Circulation
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Multicenter Study
Optimal blood pressure control in treated hypertensive patients. Report from the Department of Health Hypertension Care Computing Project (DHCCP).
We wished to determine the range of treated systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) associated with the best survival in hypertensive patients. ⋯ The best overall survival was associated with a treated SBP of < 134 mm Hg in men and < 149 mm Hg in women and a treated DBP of < 95 mm Hg.
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Studies have shown that the rise in intracellular ionized calcium, [Ca2+]i, in hypoxic myocardium is driven by an increase in sodium, [Na+]i, but the source of Na+ is not known. ⋯ Na+ influx through the voltage-gated Na+ channel is an important route of hypoxic Na+ loading, Na(+)-dependent Ca2+ loading, and reoxygenation hypercontracture in isolated rat cardiac myocytes. Importantly, the Na+ channel appears to serve as a route for hypoxic Na+ influx after myocytes become inexcitable.
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The Poiseuillian model of the arterial system currently applied in clinical physiology does not explain how arterial pressure is maintained during diastole after cessation of pulsatile aortic inflow. Arterial pressure-flow relations can be more accurately described by models that incorporate arterial viscoelastic properties such as arterial compliance. Continuous pressure and flow measurements are needed to evaluate these properties. Since the techniques used to date to acquire such data have been invasive, physiological models of the circulation that incorporate these properties have not been widely applied in the clinical setting. The purpose of this study was (1) to validate noninvasive methods for continuous measurement of central arterial pressure and flow and (2) to determine normal reference values for arterial compliance using physiological models of the circulation applied to the noninvasively acquired pressure and flow data. ⋯ Noninvasive methods can be used to acquire the hemodynamic data necessary for clinical application of physiological models of the circulation that incorporate arterial viscoelastic properties such as arterial compliance. The strong inverse linear relation between model-based compliance estimates and age mandates incorporation of this demographic parameter in
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Comparative Study
Pulmonary hypertension in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Comparison with primary pulmonary hypertension.
Previously reported cases of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are poorly documented regarding baseline hemodynamics and potential for pulmonary vasodilatation. The purpose of this report was to compare HIV-infected patients who had PH with non-HIV-infected patients who had primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) in terms of (1) clinical characteristics, (2) hemodynamics in baseline conditions and during a short-term vasodilator trial with epoprostenol, and (3) survival. ⋯ These results support the view that HIV infection may now be regarded as another common disease state that can be associated with PPH development. The lower initial severity in HIV-infected patients may be due to the close medical attention usually devoted to such patients, who may account for an earlier diagnosis. However, the overall survival rate of HIV-infected patients with PH appeared to be as poor as in non-HIV-infected patients with PPH.
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The purpose of the study was to examine the association between physical activity and 23-year incidence of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality. This cohort study continues to follow 8006 Japanese-American men who were 45 to 68 years of age and living on Oahu, Hawaii, in 1965, for the development of coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality. ⋯ The results suggest that the impact of physical activity index on coronary heart disease is mediated through its effects on hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, and body mass index. These findings support the hypothesis that physical activity is inversely associated with coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality and suggest that physical activity interventions in middle-aged men, by improving cardiovascular risk factor levels, may have significant public health implications in the prevention of coronary heart disease.