Browsing by Author "Gil, Victor"
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- Atherosclerosis in the primary health care setting: a real-word data studyPublication . Ascenção, Raquel; Alarcão, Joana; Araújo, Francisco; Costa, João; Fiorentino, Francesca; Gil, Victor; Gouveia, Miguel; Lourenço, Francisco; Mello e Silva, Alberto; Vaz Carneiro, António; Borges, MargaridaIntroduction and Objectives: To characterize patients with atherosclerosis, a disease with a high socioeconomic impact, in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Health Region. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out through the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Regional Health Administration primary health care database, extracting data on the clinical and demographic characteristics and resource use of adult primary health care users with atherosclerosis during 2016. Different criteria were used to define atherosclerosis (presence of clinical manifestations, atherothrombotic risk factors and/or consumption of drugs related to atherosclerosis). Comparisons between different subpopulations were performed using parametric tests. Results: A total of 318 692 users were identified, most of whom (n=224 845 users; 71%) had no recorded clinical manifestations. The subpopulation with clinical manifestations were older (72.0±11.5 vs. 71.3±11.0 years), with a higher proportion of men (58.0% vs. 45.9%), recorded hypertension (78.3% vs. 73.5%) and dyslipidemia (55.8% vs. 53.5%), and a lower proportion of recorded obesity (18.2% vs. 20.8%), compared to those without clinical manifestations (p<0.001). Mean blood pressure, LDL-C and glycated hemoglobin values were lower in the subpopulation with manifestations (142/74 vs. 146/76 mmHg, 101 vs. 108 mg/dl, and 6.80 vs. 6.84%, respectively; p<0.001). Each user with atherosclerosis attended 4.1±2.9 face-to-face medical consultations and underwent 8.6±10.0 laboratory test panels, with differences in subpopulations with and without clinical manifestations (4.4±3.2 vs. 4.0±2.8 and 8.3±10.3 vs. 8.7±9.8, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusions: About one in three adult primary health care users with atherosclerosis have clinical manifestations. The results suggest that control of cardiovascular risk factors is suboptimal in patients with atherosclerosis.
- Os custos da aterosclerose em PortugalPublication . Costa, João; Alarcão, Joana; Amaral‐Silva, Alexandre; Araújo, Francisco; Ascenção, Raquel; Caldeira, Daniel; Cardoso, Marta Ferreira; Correia, Manuel; Fiorentino, Francesca; Gavina, Cristina; Gil, Victor; Gouveia, Miguel; Lourenço, Francisco; Silva, Alberto Mello e; Pedro, Luís Mendes; Morais, João; Vaz‐Carneiro, António; Veríssimo, Manuel Teixeira; Borges, MargaridaIntroduction and objectives: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Portugal and atherosclerosis is the most common underlying pathophysiological process. The aim of this study was to quantify the economic impact of atherosclerosis in Portugal by estimating disease‐related costs. Methods: Costs were estimated based on a prevalence approach and following a societal perspective. Three national epidemiological sources were used to estimate the prevalence of the main clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis. The annual costs of atherosclerosis included both direct costs (resource consumption) and indirect costs (impact on population productivity). These costs were estimated for 2016, based on data from the Hospital Morbidity Database, the health care database (SIARS) of the Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tagus Valley including real‐world data from primary care, the 2014 National Health Interview Survey, and expert opinion. Results: The total cost of atherosclerosis in 2016 reached 1.9 billion euros (58% and 42% of which was direct and indirect costs, respectively). Most of the direct costs were associated with primary care (55%), followed by hospital outpatient care (27%) and hospitalizations (18%). Indirect costs were mainly driven by early exit from the labor force (91%). Conclusions: Atherosclerosis has a major economic impact, being responsible for health expenditure equivalent to 1% of Portuguese gross domestic product and 11% of current health expenditure in 2016.
