Assessment of flow-mediated dilation reproducibility: a nationwide multicenter study.

Objective: Impaired flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is associated with cardiovascular risk factors and provides prognostic information. Despite the noninvasive nature of this technique, a major limitation to its widespread use is low reproducibility. The aim of this study was to evaluate impact of methodological standardization among different investigation sites on brachial artery FMD reproducibility.

Independent association of ECG abnormalities with microalbuminuria and renal damage in hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease: data from Italy-Developing Education and awareness on MicroAlbuminuria in patients with hypertensive Disease study.

Objectives: Renal abnormalities are strongly associated with cardiac damage in essential hypertension. Detection of preclinical cardiac and renal abnormalities is a key clinical step in hypertension management. This study investigated the relationship between ECG abnormalities and microalbuminuria (MAU) in hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease.

Impact of fasting glycemia and regional cerebral perfusion in diabetic subjects: a study with technetium-99m-ethyl cysteinate dimer single photon emission computed tomography.

Background And Purpose: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and changes in regional cerebral perfusion (CP) in subjects with DM.

Methods: CP was assessed in 24 subjects (mean age 44+/-2.

[Vascular medicine: the near future].

During the last 20 years new insights on the pathophysiology of vascular diseases has led to the development of new therapeutic strategies. Their potential benefits are being increasingly appreciated by clinicians today, providing a solid background for a growing use in the near future. In this review we focus our attention on three different issues: endothelial dysfunction as a prognostic marker of cardiovascular events, stem cells and their therapeutic role, and percutaneous carotid stenting as an alternative promising treatment of carotid stenosis.

Nitric oxide release is impaired in hypertensive individuals with familial history of stroke.

Background: A genetic origin of cerebrovascular accidents has long been suspected on the basis of epidemiologic evidence and familial aggregation. Nevertheless, the final phenotype is largely influenced by concomitant risk factors. We aimed to investigate whether impairment of endothelium-dependent vasodilation can be used as an informative intermediate vascular phenotype in hypertensive patients with familial history of stroke.

Immunoglobulin A nephropathy complicating pulmonary tuberculosis.

A 31-year-old man who presented with smear- and culture-negative pulmonary tuberculosis had associated macroscopic hematuria, elevation of serum creatinine and immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels, overt proteinuria, and peripheral edema. Renal biopsy revealed focal mesangial proliferation with IgA deposits, and a diagnosis of IgA nephropathy was made. The patient received treatment with isoniazide and rifampin.

Clustering of endothelial markers of vascular damage in human salt-sensitive hypertension: influence of dietary sodium load and depletion.

The contributing role of vascular endothelium in the development of hypertension-related vascular damage is well accepted. Salt-sensitive hypertension is characterized by a cluster of renal, hormonal, and metabolic derangements that might favor the development of cardiovascular and renal damage. To evaluate endothelial involvement in salt-sensitive essential hypertension, plasma levels of several markers of endothelial damage such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), von Willebrand factor (vWf), and soluble (S-) adhesion molecules E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and 24-hour urinary albumin excretion (UAE) were measured in 39 nondiabetic, nonobese, never-treated essential hypertensive patients after intermediate (120 mmol/d), high (220 mmol/d), and low (20 mmol/d) NaCl diets.

Elevated plasma and urinary endothelin-I levels in human salt-sensitive hypertension.

1. The behaviour of the potent vasoconstrictive endothelium-derived peptide endothelin-1 was evaluated in salt-sensitive hypertension. 2.

Elevated plasma endothelin-1 levels as an additional risk factor in non-obese essential hypertensive patients with metabolic abnormalities.

Circulating endothelin-1 concentration was evaluated in 93 lean patients with essential hypertension, of whom 16 had impaired glucose tolerance and hyperlipidaemia, 25 had impaired glucose tolerance, 28 had hyperlipidaemia and 24 had no metabolic abnormalities; we also studied 22 control subjects. All groups were age- and sex-matched. Plasma endothelin-1 levels were higher (p < 0.

Circulating endothelin-1 concentrations in patients with chronic hypoxia.

Aims: To evaluate the behavior of plasma endothelin-1 in patients with chronic hypoxia.

Methods: Fifteen male patients (mean age 52.1 +/- 3.

Unilateral adrenal hypersecretion of both aldosterone and cortisol in two first cousins with a syndrome of mineralocorticoid excess but without signs of hypercortisolism.

A 38 year old woman and her first cousin, a 41 year old man, presented both with hypertension, hypokalemia, hyperaldosteronism, and low plasma renin activity in our Hospital. In both patients, plasma and urine aldosterone were constantly above the normal range, even on a high NaCl diet (250 mEq/day), while the plasma aldosterone response to postural changes was normal. In the female patient abdominal ultrasonic scan, CT scan, MRI, and adrenal gland phlebography were normal, but blood from the left adrenal vein contained 1002 pg/ml of aldosterone, versus 91 pg/ml in the contralateral one.

Effects of atrial natriuretic factor infusion on plasma prorenin levels in hypertensive males.

To evaluate the influence of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) infusion on circulating prorenin, 20 essential hypertensive males, aged between 40 and 60 years, were studied. After 2 weeks under normal sodium intake (120 mmol NaCl per day), patients were randomly assigned to receive either ANF (0.01 fmol/Kg/min) (n.

[Sodium-modulating hormones and the pressor response to sodium chloride in essential arterial hypertension].

Some predictive markers for NaCl sensitivity, related to the red blood cell membrane or to circulating proteins, have already been described in human essential hypertension. The present study was planned to investigate whether or not some hormones produced by the kidney or acting at the kidney level could be used as new markers for NaCl sensitivity. The study was conducted in 28 not previously treated outpatients affected by uncomplicated mild to moderate essential hypertension.

Renal sodium excretory function during acute oxygen administration.

To evaluate the effect of O2 administration and O2 removal on renal Na+ excretion, 12 hypoxemic eucapnic patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 9 normal subjects were studied. After 1 h in the supine position, O2 was administered for 3 h by a tight-fitting face-mask. Urine and blood samples for renal Na+ excretion evaluation were taken at times 0, 60 and 180 min.

Effects of short-time insulin suppression on renal sodium excretion in type II diabetic hypertensives.

The effects of a short-time insulin suppression on Na+ excretion were evaluated in 9 type II diabetic hypertensive males. All patients had a body mass index < 26 and normal plasma lipid levels. After 2 weeks under constant NaCl intake (120 mEq of NaCl daily) either octreotide, a somatostatin analogue, or its vehicle were infused in a forearm vein during acute volume expansion (0.