Current Management of Hypertension in Older Adults

Hypertension is a major global health issue and it accounts for a big proportion of disability and mortality worldwide even in adults aged 65 years and above. Moreover, advanced age per se is an independent risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events and there is abundant scientific evidence supporting the beneficial effects of blood pressure lowering, within certain limits, in this subset of hypertensive patients. The aim of this review article is to summarize the available evidence regarding the appropriate management of hypertension in this specific subgroup, in an era of a constantly increasing aging population.

Cardiometabolic Care: Assessing Patients with Diabetes Mellitus with No Overt Cardiovascular Disease in the Light of Heart Failure Development Risk

The mechanisms leading to the development of heart failure (HF) in diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are multifactorial. Assessing the risk of HF development in patients with DM is valuable not only for the identification of a high-risk subgroup, but also equally important for defining low-risk subpopulations. Nowadays, DM and HF have been recognized as sharing similar metabolic pathways. Moreover, the clinical manifestation of HF can be independent of LVEF classification. Consequently, approaching HF should be through structural, hemodynamic and functional evaluation. Thus, both imaging parameters and biomarkers are important tools for the recognition of diabetic patients at risk of HF manifestation and HF phenotypes, and arrhythmogenic risk, and eventually for prognosis, aiming to improve patients' outcomes utilizing drugs and non-pharmaceutical cardioprotective tools such as diet modification.

Sex-related cardiovascular prognosis in patients with hypertensive emergencies: a 12-month study

Current evidence on the prognosis of patients with a hypertensive crisis and predisposing factors is limited. We registered the clinical phenotype of patients with HC admitted to the emergency department, while those with a hypertensive emergency (HE) were hospitalized. One-year outcomes, i.e., composite of death or cardiovascular hospitalizations, were determined in patients with HE after hospital discharge. Out of 38,589 patients assessed in the emergency department, 256 hypertensive urgencies and 97 HE was registered. After stratification of the HE by sex, 48 men and 46 women completed the one-year follow-up. Men had more events than women (27 vs. 13, Ηazard Ratio 2.2, 95% Confidence Interval 1.03-4.7, p = 0.042) after adjustment for age, cardiovascular or chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mellitus. Our study raises the hypothesis that the male sex is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular outcomes in HE patients. CV Cardiovascular, BP blood pressure. The diagram presents the groups of comparison, men versus women in hypertensive emergencies that completed the 1-year follow-up for outcomes, in terms of hospitalizations or deaths.

Twenty-Four-Hour Pulsatile Hemodynamics Predict Brachial Blood Pressure Response to Renal Denervation in the SPYRAL HTN-OFF MED Trial

Renal denervation (RDN) lowers blood pressure (BP), but BP response is variable in individual patients. We investigated whether measures of pulsatile hemodynamics, obtained during 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, predict BP drop following RDN.

Profile and management of hypertensive urgencies and emergencies in the emergency cardiology department of a tertiary hospital: a 12-month registry

AIMS

Currently there are scarce epidemiological data regarding prevalence, clinical phenotype, and therapy of hypertensive urgencies (HU) and emergencies (HE). The aim of this article was to record the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and management of patients with HU and HE assessed in an emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The population consisted of patients presenting with HE and HU in the ED (acute increase in systolic blood pressure (BP) ≥ 180 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥120 mmHg with and without acute target organ damage, respectively). Of the 38 589 patients assessed in the ED during a 12-month period, 353 (0.91%) had HU and HE. There were 256 (72.5%) cases presented as HU and 97 (27.5%) as HE. Primary causes for both HU and HE were stress/anxiety (44.9%), increased salt intake (33.9%), and non-adherence to medication (16.2%). Patients with HU reported mainly dizziness/headache (46.8%) and chest pain (27.4%), whereas those with HE presented dyspnoea (67%), chest pain (30.2%), dizziness/headache (10.3%), and neurological disorders (8.2%). In HE, the underlying associated conditions were pulmonary oedema (58%), acute coronary syndrome (22.6%), and neurological disorders/stroke (7.2%). All HE cases were hospitalized and received intensive healthcare, including dialysis.

CONCLUSION

This 1-year single-centre registry demonstrates a reasonable prevalence of HU and HE contributing to the high volume of visits to the ED. Stress, increased salt intake and non-adherence were main triggers of HE and HU. Dizziness and headache were the prevalent symptoms of HU patients while heart failure was the most common underlying disease in patients with HE.

