This is a well-conducted study from Canada, published in JAMA Network Open in October 2019 [1]. In this case-control study of 964 older adults who died by suicide and 3856 matched control participants, compared with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi), exposure to angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was associated with a higher risk of suicide. Findings…
A study from the Royal Brompton in 2002. [1] The authors retrospectively examined a cohort of 396 consecutive adult patients with a dilated cardiomyopathy. In all, 83 patients (21%) were clinically depressed, the majority of which (60%) were taking antidepressant therapy. After a follow-up period of 48 months, 83 (21%) patients died, 15 (4%) underwent…
This is a meta-analysis from 2006. [1] The authors identified 36 publications that were analysed. Clinically significant depression was present in 21.5% of HF patients, and varied by the use of questionnaires versus diagnostic interview (33.6% and 19.3%, respectively) and New York Heart Association–defined HF severity (11% in class I vs. 42% in class IV).…
This is study from England which was published in 2016. [1] The authors investigated the impact of psychiatric comorbidities on length of stay (LoS) amongst 31,760 heart failurre patients admitted to hospitals in North England between 1st January 2000 and 31st March 2013. Mean LoS in the absence of psychiatric comorbidities was 11.2 days. The…