- Heart with Mozambique: a Portuguese contribution to the eradication of rheumatic heart diseasePublication . Almeida, Inês Grácio de; Esteves, Ana; Gil, Victor
- Portuguese Heart Failure Prevalence Observational Study (PORTHOS) rationale and design – a population-based studyPublication . Baptista, Rui; Silva Cardoso, José; Canhão, Helena; Maria Rodrigues, Ana; Kislaya, Irina; Franco, Fátima; Bernardo, Filipa; Pimenta, Joana; Mendes, Lígia; Gonçalves, Sara; Teresa Timóteo, Ana; Andrade, Aurora; Moura, Brenda; Fonseca, Cândida; Aguiar, Carlos; Brito, Dulce; Ferreira, Jorge; Filipe Azevedo, Luís; Peres, Marisa; Santos, Paulo; Moraes Sarmento, Pedro; Cernadas, Rui; Santos, Mário; Fontes-Carvalho, Ricardo; Campos Fernandes, Adalberto; Martinho, Hugo; González-Juanatey, José Ramon; Filipe Pereira, Luís; Gil, Victor; Raquel Marques, Cláudia; Almeida, Mário; Pardal, Marisa; Barbosa, Veneranda; Gavina, CristinaIntroduction and objectives: Current epidemiological data on heart failure (HF) in Portugal derives from studies conducted two decades ago. The main aim of this study is to determine HF prevalence in the Portuguese population. Using current standards, this manuscript aims to describe the methodology and research protocol applied. Methods: The Portuguese Heart Failure Prevalence Observational Study (PORTHOS) is a large, three-stage, population-based, nationwide, cross-sectional study. Community-dwelling citizens aged 50 years and older will be randomly selected via stratified multistage sampling. Eligible participants will be invited to attend a screening visit at a mobile clinic for HF symptom assessment, anthropomorphic assessment, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing, one-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and a sociodemographic and health-related quality of life questionnaire (EQ-5D). All subjects with NT-proBNP ≥125 pg/mL or with a prior history of HF will undergo a diagnostic confirmatory assessment at the mobile clinic composed of a 12-lead ECG, comprehensive echocardiography, HF questionnaire (KCCQ) and blood sampling. To validate the screening procedure, a control group will undergo the same diagnostic assessment. Echocardiography results will be centrally validated, and HF diagnosis will be established according to the European Society of Cardiology HF guidelines. A random subsample of patients with an equivocal HF with preserved ejection fraction diagnosis based on the application of the Heart Failure Association preserved ejection fraction diagnostic algorithm will be invited to undergo an exercise echocardiography. Conclusions: Through the application of current standards, appropriate methodologies, and a strong research protocol, the PORTHOS study will determine the prevalence of HF in mainland Portugal and enable a comprehensive characterization of HF patients, leading to a better understanding of their clinical profile and health-related quality of life.
- Quantitative assessment of myocardial fibrosis by digital image analysis: an adjunctive tool for pathologist “ground truth”Publication . Abecasis, João; Cortez-Dias, Nuno; Pinto, Daniel Gomes; Lopes, Pedro; Madeira, Márcio; Ramos, Sancia; Gil, Victor; Cardim, Nuno; Félix, AnaAIMS: Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a common pathological process in a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. Its quantity has diagnostic and prognostic relevance. We aimed to assess if the complementary use of an automated artificial intelligence software might improve the precision of the pathologist´s quantification of MF on endomyocardial biopsies (EMB). Methods and results: Intraoperative EMB samples from 30 patients with severe aortic stenosis submitted to surgical aortic valve replacement were analysed. Tissue sections were stained with Masson´s trichrome for collagen/fibrosis and whole slide images (WSI) from the experimental glass slides were obtained at a resolution of 0.5 μm using a digital microscopic scanner. Three experienced pathologists made a first quantification of MF excluding the subendocardium. After two weeks, an algorithm for Masson´s trichrome brightfield WSI (at QuPath software) was applied and the automatic quantification was revealed to the pathologists, who were asked to reassess MF, blinded to their first evaluation. The impact of the automatic algorithm on the inter-observer agreement was evaluated using Bland-Altman type methodology. Median values of MF on EMB were 8.33% [IQR 5.00-12.08%] and 13.60% [IQR 7.32-21.2%], respectively for the first pathologist´s and automatic algorithm quantification, being highly correlated (R2: 0.79; p < 0.001). Interobserver discordance was relevant, particularly for higher percentages of MF. The knowledge of the automatic quantification significantly improved the overall pathologist´s agreement, which became unaffected by the degree of MF severity. Conclusions: The use of an automated artificial intelligence software for MF quantification on EMB samples improves the reproducibility of measurements by experienced pathologists. By improving the reliability of the quantification of myocardial tissue components, this adjunctive tool may facilitate the implementation of imaging-pathology correlation studies.
- The burden of atherosclerosis in PortugalPublication . Costa, João; Alarcão, Joana; Araujo, Francisco; Ascenção, Raquel; Caldeira, Daniel; Fiorentino, Francesca; Gil, Victor; Gouveia, Miguel; Lourenço, Francisco; Silva, Alberto Mello E; Sampaio, Filipa; Carneiro, António Vaz; Borges, MargaridaAIMS: This article sought to estimate the burden of disease attributable to atherosclerosis in mainland Portugal in 2016. METHODS AND RESULTS: The burden of atherosclerosis was measured in disability-adjusted life years following the latest 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) methodology. Disability-adjusted life years were estimated as the sum of years of life lost (YLL) with years lived with disability (YLD). The following clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis were included: ischaemic heart disease (IHD) (including acute myocardial infarction, stable angina, and ischaemic heart failure), ischaemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD), and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Years of life lost were estimated based on all-cause mortality data for the Portuguese population and mortality due to IHD, ICVD, and PAD for the year 2016 sourced from national statistics. Standard life expectancy was sourced from the GBD study. Years lived with disability corresponded to the product of the number of prevalent cases by an average disability weight for all possible combinations of disease. Prevalence data for the different clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis were sourced from epidemiological studies. Disability weights were sourced from the published literature. In 2016, 15 123 deaths were attributable to atherosclerosis, which corresponded to 14.3% of overall mortality in mainland Portugal. Disability-adjusted life years totalled 260 943, 75% due to premature death (196 438 YLL) and 25% due to disability (64 505 YLD). CONCLUSION: Atherosclerosis entails a high disease burden to society. A large part of this burden would be avoidable if evidence-based effective and cost-effective interventions targeting known risk factors, from prevention to treatment, were implemented.