Hyperuricaemia and gout in cardiovascular, metabolic and kidney disease

During the last century, there has been an increasing prevalence of hyperuricaemia noted in many populations. While uric acid is usually discussed in the context of gout, hyperuricaemia is also associated with hypertension, chronic kidney disease, hypertriglyceridaemia, obesity, atherosclerotic heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. Here we review the connection between hyperuricaemia and cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic diseases. Contrary to the popular view that uric acid is an inert metabolite of purine metabolism, recent studies suggest serum uric acid may have a variety of pro-inflammatory, pro-oxidative and vasoconstrictive actions that may contribute to cardiometabolic diseases. Hyperuricaemia is a predictive factor for the development of hypertension, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. Treatment with uric acid-lowering therapies has also been found to improve outcomes in patients with hypertension and kidney disease, in some but not all studies. In conclusion, uric acid is emerging as a potentially treatable risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases, and more clinical trials investigating the potential benefit of lowering serum uric acid are recommended in individuals with hyperuricaemia with and without deposition and concomitant hypertension, metabolic syndrome or chronic kidney disease.

COVID-19 pandemic and cardiovascular disease: where do we stand?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which recently has been characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) having killed almost 250,000 people worldwide as of May 4^th, 2020. Despite the fact that SARS-CoV-2 seems to predominantly affect the respiratory system leading to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, it is now evident that it may also affect the cardiovascular system in multiple ways. The current paper is a review of the most recent literature regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection and its associated main cardiovascular clinical manifestations. Cardiovascular disease represents a prevalent underlying comorbidity associated with increased mortality rates among COVID-19 affected individuals. In addition, various cardiovascular manifestations have been linked to the viral insult, including among others acute coronary syndromes, myocarditis, acute heart failure, cardiac injury, arrhythmias and acute pulmonary embolism. Further studies are required in order to establish the complicated association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and its effects on the cardiovascular system. Our knowledge regarding diagnostic approaches, therapeutic management and preventive measures is constantly enriched throughout an abundance of ongoing research in the respective fields.

ST-Segment Depression in Hyperventilation Indicates a False Positive Exercise Test in Patients with Mitral Valve Prolapse

Objectives. Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a known cause for false positive exercise test (ET). The purpose of this study was to establish additional electrocardiographic criteria to distinguish the false positive exercise results in patients with MVP. Methods. We studied 218 consecutive patients (53 ± 6 years, 103 males) with MVP (according to echocardiographic study), and positive treadmill ET was performed due to multiple cardiovascular risk factors or angina-like symptoms. A coronary angiography was performed to detect coronary artery disease (CAD). Results. From 218 patients, 90 (group A) presented with normal coronary arteries according to the angiography (false positive ET) while the rest 128 (group B) presented with CAD. ST-segment depression in hyperventilation phase was present in 54 patients of group A (60%) while only in 14 patients of group B (11%), P < .05. Conclusions. Presence of ST-segment depression in hyperventilation phase favors a false positive ET in patients with MVP.

Right-sided chest leads in exercise testing for detection of coronary restenosis

BACKGROUND

The incorporation of right-sided chest leads (V(3)R through V(5)R) into standard exercise testing has been reported to improve its diagnostic utility.

HYPOTHESIS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate any improvement in the ability of exercise testing in detecting restenosis, using additional V(3)R through V(5)R leads, in asymptomatic patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the right coronary artery (RCA) or/and left circumflex (LCX).

METHODS

We studied 172 consecutive patients (54 +/- 7 years old, 106 males) undergoing PCI in RCA or/and LCX. A treadmill test had been performed before PCI. Six months later, all patients underwent a second treadmill test and arteriography in order to detect silent ischemia due to restenosis. Recordings during exercise were obtained with the standard 12-leads plus V(3)R through V(5)R.

RESULTS

Out of 172 patients, 106 had stenosis in RCA, 35 in LCX, and 31 in both vessels while 6 months later, restenosis was detected in 8 (for RCA), 3 (for LCX), and 3 (for both vessels) patients respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive prognostic value, negative prognostic value, and accuracy of exercise testing performed post PCI were ameliorated using V(3)R through V(5)R (79% vs 57%, 97% vs 80%, 69% vs 21%, 98% vs 95%, and 95% vs 78% respectively, P < .05 for all except negative prognostic value). Maximal exercise-induced ST-segment deviation (in mm) was not changed post PCI in 12 leads (1.4 +/- 0.2 vs 1.5 +/- 0.2, P = NS) while it was decreased in V(3)R through V(5)R (0.2 +/- 0.2 vs 1.2 +/- 0.3, P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of V(3)R through V(5)R improves the diagnostic ability of standard exercise testing in detecting silent ischemia due to restenosis in patients undergoing PCI in RCA or/and LCX.