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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Disease Prevention".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (3 April 2023) | Viewed by 8612

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Dr. Adam Kern

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Guest Editor

Department of Cardiology and Internal Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Żołnierska Str. 18, 10-561 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: cardiology; interventional cardiology; electrotherapy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Public health can be defined as the use of diagnostic and screening methods to better manage an individual patient’s disease or a predisposition toward a disease. A remarkable progression of genomic studies has been achieved in the last several decades, from the characterization of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) double helix by Watson and Crick in 1953 to the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. The Human Genome Project and International HapMap Project provided a huge amount of information based on DNA.

Public health is developing fast, and new data are emerging in huge amounts. This might enable the right risk assessment, diagnosis, prevention, and therapy specifically tailored to the unique characteristics of the individual, thus enhancing the quality of life as well as public health. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to present recent developments in public health in cardiology.

We invite authors to submit original clinical studies, reviews, meta-analyses, as well as case reports focused on the individualization of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease. We are soliciting not only genetic studies, but all papers on the broadly understood cardiology, including papers on novel drugs, medical devices, or approaches dedicated to special subsets of patients.

Topics:

Prevention of cardiovascular disease;
COVID-19 in cardiovascular disease;
Public health in cardiology;
Acute coronary syndromes;
Arterial hypertension;
Coronary artery disease;
Heart failure;
Arrhythmias;
Valvular heart disease;
Interventional cardiology;
Cardiac electrotherapy;
Peripheral arterial disease.

Dr. Adam Kern
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

public health
environmental research
cardiology
heart care

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 982 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators in Poland Compared with other European Countries from the Patient’s Perspective: Insights from the EHRA Patient Survey

by Łukasz Januszkiewicz, Marcin Grabowski, Michał Mirosław Farkowski, Paweł Życiński, Tomasz Jędrychowski, Mariusz Pytkowski, Julian K. R. Chun, Jose M. Guerra, Giulio Conte, Sérgio Barra, Serge Boveda and Maciej Kempa

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 5045; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065045 - 13 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1580

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to compare differences between Polish ICD recipients and ICD recipients from other European countries in terms of quality of life, information provision before ICD implantation, and end-of-life issues. Methods: This is a sub-analysis of the “Living with an ICD” patient survey (25-item questionnaire) organized by the European Heart Rhythm Association between 12 April 2021 and 5 July 2021 in ten European countries. Results: There were 410 (22.7%) patients from Poland and 1399 (77.3%) from other European countries. A total of 51.0% of Polish patients reported improvement in their quality of life compared with 44.3% in other countries (p = 0.041). Remote monitoring was three times more often utilized in other countries than in Poland (66.8% vs. 21.0%, p < 0.001). While 78.1% of Poles felt well informed before ICD implantation compared with 69.6% of subjects from other countries (p = 0.001), they were less familiar with the ICD deactivation process than others (38.9% vs. 52.5%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Despite the less frequent use of remote monitoring and gaps in end-of-life issues, Polish ICD recipients reported more favorable quality of life and a higher level of information received before device placement than patients in other European countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiology and Heart Care)

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9 pages, 720 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comprehensive Cardiac Care: How Much Does It Cost?

by Grzegorz Kubielas, Dorota Diakowska, Michał Czapla, Bartosz Uchmanowicz, Jakub Berezowski and Izabella Uchmanowicz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 4980; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064980 - 11 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1228

Abstract

The benefits of coordinating care between healthcare professionals and institutions are the main drivers behind reforms to the payment and delivery system for healthcare services. The purpose of this study was to analyse the costs incurred by the National Health Fund in Poland related to the comprehensive care model for patients after myocardial infarction (CCMI, in Polish: KOS-Zawał). Methods: The analysis involved data from 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2020 for 263,619 patients who received treatment after a diagnosis of first or recurrent myocardial infarction as well as data for 26,457 patients treated during that period under the CCMI programme. Results: The average costs of treating patients covered by the full scope of comprehensive care and cardiac rehabilitation under the programme (EUR 3113.74/person) were higher than the costs of treating patients outside of that programme (EUR 2238.08/person). At the same time, a survival analysis revealed a statistically significantly lower probability of death (p < 0.0001) in the group of patients covered by CCMI compared to the group not covered by the programme. Conclusions: The coordinated care programme introduced for patients after myocardial infarction is more expensive than the care for patients who do not participate in the programme. Patients covered by the programme were more often hospitalised, which might have been due to the good coordination between specialists and responses to sudden changes in patients’ conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiology and Heart Care)

