Brazil is a South America country with a population of approximately 200 million people. It is the 5th biggest country in the world in territory extension, and its economy ranges between the 6th and 7th globally, according to different rankings (www.wilkipedia.com; access on May 19, 2012). It is a very friendly country with a huge cultural, ethnic, regional and economic heterogeneity, and is a proud member of the BRICS Group, along with Russia, India, China and South Africa.
On the other hand, the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (BSC) is one of the biggest in the world, with 12,676 active members. The Department of Geriatric Cardiology (DECAGE) of the BSC is one of its most productive Departments. It was responsible for the publication of the first Geriatric Cardiology Guidelines in 2002. To our knowledge, the DECAGE was pioneer in this initiative. In 2010, the publication was updated and included the participation of some of the best North-American experts in the theme.
The present special topic of the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology was by a cooperative effort of some members of the above Department. It comprises five topics carefully selected in order to give the reader an update in some of the most important topics of the Geriatric Cardiology field.
In the first paper, the reader will have the state of the art of transcatheter aortic valve replacement,[1] and in the sequence dyslipidemia,[2] atrial fibrillation[3] and heart failure,[4] highly prevalent complications in the elderly population. The final topic is about the implications of age in patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction,[5] a field with fast development in the last decade or so.
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References
- 1.Siqueira D, Abizaid A, Arrais M. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement in elderly patients. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9:78–82. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1263.2011.12291. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Gravina CF, Bertolami M, Rodrigues GHP. Dyslipidemia: evidence of efficaccy of the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment in the elderly. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9:83–90. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1263.2011.12292. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Franken RA, Rosa RF, Santos SCM. Atrial fibrillation in the elderly. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9:91–100. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1263.2011.12293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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- 5.Franken M, Nussbacher A, Liberman A, et al. ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction in the elderly. J Geriatr Cardiol. 2012;9:108–114. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1263.2011.12297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]