title: Integrated preclinical cardiovascular prevention: a new paradigm to face growing challenges of cardiovascular disease.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) still represents the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Despite considerable improvements in the prognosis of CVD and the significant reduction of CVD mortality obtained during the past half century, patients developing CVD, even though satisfactorily treated, still carry coronary artery disease and remain at risk for advanced CVD. Thus, the healthcare and socioeconomic burden linked to CVD remains high. As a result, more effective CVD prevention strategies remain crucial. 'Population strategies' and 'high-risk' approaches both have limitations and have often been viewed as alternative solutions. This persistent dualism could be overcome with the promotion of integrated prevention strategies based on a systematic evaluation of the total risk of disease, at both a population and an individual level. New approaches are also needed to reach people earlier in the course of the vascular disease and, possibly, to prevent risk factors and reduce CVD clinical manifestation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Ospedale Sant'Andrea, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1039, 00189, Rome, Italy, massimo.volpe@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.forename: Vittoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mastromarino
authors.forename: Allegra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Battistoni
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors