Summary

Hypertension is a major public health concern worldwide because of its rising prevalence and concomitant risks of cardiovascular diseases. Coping strategies may encompass a full spectrum of clinical, epidemiological, experimental, and technological factors to inspire front-line practices and shape critical thinking. This entry collection aims to assemble entries of wealthy topics related to clinical, therapeutic, and population sciences of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases that could inform research scientists and healthcare professionals.

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Entries
Topic Review
Nanotheranostics for Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis refers to the pathophysiological conditions where the medium and large arteries are significantly affected due to spatial deposition of various materials such as lipoproteins (particularly cholesterol), immune cells (circulating monocytes), proinflammatory factors (i.e., macrophages and T-cells), degraded extracellular matrix components and necrotic products. Atherosclerosis is considered to be the primary cause of chronic CVDs, including coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral arterial disease. Atherosclerosis is characterized by a series of physiological events, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammatory responses, cell proliferation, lipoprotein deposition, vascular remodeling, and finally, plaque formation.
  • 539
  • 15 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Microbiota
The human gut microflora comprises over 1000 species and more than 7000 strains, representing 1013–1014 bacterial cells, which is ten times more numerous than other cells. Healthy gut microbiota is mainly composed of the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, representing around 90% of the human gut flora, followed by Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Proteobacteria.
  • 980
  • 18 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Salt, Sugar and Hypertension
The pathogenesis of arterial hypertension is multifactorial, one of the components being represented by incorrect eating habits. In particular, excessive salt and sugar intake can contribute to the onset of hypertension in children, particularly in subjects with excess weight. The recent modification of dietary styles and the current very wide availability of salt and sugar has led to an exponential increase in the consumption of these two nutrients. The dietary intake of salt and sugar in children is in fact much higher than that recommended by health agencies. The purpose of the entry is to explore the relationship between an excessive dietary intake of salt and sugar and the onset of arterial hypertension in children  and to show the most important clinical studies that demonstrate the association between these two nutrients and arterial hypertension in pediatric age.
  • 881
  • 29 Mar 2021
Topic Review
C1q Complement/Tumor Necrosis Factor-Associated Proteins
 A family of adiponectin paralogs designated as C1q complement/tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-associated proteins (CTRPs) has been found to play a role in the development of CVD. CTRPs, which are comprised of 15 members, CTRP1 to CTRP15, are secreted from different organs/tissues and exhibit diverse functions, have attracted increasing attention because of their roles in maintaining inner homeostasis by regulating metabolism, inflammation, and immune surveillance. 
  • 583
  • 25 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Thrombocytopenia and impaired platelet function
Thrombocytopenia and impaired platelet function are known as intrinsic drawbacks of cardiac surgery and extracorporeal life supports (ECLS). A number of different factors influence platelet count and function including the inflammatory response to a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or to ECLS, hemodilution, hypothermia, mechanical damage and preoperative treatment with platelet-inhibiting agents. Moreover, although underestimated, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is still a hiccup in the perioperative management of cardiac surgical and, above all, ECLS patients. Moreover, recent investigations have highlighted how platelet disorders also affect patients undergoing biological prosthesis implantation. Though many hypotheses have been suggested, the mechanism underlying thrombocytopenia and platelet disorders is still to be cleared. This narrative review aims to offer clinicians a summary of their major causes in the cardiac surgery setting. 
  • 436
  • 08 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Echocardiography
Diabetes mellitus is a major factor contributing to the development of cardiovascular disease. As morbidity and mortality rates rise dramatically, when target organ damage develops, presymptomatic assessment is critical for the management of diabetic patients. Echocardiography is a noninvasive and reproductible method that may aid in risk stratification and in evaluation of treatment effects. Aim of this review is to analyze the echocardiographic techniques that can detect early alteration in cardiac function in patients with diabetes.
  • 624
  • 02 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Cardiac Mitochondria
Mitochondria are organelles responsible for energy production and various other functions in eukaryotes. In the heart, mitochondria are of pivotal importance due to cardiomyocytes' intrinsic high energy needs. 
  • 444
  • 22 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Echocardiography in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, progressive disease with a poor prognosis. The pathophysiologic model is mainly characterized by an afterload mismatch in which an increased right ventricle afterload, driven by increased pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), leads to right heart failure. International guidelines recommend optimization of treatment based on regular risk assessments to achieve or maintain a low-risk status. Current risk scores are based on a multi-modality approach, including demographic, clinical, functional, exercise, laboratory, and hemodynamic parameters, which lack significant echocardiographic parameters. The originality of echocardiography relies on the opportunity to assess in a non-invasive way a physiologically meaningful combination of easy to measure variables tightly related to right ventricle adaptation/maladaptation to increased afterload, the main determinant of a patient’s prognosis. Echo-derived morphological and functional parameters have been investigated in PAH, proving to have prognostic relevance. Different therapeutic strategies proved to have different effects in reducing PVR. An upfront combination of drugs, including a parenteral prostacyclin, has shown to be associated with right heart reverse remodeling in a greater proportion of patients than other treatment strategies as a function of PVR reduction. Adding echocardiographic data to current risk scores would allow better identification of right ventricle (RV)  adaptation in PAH patients' follow-up. This additional information would allow better stratification of the patient, leading to optimized and personalized therapeutic management.
  • 430
  • 18 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Blood Flow Modeling
Blood flow modeling consists of using computational techniques to investigate the blood flow behavior in a rapid and accurate fashion. This has become an area of extensive research due to the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, responsible for a critical number of deaths every year worldwide, most of which are associated with atherosclerosis, a disease that causes unusual hemodynamic conditions in arteries. In the present review,  the application of computational simulations by using different physiological conditions of blood flow, several rheological models, and boundary conditions, were discussed.
  • 1.7K
  • 10 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Cardiovascular Risk Stratification and Cancer
Cancer patients receiving a potentially cardiotoxic oncologic therapy have an increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs), especially in presence of concomitant arterial hypertension (AH). Therefore, cancer patients should be evaluated before, during and after cardiotoxic treatments, to early identify new-onset or worsening AH or CVAEs. An expert panel of oncology networks from Piedmont and Aosta Valley (North-Western Italy) aimed to provide recommendations to support health professionals in selecting the best management strategies for patients, considering the impact on outcome and the risk–benefit ratio of diagnostic/therapeutic tools.
  • 722
  • 28 Jan 2021
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