Completeness and correctness of acute myocardial infarction diagnoses in a medical quality register and an administrative health register.

Health registers are used for administrative purposes, disease surveillance, quality assessment, and research. The value of the registers is entirely dependent on the quality of their data. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the completeness and correctness of the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) diagnosis in the Norwegian Myocardial Infarction Register and in the Norwegian Patient Register.

Interrater reliability of a national acute myocardial infarction register.

Background: Disease-specific registers may be used for measuring and improving healthcare and patient outcomes, and for disease surveillance and research, provided they contain valid and reliable data. The aim of this study was to assess the interrater reliability of all variables in a national myocardial infarction register.

Methods: We randomly selected 280 patients who had been enrolled from 14 hospitals to the Norwegian Myocardial Infarction Register during the year 2013.

Physical therapy intervention in patients with non-cardiac chest pain following a recent cardiac event: A randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To assess the effect of two different physical therapy interventions in patients with stable coronary heart disease and non-cardiac chest pain.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was carried out at a university hospital in Norway. A total of 30 patients with known and stable coronary heart disease and self-reported persistent chest pain reproduced by palpation of intercostal trigger points were participating in the study.

Myocardial infarction in Norway in 2013.

Background: The Norwegian Myocardial Infarction Registry was established in 2012 as a national quality registry. This first report from the registry presents the number of myocardial infarctions, the treatment provided and the 30-day mortality rate for myocardial infarctions admitted to Norwegian hospitals.

Material And Method: All patients with myocardial infarction admitted to Norwegian hospitals in 2013 and recorded in the Norwegian Myocardial Infarction Registry are included.

Home-based aerobic interval training improves peak oxygen uptake equal to residential cardiac rehabilitation: a randomized, controlled trial.

Unlabelled: Aerobic capacity, measured as the peak oxygen uptake, is a strong predictor of survival in cardiac patients. Aerobic interval training (AIT), walking/running four times four minutes at 85-95% of peak heart rate, has proven to be effective in increasing peak oxygen uptake in coronary heart disease patients. As some patients do not attend organized rehabilitation programs, home-based exercise should be an alternative.

Effect of exercise training on inflammation status among people with metabolic syndrome.

Background: Metabolic syndrome is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation, a condition thought to play a key role in the pathogenesis of the syndrome. Among a number of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-18 (IL-18) seems to be the best marker for inflammation among people with metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of aerobic training versus strength training on circulating IL-18 and other proinflammatory markers in people with metabolic syndrome.

Even low level of physical activity is associated with reduced mortality among people with metabolic syndrome, a population based study (the HUNT 2 study, Norway).

Background: Low levels of physical activity may increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic factors that are associated with the risk of premature death. It has been suggested that physical activity may reduce the impact of factors associated with metabolic syndrome, but it is not known whether physical activity may reduce mortality in people with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: In a prospective study of 50,339 people, 13,449 had metabolic syndrome at baseline and were followed up for ten years to assess cause-specific mortality.

Maternal left ventricular and endothelial functions in preeclampsia.

Objective: To compare maternal left ventricular and endothelial functions in preeclampsia and normal pregnancy, during pregnancy and after delivery.

Design: Observational study with follow-up.

Setting: University hospital and midwife-led antenatal care center.

Aerobic interval training increases peak oxygen uptake more than usual care exercise training in myocardial infarction patients: a randomized controlled study.

Objective: Exercise capacity strongly predicts survival and aerobic interval training (AIT) increases peak oxygen uptake effectively in cardiac patients. Usual care in Norway provides exercise training at the hospitals following myocardial infarction (MI), but the effect and actual intensity of these rehabilitation programmes are unknown.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian MacNew Heart Disease health-related quality of life inventory.

Background: MacNew is a health-related quality of life (HQOL) inventory for patients with ischaemic heart disease and includes three domains; emotional, physical and social. The MacNew gives new opportunities to compare directly patients with the three major ischaemic heart diagnoses, angina, myocardial infarction and heart failure. However, this inventory has not earlier been evaluated in Norwegian.

Strength training versus aerobic interval training to modify risk factors of metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by central obesity, elevated blood pressure, high fasting glucose and triglyceride levels, and low HDL levels. Regular physical activity can improve the metabolic profile and reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases and premature mortality. However, the optimal training regime to treat metabolic syndrome and its associated cardiovascular abnormalities remains undefined.

Pre-pregnancy physical activity and preeclampsia risk: a prospective population-based cohort study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that women physically active prior to pregnancy are at reduced risk of preeclampsia. Design. Population-based prospective cohort study.

Aerobic interval training versus continuous moderate exercise after coronary artery bypass surgery: a randomized study of cardiovascular effects and quality of life.

Background: Peak oxygen uptake (Vo(2peak)) strongly predicts mortality in cardiac patients. We compared the effects of aerobic interval training (AIT) versus moderate continuous training (MCT) on Vo(2peak) and quality of life after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Methods: Fifty-nine CABG patients were randomized to either AIT at 90% of maximum heart rate or MCT at 70% of maximum heart rate, 5 d/wk, for 4 weeks at a rehabilitation center.

