Atherosclerosis and its complications are the most important causes of death all over the world, especially in Western countries. Diet habits, modern stress life, smoking, sedentary way of life and an involvement of genetic pattern of individuals lead to a sure degeneration of quality of life increasing the risk of atherosclerosis development. For this reason, the main purpose of actual medicine is to identify all the markers that could allow the physicians to evaluate the first moments of the development of this dangerous pathological process. The aim is to reduce the speed of its evolution, trying to delay indefinitely the risk coming from the morphological alterations of the vessels. 'Endothelium function' could allow physicians to detect the first moment of the natural history of atherosclerosis process. Its impairment is the first step in the degeneration of vascular structures. Many methods [flow-mediated vasodilatation (FMD); antero-posterior abdominal aorta diameter (APAO); intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CCA-IMT); arterial stiffness; and so on] try to evaluate its function, but many limitations come from general population characteristics. A standardization of the methods should take into account individuals' peculiarities. Two elements, not modifiable, should be taken into account for vascular evaluation: age and sex. The aim of this review is to outline the linkage among age, sex and instrumental evaluation of patients considered for a noninvasive assessment of their cardiovascular risk profile.

Severe acute arterial hypertension is usually defined as ‘hypertensive crisis’, although ‘hypertensive emergencies’ or ‘hypertensive urgencies’, as suggested by the Joint National Committee and the European Society of Hypertension, have completely different diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The prevalence and demographics of hypertensive emergencies and urgencies have changed over the last four decades, but hypertensive emergencies and urgencies are still associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Different scientific societies have repeatedly produced upto-\ud date guidelines; however, the treatment of hypertensive emergencies and urgencies is still inappropriate, with potential clinical implications. This review focuses on hypertensive emergencies and\ud urgencies management and treatment, as suggested by recent data.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiovascular disorder of great genetic heterogeneity and has a prevalence of 0.1 – 0.2 % in the general population. Several hundred mutations in more than 27 genes, most of which encode sarcomeric structures, are associated with the HCM phenotype. Then, HCM is an extremely heterogeneous disease and several phenotypes have been described over the years. Originally only two phenotypes were considered, a more common, obstructive type (HOCM, 70 %) and a less common, non-obstructive type (HNCM, 30 %) (Maron BJ, et al. Am J Cardiol 48:418 –28, 1981). Wigle et al. (Circ 92:1680–92, 1995) considered three types of functional phenotypes: subaortic obstruction, midventricular obstruction and cavity obliteration. A leader american working group suggested that HCM should be defined genetically and not morphologically (Maron BJ, et al. Circ 113:1807–16, 2006). The European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases recommended otherwise a morphological classification (Elliott P, et al. Eur Heart J 29:270–6, 2008). Echocardiography is still the principal tool for the diagnosis, prognosis and clinical management of HCM. It is well known that the echocardiographic picture may have a clinical and prognostic impact. For this reason, in this article, we summarize the state of the art regarding the echocardiographic pattern of the HCM phenotypes and its impact on clinical course and prognosis.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for more than 17 million deaths per year worldwide. It has been estimated that the influence of lifestyle on CVD mortality amounts to 13.7% for smoking, 13.2% for poor diet, and 12% for inactive lifestyle. These results deeply impact both the healthy status of individuals and their skills in working. The impact of CVD on productivity loss accounts for the 24% in total costs for CVD management. Mediterranean diet (MedD) can positively impact on natural history of CVD. It is characterized by a relatively high consumption of inexpensive and genuine food such as cereals, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish, fresh fruits, and olive oil as the principal source of fat, low meat consumption and low-to-moderate consumption of milk, dairy products, and wine. Its effects on cardiovascular health are related to the significant improvements in arterial stiffness. Peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, and chronic heart failure are all positively influenced by the MedD. Furthermore, MedD lowers the risk of sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmias. The present narrative review aims to analyze the effects of MedD on CVD.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in women. Some authors highlighted that the female risk profile consists of traditional and emerging risk factors. Despite the lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes, years of life lost owing to the disease for women are substantially higher compared with men. In addition, pregnancy complicated by gestational diabetes represents a risk factor for CVD. Women with gestational diabetes have a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease that occur at a younger age and are independent of T2DM. Hypertension is an important cardiovascular risk factor in women. Estrogens and progesterone, known to have an impact on blood pressure levels, have also been proposed to be protective against sleep-disordered breathing. It is very difficult to understand whereas obstructive sleep apnea in women is independently associated with hypertension or if many confounders acting at different stages of the woman lifespan mediate this relation. The cardioprotective effect of physical activity in women of all ages is well known. Women are generally more physically inactive than men. During and after menopause, most women tend to reduce their physical activity levels and together with the reduction in basal metabolic rate, women experience loss of skeletal muscle mass with a negative change in the ratio of fat-to-lean mass. In conclusion, sex differences in the cardiovascular system are because of dissimilarities in gene expression and sex hormones; these result in variations in prevalence and presentation of CVD and associated conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and vascular and cardiac remodeling. Changes in lifestyle and increase in physical activity could help in prevention of cardiovascular disease in women.