Brachial pulse pressure is associated with the presence and extent of coronary artery disease in stable angina patients: a cross-sectional study

Modeling essential hypertension with a closed-loop mathematical model for the entire human circulation

Arterial hypertension, defined as an increase in systemic arterial pressure, is a major risk factor for the development of diseases affecting the cardiovascular system. Every year, 9.4 million deaths worldwide are caused by complications arising from hypertension. Despite well-established approaches to diagnosis and treatment, fewer than half of all hypertensive patients have adequately controlled blood pressure. In this scenario, computational models of hypertension can be a practical approach for better quantifying the role played by different components of the cardiovascular system in the determination of this condition. In the present work we adopt a global closed-loop multi-scale mathematical model for the entire human circulation to reproduce a hypertensive scenario. In particular, we modify the model to reproduce alterations in the cardiovascular system that are cause and/or consequence of the hypertensive state. The adaptation does not only affect large systemic arteries and the heart but also the microcirculation, the pulmonary circulation and the venous system. Model outputs for the hypertensive scenario are validated through assessment of computational results against current knowledge on the impact of hypertension on the cardiovascular system.

The U-shape relationship between pulse pressure level on inpatient admission and long-term mortality in acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

The association between pulse pressure and long-term mortality was investigated among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients who received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study population included 5055 ACS patients in the Department of Cardiology of Beijing Friendship Hospital who were enrolled from January 2013 to July 2019. The median duration of follow-up was 24 months. Multivariate Cox regression was used to analyze the relationships between PP on inpatient admission and mortalities. Non-linear associations were studied by restricted cubic splines. Considering the heart function, the analyses were performed in the whole cohort and the LVEF > = 0.5 cohort separately. Subgroup analyses were performed according to the different diagnosis (the myocardial infarction subgroup and the unstable angina pectoris subgroup). When PP was used as categorical variable, the high PP group (≥61 mm Hg) significantly increased the risk of death compared with the intermediate PP group (50-60 mm Hg) in the both cohorts. When PP was used as continuous variable, a U-shape relationship were found between PP and mortalities in the whole cohort (p (for nonlinearity) = .005 and .003, respectively), with reference PP level of 55 mm Hg. However, this U-shape relationship disappeared in the LVEF > 0.5 cohort (p (for nonlinearity) = .111 and .117, respectively). The similar results were obtained in MI subgroup. From this study, the U-shape relationships between PP level and all-cause and cardiac mortalities were found in ACS patients who underwent PCI. The U-shape relationships disappeared in the LVEF > 0.5 cohort. The reference PP level was 55 mm Hg.

Pulsatile Hemodynamics and Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of human death and has a high prevalence throughout the world. Therefore, it is important to detect CAD early and to apply individualized therapy according to the patients' risk. There is an increasing interest in pulsatile arterial hemodynamics in the cardiovascular area. Widely used measurements of arterial pulsatile hemodynamics include pulse pressure, pulse wave velocity and augmentation index. Here, we will review underlying pathophysiology linking the association of arterial pulsatile hemodynamics with CAD, and the usefulness of the measurements of pulsatile hemodynamics in the prediction of future cardiovascular events of CAD patients. Clinical and therapeutic implications will be also addressed.