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13 pages, 4114 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Left Atrial Wall Motion Velocity Assessed during Atrial Fibrillation Predicts Sinus Rhythm Maintenance after Electrical Cardioversion in Patients with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

by Paweł Wałek, Joanna Roskal-Wałek, Patryk Dłubis, Justyna Tracz and Beata Wożakowska-Kapłon

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15508; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315508 - 23 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1001

Abstract

Reduced left atrial wall motion velocity measured during AF (LAWMV) indicates left atrial remodeling. The aim of this study was to investigate whether LAWMV assessed with tissue Doppler imaging during atrial fibrillation (AF) predicts sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance after direct current cardioversion (DCCV) for persistent AF. The study included 126 patients who underwent DCCV and were followed for 12 months. At 12 months, maintained SR was reported in 55 patients (43.7%). We noted that LAWMV was higher in patients with maintained SR at 12 months than in those with recurrent AF (3.69 ± 0.84 vs. 2.86 ± 1.09; p < 0.001). In the multivariable regression model containing echocardiographic variables, LAWMV was an independent predictor of SR maintenance at 12 months (odds ratio [OR] 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–2.69; p = 0.017). Similarly, LAWMW was an independent predictor of SR maintenance at 12 months (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.19–2.77; p = 0.006) in the multivariate regression model containing both echocardiographic and clinical variables. LAWMV predicts SR maintenance after DCCV for persistent AF. Echocardiographic markers of left atrial mechanical remodeling are better at predicting SR maintenance than markers of structural remodeling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiology and Heart Care)

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11 pages, 1921 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Real-Life Inter-Rater Variability of the PRAETORIAN Score Values

by Szymon Budrejko, Maciej Kempa, Wojciech Krupa, Tomasz Królak, Tomasz Fabiszak and Grzegorz Raczak

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9700; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159700 - 06 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1181

Abstract

(1) Background: The PRAETORIAN score is a tool developed for postoperative evaluation of the position of subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator systems. The aim of our study was to evaluate the real-life inter-rater variability of the PRAETORIAN score, based on chest radiographs of S-ICD patients reviewed by independent clinical raters. (2) Methods: Postoperative chest X-rays of patients that underwent S-ICD implantation were evaluated by five clinical raters who gave values of the PRAETORIAN score. Ratings were then compared in a fully crossed manner to determine the inter-rater variability of the attributed scores. (3) Results: In total, 87 patients were included in the study. In the case of the most important final risk category of the PRAETORIAN score, the mean Light’s kappa was 0.804, the Fleiss’ kappa was 0.249, and the intraclass correlation was 0.38. The final risk category was identically determined by all five raters in 75.86% of patients, by four raters in 14.94%, and by three raters in 9.20% of patients. (4) Conclusions: The overall inter-rater variability of the PRAETORIAN score in a group of electrophysiologists experienced in S-ICD implantation, yet previously naive to the PRAETORIAN score, and self-trained in its utilization, was only modest in our study. Appropriate use of the score might require training of clinical raters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiology and Heart Care)

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Review

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32 pages, 568 KiB

Open AccessReview

Can Iron Play a Crucial Role in Maintaining Cardiovascular Health in the 21st Century?

by Michał Szklarz, Katarzyna Gontarz-Nowak, Wojciech Matuszewski and Elżbieta Bandurska-Stankiewicz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 11990; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911990 - 22 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2954

Abstract

In the 21st century the heart is facing more and more challenges so it should be brave and iron to meet these challenges. We are living in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, population aging, prevalent obesity, diabetes and autoimmune diseases, environmental pollution, mass migrations and new potential pandemic threats. In our article we showed sophisticated and complex regulations of iron metabolism. We discussed the impact of iron metabolism on heart diseases, treatment of heart failure, diabetes and obesity. We faced the problems of constant stress, climate change, environmental pollution, migrations and epidemics and showed that iron is really essential for heart metabolism in the 21st century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiology and Heart Care)

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