Tissue Doppler E/E' ratio is a powerful predictor of primary cardiac events in a hypertensive population: an ASCOT substudy.

Aims: Patients with controlled hypertension are at risk of future cardiac events, but predicting first events remains difficult. We hypothesized that modern echocardiographic measures of left ventricular diastolic function may be more sensitive than traditional echocardiographic methods of risk prediction and set out to test this in a cohort of patients with well-controlled hypertension.

Methods And Results: Conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography was performed on 980 participants in the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT).

Differences in the magnitude of wave reflection account for differential effects of amlodipine- versus atenolol-based regimens on central blood pressure: an Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcome Trial substudy.

Antihypertensive agents may differ in their effects on central systolic blood pressure, and this may contribute to treatment-related differences in cardiovascular outcomes. In a substudy of the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcome Trial, we investigated whether directly measured carotid systolic blood pressure differed between people randomized to amlodipine- and atenolol-based therapies and whether this is accounted for by differences in wave reflection patterns. Additional analysis was undertaken to establish whether differences in carotid systolic blood pressure predicted left ventricular mass, accounting for between-treatment differences in left ventricular mass index.

Ethnicity and left ventricular diastolic function in hypertension an ASCOT (Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial) substudy.

Objectives: We investigated whether diastolic function differs between hypertensive patients of African-Caribbean or white European origin and established whether differences could be explained by confounding variables.

Background: African Caribbeans are known to have a higher prevalence of heart failure than white Europeans but it is unclear whether this is a result of known risk factors. Tissue Doppler technology now allows accurate quantification of diastolic function, which is recognized as an important factor in the development of heart failure.

Effects of the direct lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2) inhibitor darapladib on human coronary atherosclerotic plaque.

Background: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2) (Lp-PLA(2)) is expressed abundantly in the necrotic core of coronary lesions, and products of its enzymatic activity may contribute to inflammation and cell death, rendering plaque vulnerable to rupture.

Methods And Results: This study compared the effects of 12 months of treatment with darapladib (an oral Lp-PLA(2) inhibitor, 160 mg daily) or placebo on coronary atheroma deformability (intravascular ultrasound palpography) and plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in 330 patients with angiographically documented coronary disease. Secondary end points included changes in necrotic core size (intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency), atheroma size (intravascular ultrasound gray scale), and blood biomarkers.

A retrospective evaluation of congestive heart failure and myocardial ischemia events in 14,237 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus enrolled in 42 short-term, double-blind, randomized clinical studies with rosiglitazone.

Purpose: Retrospectively investigate potential associations between rosiglitazone and congestive heart failure (CHF) and, separately, events of myocardial ischemia.

Methods: Data from 14 237 individuals in 42 short-term, double-blind, randomized studies of rosiglitazone versus placebo or active diabetes medications were analyzed across seven treatment comparisons using an exact logistic regression model, adjusted for number of major cardiovascular risk factors and duration of exposure.

Results: CHF incidence ranged 0-1.