International Circulation:    Prevention is the central theme of ESC 2009 as well as this great wall meeting. What’s your opinion about the role of heart rate reduction in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiac events?  We have seen a little bit about that at both meeting so could you please tell us your view??
《国际循环》：预防是2009年ESC和长城会的中心议题，您认为降低心率在心血管初级和二级预防中起什么样的作用？
 

Roberto Ferrari: There is a lot of interest in heart rate as a prognostic factor and also as a risk factor for coronary artery disease.  As often is the case， such interest has been stimulated by the availability of a new drug called Ivabradine， which is able to reduce heart rate without any other effects on the body.  This interest has just surfaced in the last 2 or 3 years with more than 205，000 individuals in which the heart rate was taken and been correlated with cardiovascular events.  It has also promoted several clinical trials， one of which I was involved in called the BEAUTIFUL trial.  As of today we cannot say that heart rate is for sure a risk factor for coronary artery disease.  We can say however that it is a prognostic marker and in patients with CAD having a heart rate equal to or above 70 beats per minute; if we are able to reduce the heart rate we will reduce the number and the need for revascularization.  This is quite an important development.  New studies have already begun which are investigating this further.  The nice meaning for heart rate is that， if it could be proven to be a risk factor， it will be a simple risk factor to measure.  This is very important because even patients can learn how to take their own pulse and just measure.  It would also be nice to provide a target heart rate for the population without having to have blood tests or blood pressure taken.
Roberto Ferrari: 人们对心率作为CAD预后因素和危险因素的兴趣来自于一种新药伊伐布雷定的诞生，这种药物能降低心率且对人体没有任何其他影响。在过去的两三年里，研究者测量了超过205 000人的心率，并与心血管事件建立关联。这也促进了数个临床试验的开展，我参与了其中一个BEAUTIFUL试验。虽然现在我们还不能肯定心率是CAD的确切危险因素，但心率确实是一个预后指标。如果我们能降低心率≥70次/分CAD患者的心率，我们就能降低心肌梗死事件和血管重建需求。目前有许多相关研究正在进行。心率的美好含义是如果能证明它是危险因素，这将是一个很容易测量的危险因素，即使是患者也能学会怎样测量自身的脉搏。能对普通人群提供一个不需血液检查或血压测量的监测目标是一件美妙的事情。