Improved cardiovascular risk profile in patients referred to a specialised vascular outpatient clinic: a cohort study

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Vascular Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases remain a leading cause of mortality globally.
• Effective management of classical risk factors is crucial for secondary prevention.
• Assessing cardiovascular risk profiles over time is essential for evaluating interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the changes in cardiovascular risk profiles of patients attending a vascular outpatient clinic over a one-year period.
• To compare the effectiveness of risk assessment using the adapted Framingham Heart Risk Score (FHRS) and the Heart SCORE (HS).

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study design.
• Inclusion of patients referred to a vascular outpatient clinic.
• Comparison of classical cardiovascular risk factors at baseline and one-year follow-up.
• Utilized FHRS and HS for cardiovascular risk assessment.
• Analysis of changes in systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol levels, and smoking status.

Main Results:

• Significant reductions in mean systolic blood pressure (9 mmHg in hypertension group, 5 mmHg in atherosclerotic disease group).
• Mean LDL cholesterol levels decreased from 3.2 to 2.4 mmol/l (hypertension group) and 3.3 to 2.1 mmol/l (secondary prevention group).
• The 10-year relative risk of myocardial infarction (FHRS) decreased by 28%, and fatal cardiovascular events (HS) decreased by 33%.
• Absolute risk reduction for fatal cardiovascular events was 3.3% and 1.4% using HS.

Conclusions:

• The cardiovascular risk profile of patients in a vascular clinic significantly improved over one year.
• Improvements were attributed to better blood pressure control, reduced LDL cholesterol, and a decrease in smokers.
• FHRS and HS are effective tools for demonstrating significant cardiovascular risk reduction in clinical practice.