Cascade of care for hypertension among apparently healthy and unhealthy individuals of 25-64 years in the Czech Republic.

BACKGROUND: Despite accessible diagnostics and treatment of hypertension, a high proportion of patients worldwide remain unaware of their diagnosis, and even more remain untreated. Several studies suggest that absence of comorbidities is a predictive factor for unawareness and consequently non-treatment of hypertension. There are only a few studies that have assessed the hypertension prevalence and management among apparently healthy individuals. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess and compare hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control among apparently healthy individuals, patients with internal diseases, and patients with non-internal diseases. METHODS: Data from standardised blood pressure measurements conducted during the Czech European Health Examination Survey 2014 and information on health status and health care use collected during the Czech European Health Interview Survey 2014 were analyzed. We focused on participants aged 25-64. Data were weighted on sex and age to ensure an appropriate sex and age structure of the population. The χ2-test and binary logistic regression analyses were used to compare distribution of cascade of care for hypertension between the health-status groups of respondents. RESULTS: The final eligible sample consisted of 1121 participants. The prevalence of hypertension was 32.8% in the healthy group, 29.8% in the non-internal disease group and 52.4% in the internal disease group, (p < 0.001). Awareness was 54.1%, 59.1% and 85.2% respectively, (p < 0.001). Treatment was 44.2%, 52.6% and 86.4%, respectively, (p < 0.001). Among apparently healthy respondents 62.6% had their blood pressure measured by a medical professional in the last year, compared to 71.1% in the non-internal disease group and 91.7% in the internal disease group, (p < 0.001). Differences in hypertension control were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, our data show a discordance in hypertension management within the Czech population. Apparently healthy individuals are the least aware of their diagnosis and the highest proportion of them remain untreated.

Outcomes of Alcohol Septal Ablation in Patients With Severe Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The current ACC/AHA guidelines on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) caution that alcohol septal ablation (ASA) might be less effective in patients with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) ≥ 100 mm Hg. METHODS: We used a multinational registry to evaluate the outcome of ASA patients according to baseline LVOTO. RESULTS: A total of 1346 ASA patients were enrolled and followed for 5.8 ± 4.7 years (7764 patient-years). The patients with baseline LVOTO ≥ 100 mm Hg were significantly older (61 ± 14 years vs 57 ± 13 years; P < 0.01), more often women (60% vs 45%; P < 0.01), and had a more pronounced HCM phenotype than those with baseline LVOTO < 100 mm Hg. There were no significant differences in the occurrences of 30-day major cardiovascular adverse events in the 2 groups. After propensity score matching (2 groups, 257 pairs of patients), the long-term survival was similar in both groups (P = 0.10), the relative reduction of LVOTO was higher in the group with baseline LVOTO ≥ 100 mm Hg (82 ± 21% vs 73 ± 26%; P < 0.01), but the residual resting LVOTO remained higher in this group (23 ± 29 mm Hg vs 13 ± 13 mm Hg; P < 0.01). Dyspnoea (NYHA functional class) at the most recent clinical check-up was similar in the 2 groups (1.7 ± 0.7 vs 1.7 ± 0.7; P = 0.85), and patients with baseline LVOTO ≥ 100 mm Hg underwent more reinterventions (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: After propensity matching, ASA patients with baseline LVOTO ≥ 100 mm Hg had similar survival and dyspnoea as patients with baseline LVOTO < 100 mm Hg, but their residual LVOTO and risk of repeated procedures were higher.

How to convince a patient refusing colonoscopy - a qualitative study.

The available literature suggests that the most significant barriers to undergoing colonoscopy in general include “fear of pain and discomfort”, “fear of bowel preparation”, as well as directly unrelated influences such as “lack of support from family and friends”, “busy family and work schedules”, “other health problems” and the current “fear of getting COVID-19 in hospital”. A marital union may play a positive role, previous cancer a negative one. Another important factor is that patients are not used to talking about their barriers spontaneously; a guided conversation is a useful tool. Respondents in this qualitative study addressed these barriers as significant in their answers.

Colorectal cancer in patients with diabetes - epidemiology, pathophysiology and applications for clinical practice.

Diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes in particular) and colorectal carcinoma are relatively frequent diseases in our population. At the same time, these units share some common risk factors, for example obesity, lack of physical activity and hyperinsulinemia. Available data show patients with diabetes have increased risk of colorectal adenoma and carcinoma, increased risk of colorectal carcinoma at a lower age, as well as increased risk of relapse and increased mortality with colorectal cancer. The aim of this article is to point out the relationship between diabetes and colorectal carcinoma, with emphasis on the information important for clinical practice, particularly the screening of colorectal carcinoma and lifestyle recommendations for patients with diabetes. Therefore, we offer an overview of the important available publications which consider this topic.

Smoking cessation and risk of type 2 diabetes.

Risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is higher in tobacco smokers compared to non-smokers. The risk declines after smoking cessation. However, ex-smokers are also more prone to the metabolic syndrome. The question thus is, whether ex-smokers could temporarily have a higher risk of T2DM than current smokers. The available studies on this topic are not in agreement in their conclusions, as most of them also primarily do not compare ex-smokers to current smokers, but to non-smokers. However, based on the available studies, it rather seems the risk of T2DM is temporarily higher after smoking cessation. The higher risk of T2DM seems to be enhanced by weight gain that typically occurs first years after smoking cessation without intervention. Therefore, smoking cessation in patients who are in an increased risk of T2DM should be accompanied by T2DM preventative measures (lifestyle modification, weight monitoring and recommendation of pharmacotherapy of tobacco addiction to lower the risk of weight gain) and more frequent checks of blood glucose level to ensure early T2DM detection.

Genetic Testing in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common inherited heart disease with an estimated prevalence of up to 1 in 200 individuals. In the majority of cases, HCM is considered a Mendelian disease, with mainly autosomal dominant inheritance. Most pathogenic variants are usually detected in genes for sarcomeric proteins. Nowadays, the genetic basis of HCM is believed to be rather complex. Thousands of mutations in more than 60 genes have been described in association with HCM. Nevertheless, screening large numbers of genes results in the identification of many genetic variants of uncertain significance and makes the interpretation of the results difficult. Patients lacking a pathogenic variant are now believed to have non-Mendelian HCM and probably have a better prognosis than patients with sarcomeric pathogenic mutations. Identifying the genetic basis of HCM creates remarkable opportunities to understand how the disease develops, and by extension, how to disrupt the disease progression in the future. The aim of this review is to discuss the brief history and recent advances in the genetics of HCM and the application of molecular genetic testing into common clinical practice.

Importance and efficiency of blood pressure control not only in type 2 diabetes patients.

Arterial hypertension is one of the most frequent comorbidities of patients with type 2 diabetes, the rates are approximately three times higher among diabetics than in general population. The presence of both diseases increases the cardiovascular risk of the patients two to three times. Therefore, it is essential to control the blood pressure values vigorously down to 130/80 mmHg as recommended in guidelines of the Czech Hypertension Society. According to EHES Study data, the blood pressure control is not sufficient in Czech diabetic population. The target values are reached in only 29 % of diabetics. A well organized system of care, intensive antihypertensive treatment, self-monitoring of patients or appointment reminder system can be used to improve blood pressure control.

Screening for risk alcohol use in clinical settings.

Alcohol is an important risk factor for development of numerous chronic diseases and it is a cause of 3 million deaths worldwide every year. The Czech Republic is one of the countries with highest alcohol consumption per capita in the world. AUDIT and CAGE are examples of fast and easy screening tools for early diagnostics of patients at risk that help in estimating a level of risk related to patients drinking. The screening is followed by simple advice for risk drinking and brief intervention for harmful drinking, based on the estimated level of risk. This approach is an easy and effective prevention measure to reduce risk and harmful alcohol drinking and prevent further progression of drinking. Implementation of this approach into routine clinical practice can be a significant step in reducing alcohol consumption in the Czech population.

Risk of cardiovascular complications related to blood glucose concentration: from diabetes to prediabetes.

Diabetes is an established risk factor of cardiovascular disease including the coronary heart disease (CHD) and elevates the risk of cardiovascular death 2 times. Based on current evidence the risk of acquiring the CHD increases accordingly to the level of fasting blood glucose even in the prediabetic range. In the range of 5.6-6.0mmol/l the risk is 1.11, in the range of 6.1-6.9mmol/l the risk is 1.17. In the range of HbA1c of 42-47mmol/l the risk of the CHD is 1.28. The probability of the CHD occurrence therefore does indeed increase in conjunction with the fasting blood glucose levels but the dependence is not linear.