Post-event follow-up costs in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in Spain.

Introduction: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in developed countries and entails high resources use and costs for health systems. The risk of suffering future cardiovascular (CV) events and the consequent resources use is higher in those patients who have already had a previous cardiovascular event. The objective of the study was to determine the average annual cost of patients with a new or recurrent atherosclerotic CV event during the 2 years after the event. Methodology: Retrospective observational study of electronic medical records of patients from the BIG-PAC® database (7 integrated health areas of 7 Autonomous Communities; n = 1.8 million). Patients with a new or recurrent episode of ASCVD (angina, acute myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, stroke, or peripheral arterial disease) between 1-Jan-2017 and 31-Dec-2018 were included. The resources use within two years of the diagnosis was estimated in order to estimate the average cost of patient follow-up. Results: A total of 26,976 patients with an ASCVD episode were identified during the recruitment period; Out of them, 6,798 had a recurrent event during the follow-up period and 2,414 died. The average costs per patient were €11,171 during the first year and €9,944 during the second year. Discussion: Patients with ASCVD represent a significant economic burden for the health system and for society. Despite the perception that drug costs in the follow-up of chronic patients imply a high percentage of the costs, these accounted for only one tenth of the total amount. Implementing preventive programs and increasing the control of cardiovascular risk factors may have a significant social and health impact by helping to reduce mortality and costs for the Spanish National Health System. The costs derived from pharmacological treatments were obtained from the NHS pricing nomenclator database (https://www.sanidad.gob.es/profesionales/nomenclator.do).

Treatment patterns and use of healthcare resources of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and hypercholesterolemia and patients with familial hypercholesterolemia in Spain: Protocol of the Reality study.

Background: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) and dyslipidemia are associated to a higher risk of cardiovascular events, mortality, use of healthcare resources and costs. In Spain, the evidence about the administration of lipid-lowering treatments in clinical practice, and their clinical effectiveness in patients with ASCVD and hypercholesterolemia and patients with FH is scarce. Therefore, a multidisciplinary working group of cardiologists, family physicians, internal medicine specialists and neurologists was gathered for the Reality study. The aim of this study is to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and concomitant medication of patients with ASCVD and hypercholesterolemia and of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The use of healthcare resources and costs associated to the management of these diseases after their diagnosis were also considered. Methods: This is an observational and retrospective study, based on the BIG-PAC® database, which includes the electronic medical registries (EMRs) of 1.8 million people from 7 Autonomous Communities in Spain (including public primary care centers and hospitals). The study includes patients who had a new or recurrent episode of ASCVD during the recruitment period (from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2018). The index date will be defined as the date of the ASCVD event, and the follow-up period will be 24 months. According to their first diagnosis in the database, patients will be classified as ASCVD (5 groups: stable/unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, and peripheral arterial disease) or FH. Discussion: This study aims to analyze the treatment patterns and use of healthcare resources of ASCVD and FH in Spain. The prevalence of these disorders will also be estimated. Due to the high morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases, it is expected that our study will provide useful information for healthcare systems and decision makers to improve the management of these disabling diseases.

Seroprevalence of antibodies against serogroup C meningococci in the region of Valencia, Spain: Impact of meningococcal C conjugate vaccination.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Meningococcal C conjugate (MCC) vaccination programs provide direct and indirect protection against meningococcal disease. However, a decrease in the antibodies could affect herd immunity. We conducted a seroprevalence study to assess the immunity in subjects 8-12years after different MCCV vaccination programs were launched and evaluated the impact of vaccination on seroprotection. METHODS: Seroepidemiological study conducted from October 2010 to April 2012 in the region of Valencia, Spain. Sample size was not proportional to the population but to the expected seroprotection by age group. Sera from subjects that were≥3years old were tested using a standardized complement-mediated serum bactericidal antibodies (SBA) assay. Age-stratified proportions of subjects with SBA titers≥8 were considered seroprotected and evaluated. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to evaluate the impact of vaccination on the seroprotection. RESULTS: Serum samples from 1880 subjects were collected. In total, 523 (27.8%) of the 1880 subjects and 446 (31.2%) of the 1430 subjects<30years (targeted to any vaccination campaign) showed protective SBA titers. The highest percentage of seroprotected subjects (67.8%, 95%CI 56.9-77.4) was observed in those that were vaccinated in a catch-up campaign at 10-13years of age (20-21years old at the time of blood sampling). Those scheduled for immunization in infancy at 2, 4 and 6months of age (7-8years at blood sample) represented the lowest (7.1%, 95% CI 3.3-13.1) number of seroprotected subjects. Having received one vaccine dose after 12months of age was associated with increased seroprotection. The present study revealed a positive correlation between the increasing age at vaccination and longer duration of seroprotection. CONCLUSION: Only one in three subjects who were vaccinated with MCC vaccine was seroprotected after 8-12years. These findings emphasize that seroprevalence studies are essential to identify susceptible cohorts and to inform vaccine policy.

Neprilysin and Natriuretic Peptide Regulation in Heart Failure.

Neprilysin is acknowledged as a key player in neurohormonal regulation, a cornerstone of modern drug therapy in chronic heart failure. In the cardiovascular system, neprilysin cleaves numerous vasoactive peptides, some with mainly vasodilating effects (natriuretic peptides, adrenomedullin, bradykinin) and other with mainly vasoconstrictor effects (angiotensin I and II, endothelin-1). For decades, neprilysin has been an important biotarget. Academia and industry have combined active efforts to search for neprilysin inhibitors (NEPIs) that might be useful in clinical practice. NEPI monotherapy was initially tested with little success due to efficacy issues. Next, combination of NEPI and ACE-inhibiting activity agents were abandoned due to safety concerns. Recently, the combination of NEPI and ARB, also known as ARNI, has shown better than expected results in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and multitude of ongoing studies are set to prove its value across the heart failure spectrum.

Herpes zoster surveillance using electronic databases in the Valencian Community (Spain).

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic data of Herpes Zoster (HZ) disease in Spain are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiology of HZ in the Valencian Community (Spain), using outpatient and hospital electronic health databases. METHODS: Data from 2007 to 2010 was collected from computerized health databases of a population of around 5 million inhabitants. Diagnoses were recorded by physicians using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). A sample of medical records under different criteria was reviewed by a general practitioner, to assess the reliability of codification. RESULTS: The average annual incidence of HZ was 4.60 per 1000 persons-year (PY) for all ages (95% CI: 4.57-4.63), is more frequent in women [5.32/1000PY (95% CI: 5.28-5.37)] and is strongly age-related, with a peak incidence at 70-79 years. A total of 7.16/1000 cases of HZ required hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Electronic health database used in the Valencian Community is a reliable electronic surveillance tool for HZ disease and will be useful to define trends in disease burden before and after HZ vaccine introduction.