Specific Effects of Anti-Hypertensive Treatment in an Older Patient with Dementia.

Dementia is one of the most common health problems in the world. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. The presence of vascular risk factors such as hypertension (HT) may increase the risk of AD [1,2]. The relation between blood pressure (BP) and dementia has been the subject of numerous epidemiological studies, midlife HT is a risk factor for dementia and AD [3-7] but the association between HT and risk of dementia is lower in the older population [8]. A fair modulation of an antihypertensive treatment, based on the cognitive status of the elderly, can avoid multiple complications. A case of an older for whom cognitive improvement and reduced risk of falls were noticed after mild blood pressure elevation is reported.

Heart failure in left-sided native valve infective endocarditis: characteristics, prognosis, and results of surgical treatment.

AIMS: Although congestive heart failure (CHF) represents the most common cause of death in native valve infective endocarditis (IE), recent data on the outcome of IE complicated by CHF are lacking. We aimed to analyse the characteristics and prognosis of patients with left-sided native valve IE complicated by CHF and to evaluate the impact of early surgery on 1 year outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty-nine consecutive patients with definite left-sided native valve IE according to the Duke criteria were included in this analysis. When compared with patients without CHF (n = 151), new heart murmur, high comorbidity index, aortic valve IE, and severe valve regurgitation were more frequently observed in CHF patients (n = 108, 41.6%). Mitral valve IE, embolic events and neurological events were less frequent in CHF patients. Congestive heart failure was independently predictive of in-hospital [OR 3.8 (1.7-9.0); P = 0.0013] and 1 year mortality [HR 1.8 (1.1-3.0); P = 0.007]. Early surgery was performed in 46% of CHF patients with a peri-operative mortality of 10%. In the CHF group, comorbidity index, Staphylococcus aureus IE, uncontrolled infection, and major neurological events were univariate predictors of 1 year mortality. Early surgery was independently associated with improved 1 year survival [HR 0.45 (0.22-0.93); P = 0.03]. CONCLUSION: Left-sided native valve IE complicated by CHF is more frequent in aortic IE and is associated with severe regurgitation. Congestive heart failure is an independent predictor of in-hospital and 1 year mortality. In CHF patients, early surgery is independently associated with reduced mortality and should be widely considered to improve outcome.

Infective endocarditis in elderly patients: clinical characteristics and outcome.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe a single unit experience for the treatment of acute infective endocarditis, for patients older than 75 years and to analyse the results of early surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 1991 to June 2006 348 consecutive patients with definite acute infective endocarditis, according to Duke criteria, were prospectively enrolled in our database. Among these, 75 patients older than 75 years (mean age 79.8+/-4 years) were analysed and compared to 273 younger patients. RESULTS: The patients older than 75 years (group A, 75 patients) had a more severe clinical status than the younger patients (group B, 273 patients) with a comorbidity index amounting to 4.9+/-1.8 and 2.9+/-1.0 respectively (p=0.0001). Patients were treated medically (group A 53 pts vs group B 124 pts) or surgically (group A 22 pts vs group B 149 pts) (p=0.001). The in-hospital mortality rate for group A and B was comparable (16% vs 19%; p=0.3). Multivariate analysis identified for patients older than 75 years, severe sepsis (p=0.001, OR=12, CI [6-24]), and major neurological events (p=0.02, OR=3, CI [1.1-7.5]) as the two factors related to higher in-hospital mortality and surgery (p=0.006, OR=0.4, CI [0.2-0.7]) as the factor related to a lower in-hospital mortality. The overall survival of the older group at 36 months was 40.8+/-6.8%. Multivariate analysis for older patients identified comorbidity index (p=0.001) (HR 1.1, CI [1-1.2]), severe sepsis (p=0.0001) (HR 3.3, CI [2.2-5.2]), valvular prosthesis (p=0.0002) (HR 2.4, CI [1.5-4]) and major neurological event (p=0.04) (HR 1.7, CI [1-3]) as factors related to overall mortality and surgery (p=0.001) (HR 0.4, CI [0.3-0.6]) as a factor related to a better overall survival. CONCLUSION: The immediate results of treatment for endocarditis are comparable between elderly and younger patients. The long-term prognosis for the elderly patients is worse, mainly related to a higher comorbidity index. Surgery in elderly patients may be a reasonable option, and should be considered in selected elderly patients.