Rationale, design and preliminary results of the GALIPEMIAS study (prevalence and lipid control of familial dyslipidemia in Galicia, northwest Spain).

AIMS: There is little information on the familial nature of dyslipidemias in the Spanish population. This knowledge could have potential diagnostic and treatment implications. The objective of the GALIPEMIAS study was to determine the prevalence of familial dyslipidemia in Galicia, as well as determine the degree of lipid control in the participants. Prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) was also estimated. This paper presents the design, methodology and selected preliminary results. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was performed in the population aged ≥18 years using cluster sampling and then random sampling. A sample of 1000 subjects was calculated and divided into three sequential phases with a specific methodology for each one. Phase I: selection of subjects from the general population and collection of informed consent documents; Phase II: collection of data from the digital clinical history to select subjects with dyslipidemia according to study criteria; Phase III: personal interview, blood analysis, family tree, and definitive diagnosis of dyslipidemia. Prevalence of different diseases and active medication was analysed. Corrected prevalence (to the reference population) of different risk factors and ASCVD was estimated. RESULTS: Phase I participation was 89.5%. We extracted complete information from 93% of the participants (Phase II). According to the study's own criteria, 56.5% (n = 527) of the participants had some form of dyslipidemia and almost 33.7% of them had familial dyslipidemia with autosomal dominant inherit pattern. The corrected prevalence of ASCVD was 5.1% (95% CI 3.1-7.2). CONCLUSIONS: Dyslipidemia was the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor in our population with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern in one out of every three dyslipidemia cases. Approximately, 5.1% of the sample population aged ≥18 has suffered an episode of ACVD.

Effectiveness, Safety, and Adherence to Treatment of Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin Type 9 Inhibitors in Real Practice.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness, adverse reactions, and adherence to treatment of hypolipidemic inhibitors of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9is) in a context of real clinical practice. METHODS: We present an observational, retrospective, descriptive, multicenter study of patients with hypercholesterolemia who began treatment with PCSK9is between January 2017 and December 2019, with a minimum treatment period of 3 months. The main variable we recorded was the frequency of cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization, and hospitalization for unstable angina) in patients treated with PCSK9is. We recorded patient demographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors at onset of treatment as well as LDL-C levels and their reductions at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. We calculated adherence to treatment and recorded the adverse reactions during treatment. FINDINGS: A total of 154 patients were studied, 64 (41.6%) of whom were treated with alirocumab and 90 (58.4%) with evolocumab. The initial dose of alirocumab was 75 mg every 14 days in 48 patients (75%) and 150 mg eery 14 days in 16 (25%). All patients who in the evolocumab group received a dose of 140 mg every 14 days. The mean (SD) basal LDL-C level was 159.6 (50.1) mg/dL, the level at 3 months was 87.9 (49.9) mg/dL (mean [SD] decrease, 44.5% [28.2%]), the level at 6 months was 86.7 (49.2) mg/dL (mean [SD] decrease, 46.3% [25.6%]), and the level at 12 months was 80.5 (41.4) (mean [SD] decrease, 48.9% [23.0%]). These values were maintained at 24 months (mean [SD], 80.3 [41.8] mg/dL; mean [SD] decrease, 47.9% [27.8%]). The percentage decrease of LDL-C for both drugs was approximately 50%, which was maintained until 24 months after treatment. Six patients (3.9%) presented with some cardiovascular event: acute myocardial infarction (2 [1.3%]), stroke (1 [0.65%]), coronary revascularization (1 [0.65%]), and hospitalization for unstable angina (2 [1.3%]). We did not see any adverse reactions related to PCSK9i treatment in 76.5% of patients. In the first 6 months, adherence to treatment with PCSK9is, measured as the possession ratio, was a mean (SD) of 99.4% (3.9%). In the rest of the study period (6-24 months), the mean (SD) adherence to treatment was 99.2% (4.7%). IMPLICATIONS: The frequency of cardiovascular events in patients treated with PCSK9is was low and occurred despite adequate adherence to treatment (100% possession ratio) with PCSK9is and concomitant treatment with other hypolipidemics. The effectiveness of PCSK9is is similar to that referred to in other published studies with PCSK9is, and this was maintained in the long term (24 months) with few adverse events, all of which were mild.

Prevalence of acromegaly in patients with symptoms of sleep apnea.

Acromegaly is a rare disease with nonspecific symptoms with acral enlargement being almost universally present at diagnosis. The estimated prevalence is 40-125 cases/million but targeted universal screening studies have found a higher prevalence (about 10 fold). The aim of the ACROSAHS study was to investigate the prevalence of acromegaly and acromegaly comorbidities in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement. ACROSAHS was a Spanish prospective non-interventional epidemiological study in 13 Hospital sleep referral units. Facial and acral enlargement symptoms including: ring size and shoe size increase, tongue, lips and jaws enlargement, paresthesia or carpal tunnel syndrome and widening of tooth spaces, as well as other typical acromegaly comorbidities were recorded with a self-administered questionnaire of patients who attended a first visit for sleep apnea symptoms between 09/2013 and 07/2014. Serum insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF1) was measured in patients with ≥1 acral symptom to determine the prevalence of acromegaly. Of the 1557 patients enrolled, 1477 with complete data (72% male) were analyzed. 530 patients (36%) reported at least 1 acral enlargement symptom and were tested for IGF-1, 41 were above range, persisted in 7, and among those, 2 cases of acromegaly were diagnosed (prevalence of at least 1.35 cases/1000). Overall, 1019 patients (69%) had ≥2 acromegaly symptoms and should have been screened according to guidelines; moreover 373 patients (25%) had ≥1 symptom of acral enlargement plus ≥3 other acromegaly symptoms. In conclusion, in patients with sleep apnea symptoms and acral enlargement, we found an acromegaly prevalence of at least 1.35 cases per 1000 and a high prevalence of typical acromegaly symptoms. It is important that sleep specialists are aware of acromegaly symptoms to aid with acromegaly diagnosis.

Neuroendocrine Gastroenteropancreatic Tumors: Where Are We?

AIMS: Neuroendocrine gastroenteropancreatic tumors are infrequently found neoplasms. Our objective was to analyze the survival rates for all sites that they occur in by studying different variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out using records for a 7-year period from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2014 on neuroendocrine gastroenteropancreatic tumors patients diagnosed at the Pontevedra-Salnés Hospital Complex. The variables used were as follows: age at diagnosis, tumor size, presence or absence of metastases at diagnosis, cell proliferation index, Ki-67 of each tumor, treatments received, postdiagnosis survival time, existence or not of tumor progression, and time from diagnosis to progression and from diagnosis to mortality. In relation to treatments, the information recorded was whether the treatment was endoscopic, surgical, or pharmacological. RESULTS: Ninety-three neuroendocrine tumors made up a ratio of 4.42 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per annum. The median patient follow-up time was 44 months. The overall 5-year survival rate for patients who were followed up for a minimum of 60 months (49 patients) was 65.3%. The progression-free survival was 75.6% for 41 patients who were followed up for a minimum of 60 months. The survival rate for patients receiving endoscopic treatment was 100%, as there was no patient mortality recorded for those treated by endoscopic resection during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors may be managed conservatively in elderly patients by either monitoring them with imaging studies or treating them with somatostatin analogs. In the case of digestive tract tumors (stomach, duodenum, and rectum) that meet the criteria for endoscopic resection, this is a reliable and safe technique in the long term.