Arterial stiffness mediates the effect of salt intake on systolic blood pressure.

Accumulating evidence indicates that higher levels of salt intake are associated with higher blood pressure levels. The aim of our analysis was to test the hypothesis that the effect of urinary sodium excretion (UNaV) on systolic blood pressure (SBP) is mediated through estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and arterial stiffness and also to test the direction of the relationship between eGFR and arterial stiffness, in both hypertensive and normotensive patients. We assessed the potential for connection between UNaV and SBP and mediators (eGFR and pulse wave velocity [PWV]) of this relationship using structural equation models of data from 1599 adults ≥18 years of age and without chronic kidney disease who participated in the Third Epidemiologic Study concerning the Prevalence of Arterial Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk in Romania (SEPHAR III).

Prognostic Value of Right Ventricular Function Assessed by Echocardiography in Patients Presenting With a First Acute ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Treated By Primary PCI.

Aims: Informations regarding the prognostic value of right ventricular function changes in the setting of a first acute ST elevation myocardial infarction irrespective of the site of the necrosis and of the left ventricular systolic function are scarce. Purpose of the study was to assess the relation between parameters reflecting global and systolic right ventricular function assessed by conventional, speckle tracking and three-dimensional echocardiography and in hospital major cardiac events (MACE).

Materials And Methods: We have prospectively analyzed a cohort of 44 consecutive patients (mean age 62,71 years, 70.

Factors associated with use of percutaneous coronary intervention among elderly patients presenting with ST segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI): Results from the ISACS-TC registry.

Background: A substantial proportion of elderly with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) do not undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to investigate factors associated with the decision not to perform coronary angiography at admission in these patients.

Methods: We evaluated 1315 STEMI patients aged ≥75years old enrolled in the International Survey of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Transitional Countries (ISACS TC) registry between October 2010 and February 2015.

Hypertension and Ischemic Heart Disease in Women.

Background: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the most important cause of mortality worldwide. Although the awareness of cardiovascular risk factors and IHD in women has increased over the last decades, mortality rates are still higher in women than in men. Among traditional cardiovascular risk factors, hypertension is associated with a greater risk for IHD in women as compared to men.

Cognitive impairment in manic bipolar patients: important, understated, significant aspects.

Background: Bipolar disorder is a chronic mood disorder with episodic progress and high relapse rate. Growing evidence suggests that individuals with bipolar disorder display cognitive impairment which persists even throughout periods of symptom's remission.

Method: 137 bipolar patients met the inclusion criteria (depressive episode: DSM-IV-TR criteria for major depressive episode, HAMD score ≥17; manic/hypomanic episode: DSM-IV-TR criteria for manic/hypomanic episode, YMRS score ≥12, euthymic: 6 months of remission, HAMD score ≤8, YMRS score ≤6; and mixed: DSM-IV-TR criteria for mixed episode, HAMD score >8 and YMRS score >6) and were therefore enrolled in the study.

Profile of the Romanian hypertensive patient data from SEPHAR II study.

Aim: The objective of this paper is to present the profile of the Romanian hypertensive patient as revealed by the analysis of hypertensive subjects from SEPHAR II survey.

Methods: A total number of 798 hypertensive subjects identified by SEPHAR II survey were analyzed in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, subclinical target organ damage, established target organ disease, total CV risk and HT awareness, treatment and control. The profile of the Romanian hypertensive patients was built using the mod of every above mentioned target variables.