The contribution of major depression to the global burden of ischemic heart disease: a comparative risk assessment

Background

Cardiovascular disease and mental health both hold enormous public health importance, both ranking highly in results of the recent Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010). For the first time, the GBD 2010 has systematically and quantitatively assessed major depression as an independent risk factor for the development of ischemic heart disease (IHD) using comparative risk assessment methodology.

Methods

A pooled relative risk (RR) was calculated from studies identified through a systematic review with strict inclusion criteria designed to provide evidence of independent risk factor status. Accepted case definitions of depression include diagnosis by a clinician or by non-clinician raters adhering to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) classifications. We therefore refer to the exposure in this paper as major depression as opposed to the DSM-IV category of major depressive disorder (MDD). The population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated using the pooled RR estimate. Attributable burden was calculated by multiplying the PAF by the underlying burden of IHD estimated as part of GBD 2010.

Results

The pooled relative risk of developing IHD in those with major depression was 1.56 (95% CI 1.30 to 1.87). Globally there were almost 4 million estimated IHD disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which can be attributed to major depression in 2010; 3.5 million years of life lost and 250,000 years of life lived with a disability. These findings highlight a previously underestimated mortality component of the burden of major depression. As a proportion of overall IHD burden, 2.95% (95% CI 1.48 to 4.46%) of IHD DALYs were estimated to be attributable to MDD in 2010. Eastern Europe and North Africa/Middle East demonstrate the highest proportion with Asia Pacific, high income representing the lowest.

Conclusions

The present work comprises the most robust systematic review of its kind to date. The key finding that major depression may be responsible for approximately 3% of global IHD DALYs warrants assessment for depression in patients at high risk of developing IHD or at risk of a repeat IHD event.

     

Natural course of the vitelliform stage in best vitelliform macular dystrophy: a five-year follow-up study

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - The vitelliform stage is the typical phenotypic manifestation of Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD). As yet, no study has...     

Thallium-201 scintigraphy for diagnosis of old myocardial infarction: comparison with electrocardiographic, ventriculographic, and coronary arteriographic findings.

Myocardial scintigraphy with 201Tl was performed at rest in a selected group of 36 patients with unequivocal clinical and electrocardiographic evidence of old myocardial infarction. The scintigraphic findings were correlated with electrocardiographic pattern, and with regional left ventricular wall motion and the severity of coronary artery disease defined by contrast angiography. Detection was dependent on the extent of the infarct but was independent of QRS morphology and of the severity of coronary disease. When positive, 201Tl scintigraphy was often a more precise method than the electrocardiogram for localising and delineating the extent of the infarct. Furthermore, the perfusion defect corresponded in location and extent to abnormalities of left ventricular wall motion. The site or severity of coronary artery disease could not be determined from the 201Tl scintigram.