Number of drugs used in secondary cardiovascular prevention and late survival in the population of Valencia Community, Spain.

BACKGROUND: Drug treatment for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease is recommended by guidelines, but it is not always followed in real life. This study wanted to assess the size of this gap and its impact on mortality in subjects after a cardiovascular event (MACE). METHODS: Patients with any of MACE in the period from January 1st 2011 to December 31st 2013, and more than one year of follow-up were selected from population of the Valencian Community. Drugs for secondary prevention were antiplatelets, renin-angiotensin system blockers and statins. Assessment of treatment was performed one year after the initial event. Mortality risk was assessed using Cox by the number of drug classes (G0 no medication, G1 one, G2 two and G3 three drugs) adjusted by confounders. RESULTS: A total of 92,436 patients (62% men, mean age 72 years) of whom 60.5% presented with stroke, 30.6% with myocardial infarction and 8.9% with revascularization were included. Among them, 4.1% were G0, 20.2% G1, 32.9% G2 and 42.7% G3. A progressive decrease in mortality was observed in G1 (HR 0.83, CI 95% 0.73-0.95), G2 (HR 0.70, CI 95% 0.60-0.82) and G3 (HR 0.61, CI95% 0.51-0.74) vs. G0. In diabetic subgroup, significant reduction of risk was observed in the G2 (0.79, CI 95% 0.63-0.98) and G3 (0.72, CI9 5% 0.56-0.95), but not in G1 (0.97, CI 95% 0.80-1.17). CONCLUSION: A gap between guidelines and reality in the use of cardiovascular protecting drugs one year after the initial event still exists and it is largely related with all-cause late mortality.

Implementação, avaliação e comparação dos protocolos de desmame com Tubo-T e Pressão Suporte associada à pressão expiratória final positiva em pacientes submetidos à ventilação mecânica por mais de 48 horas em unidade de terapia intensiva / Implementation, assessment and comparison of the T-Tube and pressure-support weaning protocols applied to the intensive care unit patients who had received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: A retirada precoce da ventilação mecânica dos pacientes das unidades de terapia intensiva (UTI) é importante para a redução da morbimortalidade, porém na prática, os desmames são realizados aleatoriamente. Face à importância desse procedimento, esse estudo avaliou a implementação de protocolos de desmame e comparou dois métodos distintos. MÉTODO: Foram incluídos no estudo 120 pacientes dependentes de ventilação mecânica por mais de 48 horas. O método de Pressão Suporte + PEEP (PSP), foi aplicado aos pacientes em dias pares, constituindo o grupo 1 (GPSP) e em dias ímpares, utilizou-se o método do Tubo-T (TT), formando o grupo 2 (GTT), RESULTADOS: A resposta dos pacientes à extubação revelou evolução semelhante nos dois grupos, porém deixou claro, pela análise estatística do teste Qui-quadrado, o benefício de se utilizar um protocolo de desmame. De todos os pacientes estudados, 109 (90,83 por cento) tiveram sucesso na extubação não sendo necessário nenhum tipo de ventilação não-invasiva dentro de 24 horas após o desmame, enquanto que apenas 11 pacientes (9,17 por cento) necessitaram de ventilação mecânica não-invasiva ou de re-intubação no mesmo período, caracterizando o insucesso do desmame. CONCLUSÕES: A implementação e a padronização de protocolos de desmame da ventilação mecânica, reduziu significativamente o índice de re-intubação na UTI, diminuindo o período de internação e o índice de morbimortalidade, porém neste estudo, não foram encontradas diferenças estatísticas significativas entre os métodos analisados.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mechanical ventilation incurs significant morbidity and mortality, weaning intensive care unit patients is highly desirable, although it is usuallyconducted in an empirical manner. Thus, this article assessed a weaning protocol implementation and compared two different methods. METHODS: It was carried out a study involving 120 patients who had received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours. These patients were randomlyassigned to undergo one of two weaning techniques: pressure-supportventilation + PEEP (PSP) technique, which was applied to the patients in equal days, forming the PSP group (PSPG) and the T-tube method (TT), applied in odd days and forming the TT group (TTG). Standardized protocols were followedfor each technique RESULTS: The patients response to extubation revealed similar progress in both PSP and TT groups, but after the Chi-square statistical test, the benefits of using a weaning protocol was clear. One hundred nine (90.83 percent) of all patients, had a successful weaning and any noninvasive ventilation type was needed in a span time of 24 hours after extubation, and only eleven (9.17 percent), had an unsuccessful weaning. CONCLUSIONS: Although this study didn't show any difference between the two methods applied, we could conclude that, the implementation of standardized weaning protocols can substantially decrease the patient's reintubation rate, promoting a downward trend in mortality and morbidity for these patients and shortening their hospital and intensive care units length of stay.

[Implementation, assessment and comparison of the T-Tube and pressure-support weaning protocols applied to the intensive care unit patients who had received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours]. / Implementação, avaliação e comparação dos protocolos de desmame com Tubo-T e Pressão Suporte associada à pressão expiratória final positiva em pacientes submetidos à ventilação mecânica por mais de 48 horas em unidade de terapia intensiva.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mechanical ventilation incurs significant morbidity and mortality, weaning intensive care unit patients is highly desirable, although it is usuallyconducted in an empirical manner. Thus, this article assessed a weaning protocol implementation and compared two different methods. METHODS: It was carried out a study involving 120 patients who had received mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours. These patients were randomlyassigned to undergo one of two weaning techniques: pressure-supportventilation + PEEP (PSP) technique, which was applied to the patients in equal days, forming the PSP group (PSPG) and the T-tube method (TT), applied in odd days and forming the TT group (TTG). Standardized protocols were followedfor each technique RESULTS: The patients response to extubation revealed similar progress in both PSP and TT groups, but after the Chi-square statistical test, the benefits of using a weaning protocol was clear. One hundred nine (90.83%) of all patients, had a successful weaning and any noninvasive ventilation type was needed in a span time of 24 hours after extubation, and only eleven (9.17%), had an unsuccessful weaning. CONCLUSIONS: Although this study didn't show any difference between the two methods applied, we could conclude that, the implementation of standardized weaning protocols can substantially decrease the patient's reintubation rate, promoting a downward trend in mortality and morbidity for these patients and shortening their hospital and intensive care units length of stay.

The KARTAN study: a postmarketing assessment of Irbesartan in patients with hypertension.

BACKGROUND: An important purpose of postmarketing surveillance of drugs is to better characterize the safety profile of drug therapy in the clinical setting. Another goal is to confirm the effectiveness of these drugs in patients who are candidates for antihypertensive therapy and who may have been excluded from Phase III studies. Irbesartan is a long-acting angiotensin II-receptor blocker specific for the angiotensin 1-receptor subtype that, in clinical trials in patients with hypertension, reduces blood pressure. OBJECTIVES: The KARTAN (this word was derived from the first and last syllables of Karvea [trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Group, Madrid, Spain] and irbesartan) study was designed to confirm and extend the findings from previous clinical trials using data from a large number of patients with hypertension treated with irbesartan in routine clinical practice. The primary goal was to assess the types and incidences of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occurring at a low frequency (<0.05%) with irbesartan. The secondary objectives were to study the effect of irbesartan as an antihypertensive agent, to assess the types and incidences of the most frequent ADRs (>/=0.05%) occurring in routine clinical practice, and to detect possible interactions between irbesartan and other drugs frequently used in the primary care setting. METHODS: This 6-month, observational, open-label, uncontrolled, national, longitudinal, prospective study was conducted by 852 primary care physicians across Spain. Men and women aged >/=18 years with mild to moderate hypertension who, in their physicians' opinion, should have been treated with irbesartan were included. Each patient was followed up for 6 months, attending visits at baseline (ie, the start of treatment) and 1, 3, and 6 months after the start of treatment. A sample size of 3219 patients was calculated for the detection of >/=1 low-incidence (<0.05%) ADR. After the baseline visit, therapy typically was begun with irbesartan 150 mg/d. The initial dose was titrated up, at 300-mg increments based on the patient's response, at each visit as needed to achieve the treatment goals (systolic blood pressure, <140 mm Hg; diastolic blood pressure, <90 mm Hg). Information regarding ADRs was collected on case-report forms designed for each visit and analyzed by the scientific committee of the study. All recruited patients were included in the tolerability analysis. RESULTS: A total of 4887 patients were enrolled (2165 men, 2 772 women; mean [SD] age, 61.1 [11.0] years [range, 19-94 years]; 23.3% of patients were aged >70 years); 4612 were assessable for efficacy. One hundred eight patients (2.2%) experienced ADRs over the 6-month treatment period; 3 of these patients (0.1%) experienced >1 ADR. Of the total number of clinical manifestations of ADRs, 24 occurred at an incidence <0.05%. Irbesartan produced reductions in blood pressure that were statistically significant from the first visit (all p < 0.001), and 39.9% of the patients achieved the treatment goal at the end of the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: In this postmarketing surveillance study of patients with hypertension treated in routine clinical practice, irbesartan showed a satisfactory tolerability profile that was consistent with that seen in randomized, controlled trials.