Heart Disease Risk Factors

The goal of the GlycOxiTOD observational registry is to improve the early detection and characterization of vascular and other target-organ damage in adults at increased cardiovascular risk. Target-organ damage (TOD) means changes in the arteries, heart, kidneys, or other organs that may develop before cardiovascular symptoms or events occur. The registry studies how blood pressure, arterial function, vascular imaging, metabolic and glycoxidative markers, and non-invasive optical signals are related to this early damage. The main questions are: * Which clinical, blood pressure, imaging, and laboratory markers are associated with vascular and other target-organ damage? * Can photoplethysmography, a non-invasive optical technique that records changes in blood flow, identify abnormal arterial features? * Are new devices, measurement procedures, and signal-analysis methods technically valid, reliable, and reproducible when compared with established clinical methods? * Can combinations of clinical, imaging, laboratory, and device-derived measurements improve cardiovascular risk assessment? * How do vascular abnormalities and target-organ damage change during follow-up? Researchers will not assign any treatment as part of this observational registry. Participants will receive assessments that may include: * Clinical and cardiovascular risk evaluation * Office and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements * Blood and urine tests for metabolic, glycation, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers * Non-invasive vascular ultrasound and arterial function measurements * Optical photoplethysmography recordings from peripheral or cervical arterial sites * Skin measurement of advanced glycation end products * Retinal imaging, when available * Repeated measurements to assess the reliability and reproducibility of selected devices and procedures * Follow-up using clinical visits and medical records to identify changes in target-organ damage and cardiovascular events The registry provides a shared clinical research platform for studies on hypertension, vascular imaging, arterial biomechanics, biomarkers, optical technologies, and the technical and methodological validation of non-invasive cardiovascular devices. Its overall aim is to support the development of reliable tools for early cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and aortic stenosis frequently coincide. Before valve intervention, invasive coronary angiography is routinely performed to assess coronary status. As the impact of percutaneous revascularization on clinical outcomes beyond symptom improvement is subject to debate and treatment of aortic stenosis itself reduces ischemic burden and symptoms, the benefit/risk balance of routine invasive coronary angiography prior to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is unclear. The CAT Trial aims to compare a non-invasive risk management strategy to routine invasive coronary angiography for the assessment of coronary artery disease in patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis selected to undergo TAVI with respect to adverse clinical outcomes at 3 years (primary objective) and patient reported outcome measures (secondary objective).