Diabetes influences the cardiac symptoms related to atrial fibrillation.

It is well known that diabetes mellitus (DM) masks the cardiac symptoms during an ischemic heart attack, but there have not been reports of whether DM influences the subjective symptoms of atrial fibrillation (AF). The present study retrospectively assessed 65 patients who were revealed to be in sinus rhythm at their first visit to hospital and who had experienced episodes of AF (or paroxysmal AF) during the follow-up period. Compared with non-DM cases (n=50), DM patients (n=15) had a tendency to a more rapid heart rate in sinus rhythm (73+/-4 vs 66+/-2, p=0.

Mitral complex lesions following vagal stimulation in rabbits: relationship between the direction of mitral regurgitation jet and the site of mitral complex lesions.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Cervical vagal stimulation in rabbits frequently causes bigeminy due to premature ventricular contractions, which is followed by systolic murmur and mitral regurgitation (MR). Peculiar lesions of the mitral valves, mitral annulus and papillary muscles frequently develop within a week. The study aim was to identify the relationship between the direction of MR jet and the site of mitral complex lesions in this experimental model of MR.

Left ventricular regional variations in myosin isoform shift in Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rats.

To evaluate the effects of chronic pressure overload on different parts of the left ventricle (LV), we examined a myosin isoform shift from V1 to V3 as a biochemical marker of LV hypertrophy in Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats. Six-week-old DS rats were fed an 8% (high salt, HS; n = 24) or a 0.3% (low salt, LS; n = 12) NaCl diet.

[An elderly hypertensive patient with ocular bruits and angiographically confirmed stenosis of intracranical internal carotid arteries].

The patient was 47 years old on his first visit in 1969 and has been treated at our outpatient clinic until now, at the age of 79. The initial blood pressure was 164/98 mmHg without abnormalities on electrocardiogram or urinalysis. He was followed-up for 8 years with non-pharmacologic treatment, which was eventually changed to antihypertensive drug treatment.

Evaluation of selected polymorphisms of the Mendelian hypertensive disease genes in the Japanese population.

It remains to be defined whether molecular variants of the genes underlying Mendelian forms of hypertension play some etiological role in essential hypertension. To pursue this issue, we focused on the following three genes: the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2, and mineralocorticoid receptor genes. Five sequence variations of these genes, which were either previously reported to show significant association with hypertension or identified as "mild" molecular variants, were chosen for our study.

Profiles of patients who control the doses of their antihypertensive drugs by self-monitoring of home blood pressure.

The present study profiled patients who control doses of antihypertensive drugs by themselves based on self-monitoring of their blood pressure (self-controllers). A total of 1,028 consecutive outpatients who were taking antihypertensive drugs and who were attending the cardiovascular outpatient clinic of our institute responded to a questionnaire in 1998. They were asked how often they measured their blood pressure, how often they missed taking their medication, and whether or not they had a chance to adjust the doses of antihypertensive drugs by themselves based on self-monitored blood pressure.

Medication management skill and regimen compliance are deteriorated in the elderly even without obvious dementia.

We investigated whether regimen comprehension deteriorated in the elderly patients who did not suffer from obvious dementia. Eligible patients were ambulatory elderly patients who did not show any signs of dementia and could visit our outpatient clinic by themselves. 138 patients (age: 43-89, 75 males and 63 females, underlying diseases: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhythmia etc.

Transient mitral regurgitation following vagal stimulation-induced ventricular arrhythmia in rabbits: a color Doppler echocardiographic study.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Cervical vagal stimulation in rabbits frequently causes systolic murmur with bigeminy due to premature ventricular contractions. The bigeminy disappears in a few minutes, but the systolic murmur persists for a few days. Peculiar lesions of the mitral valves, mitral annulus and papillary muscles, and an increase in left atrial weight, frequently develop in a week.

Relationship between home blood pressure measurement and medication compliance and name recognition of antihypertensive drugs.