The association of metabolic clustering and physical activity with cardiovascular mortality: the HUNT study in Norway.

Background: In asymptomatic populations, physical activity is inversely associated with the risk of cardiovascular death, but it is not known if physical activity compensates for adverse effects of multiple cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study was to assess if the positive association of a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality could be weakened by exercise training.

Methods: We followed 53 542 individuals who were free from known CVD, among which 3751 had CRF, from baseline between 1984 and 1986 until the date of death from any cause, or until the end of follow-up (31 December 2004).

Left ventricular myocardial function during the acute phase of a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Objectives: Previous reports suggest that left myocardial ventricular function changes during the course of a subarachnoid haemorrhage. The aim of this study was to evaluate left myocardial ventricular function with tissue Doppler echocardiography at two time points during the acute phase of a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Design: Eighteen consecutive patients (median 52 years, range 33-74) with spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage and no history of heart disease were examined at 1-5 days and at 6-11 days following ictus.

Upright bicycle exercise echocardiography in patients with myocardial infarction shows lack of diastolic, but not systolic, reserve: a tissue Doppler study.

Aims: The aim of this feasibility study was to compare systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) function during upright bicycle exercise in patients with chronic myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods And Results: Eighteen patients with first-time MI and no signs of heart failure at rest underwent upright bicycle exercise at 25, 50, and 75 W, and were compared with 18 age-matched controls. Systolic (S') and early (E') mitral annular velocities and early mitral filling velocity (E) were measured at each stage.

Physical activity and mortality in men and women with coronary heart disease: a prospective population-based cohort study in Norway (the HUNT study).

Background: Patients with established coronary heart disease (CHD) are encouraged to be physically active to prevent disease progression and to prolong life. The amount and intensity of exercise required for risk reduction in patients with CHD is not yet fully resolved.

Design: Population-based prospective cohort study with 18 years of follow-up.

Aerobic interval training reduces cardiovascular risk factors more than a multitreatment approach in overweight adolescents.

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of a multidisciplinary approach (MTG) and aerobic interval training (AIT) on cardiovascular risk factors in overweight adolescents. A total of 62 overweight and obese adolescents from Trøndelag County in Norway, referred to medical treatment at St Olav's Hospital, Trondheim, Norway, were invited to participate. Of these, 54 adolescents (age, 14.

Regional myocardial long-axis strain and strain rate measured by different tissue Doppler and speckle tracking echocardiography methods: a comparison with tagged magnetic resonance imaging.

Aims: Compare four different echocardiographic methods, based on tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking (ST) separately or combined, for long-axis strain and strain rate (SR) measurements, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tagging as a reference.

Methods And Results: In 21 subjects (10 with myocardial infarction) peak systolic strain and systolic and early diastolic SR were measured by four different echo methods: (i) two-dimensional (2D) strain (B-mode); (ii) ST (custom software) of segment end-points (B-mode); (iii) similar to (ii), but combining ST with tissue Doppler tracking; (iv) strain from tissue Doppler velocity gradients (VG). Agreement with MRI tagging was better for strain than for SR.

Repeated image analyses improves accuracy in assessing arterial flow-mediated dilatation.

Objectives: A high degree of variability has been reported regarding the ultrasound-based assessment of flow-mediated dilatation. We wanted to investigate the variability and find out how it might be reduced most efficiently.

Design: Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation was measured by high-resolution ultrasound in 22 healthy adults on two consecutive days.

Aerobic interval training versus continuous moderate exercise as a treatment for the metabolic syndrome: a pilot study.

Background: Individuals with the metabolic syndrome are 3 times more likely to die of heart disease than healthy counterparts. Exercise training reduces several of the symptoms of the syndrome, but the exercise intensity that yields the maximal beneficial adaptations is in dispute. We compared moderate and high exercise intensity with regard to variables associated with cardiovascular function and prognosis in patients with the metabolic syndrome.

Endothelial function in highly endurance-trained men: effects of acute exercise.

Exercise training reverses endothelial dysfunction, but the effect in young, healthy subjects is less clear. We determined the influence of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and a single bout of high-intensity exercise on flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), brachial artery diameter, peak blood flow, nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, and antioxidant status in highly endurance-trained men and their sedentary counterparts. Ten men athletes (mean +/- SEM age 23.

High-intensity aerobic exercise improves diastolic function in coronary artery disease.

Objective: To study the effect of aerobic treadmill exercise training with different intensity on left ventricular (LV) function in patients with stable coronary artery disease, using Strain Rate- and Tissue Doppler Imaging.

Design: Seventeen patients were randomly assigned to either moderate (50-60% of peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak)) or high intensity exercise (80-90% of VO(2peak)) for 10 weeks.

Results: The increase of VO(2peak) was significantly higher (p=0.