Effectiveness of the mom supports mom peer support intervention in treating antenatal mental health difficulties in women.

Problem: Up to 75 % of at-risk perinatal women do not receive treatment in Czechia.

Background: Pregnant women with mental health difficulties are more likely to undergo less controversial nonpharmaceutical treatment during pregnancy, but structural and psychological barriers interfere with their capacity to seek professional help.

Aim: We tested the effectiveness of the telephone-based peer support intervention Mom Supports Mom (MSM) in Czech pregnant women at risk of mental disorder.

State of perinatal mental health care in the WHO region of Europe: a scoping review.

Background: Although perinatal mental disorders are the most common health complication among women in the perinatal period, there is a huge gap in the implementation of related research findings in the health care system. We mapped the state of perinatal mental health (PMH) care in the WHO Europe region with aim to identify leading countries, which can serve as models for countries with less developed perinatal mental health care.

Methods: Guidelines, policies, and documents related to screening and treatment services for PMH were searched as grey literature.

Use of antipsychotics during pregnancy and their impact on congenital malformations and early neonatal adaptation.

Objective: Review of recent literature dealing with the effect of antipsychotic use during pregnancy on early postpartum adaptation of exposed infants and the development of congenital malformations.

Results: The use of antipsychotics during pregnancy does not appear to lead to significantly higher risk of congenital malformations but may pose a greater risk for the early adaptation of the newborn (especially the risk of preterm birth and intensive care unit admission). The study to date face methodological limitations - lack of information on exact doses of antipsychotics, lack of control groups of women with psychiatric problems but not taking antipsychotics and failure to control for confounding factors.

Structural, functional, and metabolic signatures of postpartum depression: A systematic review.

Objective: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a serious condition with debilitating consequences for the mother, offspring, and the whole family. The scope of negative outcomes of PPD highlights the need to specify effective diagnostics and treatment which might differ from major depressive disorder (MDD). In order to improve our clinical care, we need to better understand the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of PPD.

[Use of natriuretic peptides in diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in obese hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome].

Introduction: Presence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy significantly increases cardiovascular risk in patients suffering from hypertension. Diagnostics of LV hypertrophy in hypertensive patients is not easy and there is still no method of enabling a simple and sufficiently sensitive dia-gnosis across a large patient population. The golden standard in LV hypertrophy diagnostics is echocardiography, and there are adverse opinions regarding the use of natriuretic peptides BNP and NT proBNP (NP) to diagnose LV hypertrophy.

[Aortic pulse wave velocity in patients with metabolic syndrome and hypertension treated with sartans].

Introduction: The incidence of subclinical organ damage is higher in patients with hypertension (HT) and metabolic syndrome (MS). Increased aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) is one the markers reflecting subclinical arterial damage. Treatment with sartans leads not only to a reduction of blood pressure but may also bring regression of the subclinical damage.

[Ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure in the treatment of hypertension in diabetics].

Hypertension, the most significant cardiovascular risk factor, appears twice more often in persons with diabetes compared to nondiabetic population. A high percentage of complications (40-70%) in diabetic population is caused just by hypertension. That is why timely diagnosis and consistent treatment of hypertension is stressed in patients with diabetes.

[Will ECG combined with echocardiography detect viable myocardium in patients after myocardial infarct?].

The objective of the submitted trial was to use combined examination of ECG at rest and after exercise to detect a viable heart muscle in patients with a postinfarction Q wave and ST elevations. The authors found that according to the character of changes of the ST elevation in ECG after exercise it is not possible to detect patients with a viable myocardium. During the combined procedure using analysis of the kinetic disorder at rest and increase of the ST segment in ECG after exercise it is possible in patients with hypokinesia or akinesia at the site of the Q wave to differentiate successfully 66% patients with a viable heart muscle.

[Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in a young population].

Ambulatory twenty four hour blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is an exact method, enabling by repeated measurements to create blood pressure profile, which shows a close correlation with end organ damage. Normal values were taken from clinical trials, where the mean age of probands was highly above 30 years. The aim of this trial was to determine mean values for ABPM in population aged 18-30 years and to create "normal values" for this population.

Serologic diagnosis of ovine lentiviruses by whole virus ELISA and AGID test.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) are the most widely used serological tests for Maedi-Visna diagnostics. The purpose of the present study was to develop an indirect whole virus ELISA and an immunodiffusion test and compare their sensitivity. A total of 747 ovine serum specimens were analysed for antibodies against this ovine lentivirus.

Isolation and partial characterization of ovine lentivirus in Czech Republic.

The first isolation and partial characterization of ovine lentivirus in Czech Republic is described. The virus was isolated in a tissue culture system derived from plexus choroideus from sheep. The new isolate was compared with prototypic K1514 Maedi-Visna strain; these two viruses shared antigenic determinants as determined by serological testing.

[Importance of dipyridamole transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease].

The importance of dipyridamol echocardiography in the diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was described repeatedly. Nevertheless in roughly 20% patients the transthoracic echocardiographic examination at rest is inaccurate or cannot be carried out because the ultrasonic visibility is poor. In these patients transoesophageal dipyridamol echocardiography (TEE Dip) can provide a suitable alternative.

[Comparison of dynamic and isometric loading in echocardiographic examinations in patients with ischemic heart disease].

