[The role of hyperplasia of the arterial intima in human atherogenesis].

Arteries predisposed and resistant to atherosclerosis development were studied. Arteries predisposed to atherosclerosis show a high degree of intima hyperplasia and various alterations of elastic structures. Hyperplasia of the vascular intima followed by disturbance of plasma perfusion through the arterial wall and increase of its cellularity (lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages) determines possibility of atherosclerosis development (crucial factor of atherosclerosis pathogenesis) in man.

[A comparative study of the evolution of atherosclerosis in men over a 25-year period in 11 European and Asiatic cities].

Repeated epidemiologic study of atherosclerosis in males on the basis of autopsy material with 25-year interval (1963-66 and 1985-89) has been performed in 7 European cities (Malmö, Praha, Riga, Tallinn, Tartu, Kharkov, Yalta) and 4 Asia cities (Ashkhabad, Bishkek, Irkutsk, Yakutsk). Accelerated development of atherosclerosis in the 2nd study has been revealed in males in the majority of cities except Malmö and Praha. No significant differences in atherosclerosis of aorta and coronary arteries were found in these two cities.

[Connective tissue components of conducting and working myocardium of the sinoatrial region of the heart in patients of various ages with idiopathic long QT syndrome (quantitative evaluation)].

Ultrastructural analysis of cells, collagen and elastic fibres and connective tissue matrix was performed separately in sinoatrial node (SN) and the right atrium (RA) perinodal working myocardium in 12 patients of different age with idiopathic long Q-T syndrome. Despite the variability in SN and RA connective tissue component content in different patients these parameters were often significantly different for working and conducting myocardium. In senior group SN and RA elastic fibres content showed 1.

[Electron microscopy of the nervous apparatus of the heart sinoauricular zone in patients with idiopathic syndrome of long Q-T interval].

All nerve components of the sinus node (SN), adjacent working myocardium and nervous ganglions of 12 patients, from 9 to 50 years old, with an idiopathic syndrome of a long Q-T interval were studied electron-microscopically. Quantitative evaluation of the myocardium innervation density in this heart region was performed. Destructive changes of the myelinated and non-myelinated nervous fibers and gliocytes in the conductive myocardium of SN and working myocardium as well as in the neurocytes of the adjacent nervous ganglions were observed.

Quantitative histoenzymological characteristics of the myocardium in sudden cardiac death.

Enzymes in the human myocardium following sudden death were examined for activity in a quantitative histoenzymological study, these were NAD-dependent dehadrogenases of succinate (SDG), lactate (LDG), beta-hydroxybutyrate (beta-HOBDG), alpha-glycerophosphate (alpha-GPDG), alcohol (ADG), glucoso-6-phosphate (G-6-PDG), and NAD-diaphorase (NADse), and catalase. Autopsies were performed within 3 h after death. beta-HOBDG and LDG were found to show an increase in activity in the cardiomyocytes of sudden death subjects with coronary heart disease without apparent changes.

Current status and prospects for arterial hypertension research in the Soviet Union.

Research on arterial hypertension is being conducted in the Soviet Union under a program organized by the National Cardiology Research Center. Four program directions are included: (a) basic research on the pathophysiologic mechanisms in the development of hypertension, including vascular wall viscosity and elasticity, associated regulatory mechanisms, and molecular and cellular mechanisms of vascular tone; (b) clinical research on the pathophysiology of hypertension and the mechanisms responsible for the course and prognosis of the disease, including biobehavioral and psychological aspects and the effects of sodium kinetics and a sodium-limiting diet; (c) approaches to treatment, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic; and (d) population studies of children, adolescents, and adults.

Psychophysiological interrelations and reactivity characteristics in hypertensives.

Two hundred three patients with essential hypertension (20- to 55-year-old men) were examined initially and at the end of a 1-year follow-up. Clinical, psychological, and psychophysiological methods were used. In the psychophysiological assessment, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate, and respiratory rate were recorded at rest and during various emotional stressors.

Extracorporeal methods in the management of severe and malignant arterial hypertension.

Novel approaches to managing refractory arterial hypertension (AH) have been tested in 130 patients aged 28 to 59 years with severe or malignant hypertension. Hemosorption was performed in 70 patients in whom AH was caused by chronic diffuse glomerulonephritis (49 cases) or chronic pyelonephritis (21 cases) accompanied by the appearance of chronic renal failure. In all patients, blood pressure after hemosorption decreased by 15% to 16% on the average, resulting in progressively improved renal function and a nearly 2.

Efficacy of relaxation techniques in hypertensive patients.

We examined 117 outpatients (20- to 45-year-old men) with mild essential hypertension before treatment, after the main treatment course (6 weeks), and at 12-month follow-up. The patients were randomized into two major groups: (a) a treatment group that received autogenic training (23 patients), biofeedback (24 patients), or breathing-relaxation training (23 patients) and (b) a control group that consisted of 24 patients who did not receive any intervention and 23 patients who were treated with a "psychological placebo." Clinical, psychological, and psychophysiological data from all patients who were offered relaxation therapy were analyzed.

Autogenic training in the treatment and secondary prevention of essential hypertension: five-year follow-up.

Ninety patients with essential hypertension were followed for 5 years. Initially the patients were randomized into two groups: (a) an experimental group consisting of 44 patients who received autogenic training and (b) a control group of 46 patients who did not receive any behavioral intervention. By the end of the follow-up period, the experimental group was significantly different from the control group, with reduced blood pressure (by 5.

Value of electrocardiography and echocardiography for diagnosing ventricular enlargement in dilated cardiomyopathy.

A comparison is made of the informative value of ECG voltage criteria, echocardiographic signs (90 cases) and autopsy findings (38 cases) for diagnosing heart enlargement in dilated cardiomyopathy. Besides enlargement of both ventricles there can also occur predominant enlargement of the left or right ventricle. Echocardiographic signs of the ventricular dimensions correlate closely with the ventricular mass established by separate weighing at autopsy.