Giulia Rivasi

Serum uric acid (SUA) levels discriminating across the different strata of cardiovascular risk is still unknown. By utilizing a large population-based database, we assessed the threshold of SUA that increases the risk of total mortality and cardiovascular mortality (CVM). The URRAH study (Uric Acid Right for Heart Health) is a multicentre retrospective, observational study, which collected data from several large population-based longitudinal studies in Italy and subjects recruited in the hypertension clinics of the Italian Society of Hypertension. Total mortality was defined as mortality for any cause, CVM as death due to fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death, or heart failure. A total of 22 714 subjects were included in the analysis. Multivariate Cox regression analyses identified an independent association between SUA and total mortality (hazard ratio, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.21–1.93]) or CVM (hazard ratio, 2.08 [95% CI, 1.146–2.97]; P <0.001). Cutoff values of SUA able to discriminate total mortality (4.7 mg/dL [95% CI, 4.3–5.1 mg/dL]) and CVM status (5.6 mg/dL [95% CI, 4.99–6.21 mg/dL]) were identified. The information on SUA levels provided a significant net reclassification improvement of 0.26 and of 0.27 over the Heart Score risk chart for total mortality and CVM, respectively ( P <0.001). Sex-specific cutoff values for total mortality and CVM were also identified and validated. In conclusion, SUA levels increasing the risk of total mortality and CVM are significantly lower than those used for the definition of hyperuricemia in clinical practice. Our data provide evidence of a cardiovascular SUA threshold that might contribute in clinical practice to improve identification of patients at higher risk of CVM.

Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is an abnormal blood pressure response to standing, which is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes such as syncope, falls, cognitive impairment, and mortality. Medical therapy is one the most common causes of OH, since numerous cardiovascular and psychoactive medications may interfere with the blood pressure response to standing, leading to drug-related OH. Additionally, hypotensive medications frequently overlap with other OH risk factors (e.g., advanced age, neurogenic autonomic dysfunction, and comorbidities), thus increasing the risk of symptoms and complications. Consequently, a medication review is recommended as a first-line approach in the diagnostic and therapeutic work-up of OH, with a view to minimizing the risk of drug-related orthostatic blood pressure impairment. If symptoms persist after the review of hypotensive medications, despite adherence to non-pharmacological interventions, specific drug treatment for OH can be considered. In this narrative review we present an overview of drugs acting on the cardiovascular and central nervous system that may potentially impair the orthostatic blood pressure response and we provide practical suggestions that may be helpful to guide medical therapy optimization in patients with OH. In addition, we summarize the available strategies for drug treatment of OH in patients with persistent symptoms despite non-pharmacological interventions.

OBJECTIVE: The Working Group on Uric Acid and Cardiovascular Risk of the Italian Society of Hypertension conceived and designed an ad-hoc study aimed at searching for prognostic cut-off values of serum uric acid (SUA) in predicting fatal myocardial infaction (MI) in women and men. METHODS: The URic acid Right for heArt Health study is a nationwide, multicentre, observational cohort study involving data on individuals aged 18-95 years recruited on a regional community basis from all the territory of Italy under the patronage of the Italian Society of Hypertension with a mean follow-up period of 122.3 ± 66.9 months. RESULTS: A total of 23 467 individuals were included in the analysis. Cut-off values of SUA able to discriminate MI status were identified by mean of receiver operating characteristic curves in the whole database (>5.70 mg/dl), in women (>5.26 mg/dl) and in men (>5.49 mg/dl). Multivariate Cox regression analyses adjusted for confounders (age, arterial hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, smoking habit, ethanol intake, BMI, haematocrit, LDL cholesterol and use of diuretics) identified an independent association between SUA and fatal MI in the whole database (hazard ratio 1.381, 95% confidence intervals, 1.096-1.758, P = 0.006) and in women (hazard ratio 1.514, confidence intervals 1.105-2.075, P < 0.01), but not in men. CONCLUSION: The results of the current study confirm that SUA is an independent risk factor for fatal MI after adjusting for potential confounding variables, and demonstrate that a prognostic cut-off value associated to fatal MI can be identified at least in women.