Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in heart failure and serum sodium levels.

Aims: To determine whether there are differences in blood pressure profile on dynamic assessment by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) according to serum sodium levels in stable heart failure patients.

Methods: Data were collected from the Spanish National Registry on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Heart Failure (DICUMAP). Patients underwent ABPM by the oscillometric principle using a Spacelabs 90121 monitor.

[Incidence of accidental exposure to blood and body fluids among healthcare professionals in a community hospital].

Objective: To determine the annual incidence of healthcare professionals' accidental exposure to blood and body fluids in a community hospital and describe their characteristics, associated situations and follow-up.

Method: A longitudinal, retrospective study of biological accidents voluntarily reported on a yearly basis by exposed healthcare professionals at Fundació Hospital de l'Esperit Sant (in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Spain), between 2005 and 2014. A descriptive analysis of the variables related to the exposed professional, the exposure itself, its production mechanism and the source patient was conducted.

[Hypertensive crisis: urgency and hypertensive emergency].

Hypertensive crises lumped several clinical situations with different seriousness and prognosis. The differences between hypertensive urgency and hypertensive emergency depends on if this situation involves a vital risk for the patient. This risk is defined more by the severity of the organ damage than for the higher values of blood pressure.