Relationship between body mass and ambulatory blood pressure: comparison with office blood pressure measurement and effect of treatment.

Epidemiologic studies assessing the relationship between blood pressure (BP), body mass, and cardiovascular events have primarily been based on office BP measurements, and few data are available in the elderly. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and BP values obtained by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) as compared to office BP measurements, and the effect of anti-hypertensive treatment on the relationship. The study population consisted of 813 subjects participating in the cardiovascular abnormalities and brain lesions (CABL) study who underwent 24-h ABPM.

Acute left main coronary occlusion caused by stent fracture, peri-stent aneurysm formation, and very-late stent thrombosis: revisiting the dark side of drug-eluting stents.

A patient presented with acute distal left main occlusion as a result of very late stent thrombosis of 2 drug-eluting stents. Intravascular ultrasound imaging confirmed the presence of a peri-stent aneurysm coupled with malapposition at the site of a stent fracture, reflecting an abnormal vascular response to drug-eluting stents.

Response to catecholamine stimulation of polymorphisms of the beta-1 and beta-2 adrenergic receptors.

Previous studies have demonstrated that β-adrenergic receptor polymorphisms affect outcomes in patients with heart failure or after an acute coronary syndrome. Whether β-adrenergic polymorphisms influence catecholamine responses in patients with cardiovascular disease is not known. Cardiovascular responses to the β1-receptor agonist dobutamine and the β2-receptor agonist terbutaline were studied using gated blood pool scintigraphy in 21 patients on long-term β-blocker therapy.