lower number of events and an improvement in the adherence to the guidelines. Periodic echocardiography does not modify these results.