PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Pilar Mazón Ramos

Publications and source records attributed to Pilar Mazón Ramos.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors prescription is associated with longer survival among patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure who have preserved systolic function: a long-term follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: The use of inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is strongly indicated by a diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) with deteriorated systolic function (SF), but their effects on patients with CHF but no systolic deterioration have not been clarified. We focused this study on the evaluation of the influence of ACE inhibitors on survival among CHF patients with preserved SF, but also determined the effect of these drugs on the prognosis of our patients with deteriorated SF. METHOD AND RESULTS: We studied 416 patients, aged 72.7 +/- 10.2 years, who between January 1, 1991, and December 31, 2001, were admitted to the cardiology service of a tertiary hospital for CHF and who fulfilled the requirements that left ventricular SF that had been evaluated echocardiographically during hospitalization was preserved and that data were available on medication at the time of their release from hospital. Two hundred four patients (49.0%) were men, 250 (60.8%) were hypertensive, and, in 171 (41.1%) cases, ischemic cardiopathy was the primary cause of the CHF. ACE inhibitors were prescribed to 210 patients (50.5%) on hospital release. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that, among patients with preserved SF, a longer survival was associated with ACE inhibitors use (mean survival 6.14 years as compared with 4.57 years in the control group, P < .001; adjusted hazard ratio = 0.63, P = .012). Similar results were obtained in CHF patients with deteriorated SF in whom those taking ACE inhibitors had significantly longer life with mean survival 6.42 years compared with 5.03 years in the control group (P < .001; adjusted hazard ratio = 0.62, P = .001). CONCLUSION: ACE inhibitors prescription is associated with a better prognosis of patients with CHF and preserved SF.

Age Factors↗

[Last developments on hypertension].

The following article reviews some of the most recent data that have come to light in the field of hypertension during the last year, including the long lasting controversy USA/Europe on the definition and treatment of hypertension, the importance of the interrelationship hypertension/sleep apnea syndrome, to conclude by discussing some of the most compelling implications of the main trials that have been published during the last few months.

Antihypertensive Agents↗

[Current topics (2005) in clinical cardiology: cardiovascular disease in women].

Ischemic heart disease has mistakenly been considered of little relevance to women because it occurs infrequently during the fertile years. This is despite the fact that a larger percentage of women than men die from cardiovascular disease. There are differences in cardiovascular risk factors and disease between females and males, including differences in clinical presentation, disease course, diagnostic criteria, prognosis, and treatment. There is a need for increased information and education, earlier and more aggressive control of risk factors, and a more appropriate approach to diagnosis and treatment. The American Heart Association has published guidelines on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women and the European Society of Cardiology is planning to publish a scientific statement on the management of heart disease in women. Spanish cardiologists should also consider adopting a similar approach.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

[2003 update of the Guidelines of the Spanish Society of Cardiology on High Blood Pressure].

Since publication of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Clinical Practice Guidelines on High Blood Pressure in January 2000, a new body of scientific evidence has been obtained that needs to be taken into account in clinical practice. A complete clinical evaluation by assessment of the global cardiovascular risk score should be done in patients with hypertension. In this connection, ECG findings and urine albumin excretion are of particular value. Up to now, the results of most important clinical trials indicate that the aim should be to normalize blood pressure, with stricter control in patients at higher risk (diabetes, target organ damage or left ventricular hypertrophy). Antihypertensive therapy should be selected on an individual basis, taking in account that patients with certain associated pathologies will benefit more from particular groups of drugs. Those with diabetes or left ventricular hypertrophy seem to benefit from pharmacological block of the renin-angiotensin system, and patients with heart failure from combined therapy with ACE inhibitors plus beta-blockers.

Antihypertensive Agents↗