[Improvement of the diagnostic value of exercise test by heart-rate adjusted segment depression. Value of ST 20/HR index].

One of the new criteria of positivity of exercise stress testing proposed by Detrano and Kligfield is the ST/HR index, obtained by calculating the ratio of additional ST depression on exercise over the corresponding variation in the heart rate. These authors reported that this ratio improved the diagnostic value of the exercise stress test with respect to the traditional ST segment depression, but that the proportion depended on whether the index was measured 80 or 60 ms after the J point. The object of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of the ST/HR index measured 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 ms after the J point by automatic analysis and to compare these five diagnostic indices with the classical ST segment depression (standard criterion) by ROC graphs and the Mac Nemar test.

[Critical analysis of the response to antihypertensive therapy. Report of 102 cases].

Unlabelled: One hundred and two patients with mild to moderate hypertension, non responding to a placebo therapy, were given an antihypertensive drug for a mean period of 6 weeks (range: 3-12 weeks). Their blood pressure (BP) was measured before and after active treatment by both a mercury manometer at the clinic and an ambulatory apparatus (Spacelabs 5200 or 90202). The clinic BP figures were poorly correlated with the 24 hour ambulatory BP levels, as well as the magnitude of decrease in clinic BP with the reduction in ambulatory BP.

[Percutaneous valvuloplasty of congenital pulmonary stenosis in adults over 50 years of age].

The authors report three cases of congenital pulmonary stenosis in adults over 50 years of age treated by percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty. Three symptomatic women aged 74, 80 and 51, had systolic pressure gradients ranging from 107 to 113 mmHg between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. After valvuloplasty with two balloons or one trefoil balloon, the transvalvular pressure gradient fell to 25 to 30 mmHg.

[Blood pressure response to antihypertension treatment. Comparison of data obtained at the doctor's office and by ambulatory blood pressure measurement].

A comparative study of clinical and ambulatory responses to antihypertensive treatment was conducted retrospectively in 69 patients with mild to moderate arterial hypertension. The patients received different drugs, but blood pressure (BP) was measured by the same methods in each of them. (a) Clinical BP was measured with a mercury manometer some time after taking the last dose of antihypertensive drug: 24 hours in patients who took one daily dose, 12 hours in those who took two daily doses.