RESUMEN
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a spectrum of fat-associated liver conditions that increase risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. The diagnosis and clinical management of NAFLD remain a challenge for cardiologists. Our group performed a systematic review in PubMed of the relationship between NAFLD and cardiovascular disease, identifying 35 relevant articles. NAFLD is likely to be the liver's expression of metabolic syndrome and increases the risk of several cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, stroke, heart failure and electrical disorders, and chronic kidney disease. Echocardiography is a useful tool to check early subclinical abnormalities in heart structure and function linked to NAFLD progression, such as cardiac diastolic impairment or epicardial fat thickness. Currently, NAFLD is predominantly managed by lifestyle changes with the aim of weight loss, based on the Mediterranean diet and intense exercise training. Despite the lack of approved drugs for NAFLD, new potential treatments, mainly glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists or sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, could change cardiologists' approach to this pathology.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to prospectively analyze the performance and safety of a new programmable, fully automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator (AECD) in a European multicenter trial. BACKGROUND Although, the response time to cardiac arrest (CA) is a major determinant of mortality and morbidity, in-hospital strategies have not significantly changed during the last 30 years. METHODS: Patients (n = 117) at risk of CA in monitored wards (n = 51) and patients undergoing electrophysiologic testing or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation (n = 66) were enrolled. The accuracy of the automatic response of the device to any change of rhythm (lasting >1 s and >4 beats) was confirmed by reviewing the simultaneously recorded Holter data and the programmed parameters. RESULTS: During 1,240 h, 1,988 episodes of rhythm changes were documented. A total of 115 episodes lasted > or =10 s or needed treatment (pacing, n = 32; ICD, n = 51; AECD, n = 35) for termination. The device detected ventricular tachyarrhythmias with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 97.6% (true negatives, n = 1,454; true positives, n = 499; false positives, n = 35; false negatives, n = 0). The false positives were all caused by T-wave oversensing during ventricular pacing. There were no complications or adverse events. The mean response time was 14.4 s for those episodes needing a full charge of the capacitor. CONCLUSIONS: This new AECD is safe and effective in detecting, monitoring, and treating spontaneous arrhythmias. This fully automatic device shortens the response time to treatment, and it is likely that it will significantly improve the outcome of patients with in-hospital CA.