The objective of the work was to compare functional indicators of the left ventricle during isometric (HG) and dynamic (Ergo) echocardiographic load examinations in patients with different grades of ischaemic heart disease. In group A they compared results in 34 patients with affection of three coronary arteries and in group B 15 patients with 1-2 coronary arteries affected. They evaluated the systolic, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate (HR), the index of the diastolic end volume EDV/m2, the index of the systolic end volume ESV/m2, Limacher's index for evaluation of left ventricular motility and the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) at rest and after both types of loads.

[The effect of dipyridamole on pulmonary venous flow in patients with ischemic heart disease].

In 56 patients with ischaemic heart disease the authors evaluated the blood flow in the pulmonary veins, using transoesophageal echocardiography by the pulsed Doppler technique in the left upper pulmonary vein. They assessed the peak systolic velocity (pVS), the systolic integral time-velocity (S-VTI), the peak diastolic velocity (pVD) and the integral time velocity in the diastolic part of the flow (D-VTI). They found a statistically significant correlation between the ratio pVS/pVD and the LVEDP assessed by the invasive method (r = 0.

[Evaluation of physical rehabilitation in myocardial revascularization using echocardiography].

The authors investigated 155 patients, mean age 50.6 years, after revascularization of the myocardium. The group was divided at random into a group with a high intensity of physical rehabilitation (A) and a medium and low rehabilitation group (B).

[Significance of pulmonary vein flow for the determination of left ventricular filling pressure].

The aim of the submitted study was to evaluate the blood flow in the pulmonary veins by transoesophageal Doppler echocardiography which is the ideal method for recording the blood flow in the pulmonary veins as the ultrasound probe is closely behind the left atrium. In 35 patients with ischaemic heart disease the authors evaluated the blood flow in the pulmonary veins to assess whether the rate of the blood flow in these vessels can serve a non-invasive estimate of the end-diastolic pressure in the left ventricle (LVEDP). It was revealed that venous blood flow has in the majority of cases two anterior peaks during ventricular systole, one anterior peak during diastole and one negative peak during atrial contraction.

[Transesophageal stress echocardiography].

The authors submit their initial experience with the work protocol of transoesophageal loading echocardiography, which they used in 148 patients. The method is meant in the first place for individuals where the records of classical transthoracic echocardiography in 10-25% are difficult to visualize by echocardiography or patients who for any reasons cannot be subjected to common loading examinations. The informative capacity of this method is almost 100%.

[Echocardiographic evaluation of the left ventricle in mild hypertension treated with physical exercise].

The authors submit findings of haemodynamic changes during long-term treatment of mild hypertension by physical training. Using this method, blood pressure was normalized in all subjects. The authors conclude that physical activity has a similar impact on the haemodynamics of mild hypertension as drugs which reduce the tension of the sympathetic nerve.

Antihypertensive effect of isradipine on blood pressure at rest and during exercise.

After three months of treatment with isradipine, 20 patients with mild hypertension had reduced their resting blood pressure (BP) from 157/103 to 132/85 mm Hg and their BP during isometric exercise from 192/124 to 166/105 mm Hg. The isradipine dose necessary to normalize BP (both at rest and post-exercise) was 1.25 mg twice daily (2 x 1/2 tablet) in 50% of patients and 2.

[Use of the postural test in stress echocardiography].

The authors introduced and evaluated the clinical importance of the echocardiographic positional test for the detection of left ventricular insufficiency after exercise. They found that in decompensated ischaemic patients, contrary to healthy subjects, left ventricular ejection indicators deteriorate. Latent left ventricular weakness in ischaemic patients without clinical signs of heart failure is revealed by positional reduction of the rate of shortening of the circumferential fibre.

[Clinical effects of isosorbide dinitrate in the transdermal spray (TD Spray Iso Mack) form].

The authors report on their experience with the transdermal spray, TD spray Iso Mack. Using a graded ergometric test, the authors examined 11 patients with angina on exertion before and 60 minutes after administration of 60 mg of the effective substance by the transdermal route. The average threshold of ischaemia and work tolerance increased significantly and the ECG depression of segment S-T receded.

[Echocardiographic orientation evaluation of the function of the left heart ventricle].

The authors discuss the possibility to make use of a simple echocardiographic indicator of left ventricular function--the angle formed by the anterior cusp of the mitral valve and the line of the interventricular septum, assessed from a four-chamber tracing (angle M). Based on echocardiographic examination of 87 subjects they established their own standards. They consider values above 30 degrees as pathological, suggesting impaired left ventricular function.

[Diastolic function of the left ventricle in incipient hypertension].

The authors provide evidence that changes of diastolic indicators precede in incipient hypertension the impaired left ventricular function. In marginal hypertonics and in particular in stage 1 hypertonics they found by echocardiography that, as compared with healthy normotonic subjects, sings of impaired relaxation in the early diastole. This is apparent from the significant prolongation of the time constant of relaxation at rest and the maximal speed of relaxation which are due to the early filling of the left ventricle.

[Changes in blood pressure in mild forms of hypertension after long-term physical training].

The authors submit the results of a long-term study of the treatment of mild hypertension by physical training. Its advantage, as compared with medicamentous treatment, is the physiological effect on the organism, its financially unpretentious character, and if the population is seriously informed, its wide application. The authors found in general a poor approach to physical activity, in particular among young people due to lack of information on the importance of physical activity.