This study examined the relationship of home blood pressure measurement to medication compliance and name recognition of antihypertensive drugs in outpatients with hypertension. A total of 1,452 consecutive outpatients (842 males, 610 females; mean age 65+/-11 yr) seeking care at our institute answered questions at our cardiovascular outpatient clinic such as whether they had a sphygmomanometer at home, how often they measured their blood pressure at home, and how often they missed taking their medication. Among a total of 777 patients on antihypertensive drugs who had a sphygmomanometer at home, 16 of the 242 patients (6.

[The deterioration of regimen comprehension in self-attending elderly patients and the effect of tutorials by pharmacists].

The purpose of this study was to assess whether regimen comprehension deteriorates in the elderly without obvious mental disability. Eligible patients were elderly who could visit hospitals by themselves. We recruited 138 patients (age: 43-89, 75 males and 63 females, underlying diseases: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, arrhythmia etc.

[An 88-year-old woman with symptoms of intoxication due to a small dose of digoxin].

An 88-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of palpitations, dyspnea, orthopnea and appetite loss. On admission, small crackles were heard on her lower back, and her liver was swollen. Chest rentogenogram showed cardiomegaly (cardio-thoracic ratio 65.

Lack of sex-specific effects on the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism and hypertension in Japanese.

Although several studies of molecular genetics have investigated the relevance of the ACE gene to essential hypertension, the relationship remains controversial. Some studies have recently implicated sex-specificity of this candidate gene in hypertension genetics; that is, significant linkage and association were observed in men but not in women in Caucasian populations. In particular, a male-specific association was seen between the ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and hypertension.

Sustained hemoconcentration in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, a potential risk for stroke and thromboembolic complications. A retrospective study.

Hemoconcentration has been observed during paroxysms of atrial fibrillation and at the early stage of chronic atrial fibrillation. The present study was designed to determine how long the hemoconcentration continues after complete transition to atrial fibrillation from sinus rhythm by retrospective long-term observation of 9 patients with chronic atrial fibrillation and 18 age-gender matched control patients. Hematocrit levels significantly increased with transition to chronic atrial fibrillation from sinus rhythm (from 44.

[Transient mitral regurgitation induced by vagal stimulation in rabbits: a Doppler echocardiographic study].

Cervical vagal stimulation in rabbits frequently causes systolic murmur with bigeminy due to premature ventricular contractions. The bigeminy disappears in a few minutes, but the systolic murmur persists for a few days. The present study used Doppler echocardiography to examine whether or not this systolic murmur is due to mitral regurgitation.

Remission of hypertension: retrospective observations over a period of 20 years.

To clarify the background and outcome of hypertensive patients who have remission of their elevated blood pressure (BP) after a course of antihypertensive drug therapy, we designed a retrospective observational study. The clinical records of 106 hypertensive men and women (BP, 164.3/104.

[Patient-hospital relationship and quality of life in elderly patients with hypertension].

To investigate the influence of the patient-hospital relationship on the quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with hypertension, we developed a comprehensive scale for assessing the patient-hospital relationship. In the first phase, an original questionnaire consisting of 40 items was designed under five fields for global assessment of the concept. We administered this questionnaire to 715 patients with cardiovascular diseases.

[Reference values of laboratory tests in elderly subjects--blood pressure].

The upper limits of normal blood pressure have been considered to be 139 mmHg systolic and 89 mmHg diastolic for adults, but these values are not necessarily applicable to the elderly. This report presents blood pressure values of healthy persons aged 65 to 94 and estimates the upper limits of normal blood pressure in the elderly based on follow-up studies. The Blood Pressure Subgroup of the Study on Reference Values of Laboratory Tests in Elderly Subjects defined inclusion criteria for the healthy elderly as follows: (1) persons aged 65 to 94, (2) persons not complicated with cardiovascular diseases, (3) persons capable of living and walking freely, (4) persons without dementia, (5) persons without anemia, liver disease, renal failure, diabetes mellitus on drug treatment, lung disease, valvular disease or marked arrhythmias, (6) persons without neuromotor disease.

Heterogeneity in smooth muscle cell population accumulating in the neointimas and the media of poststenotic dilatation of the rabbit carotid artery.

Rabbit smooth muscles contain at least three types of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms; SM1, SM2 and SMemb (NMHC-B), the expression of which is developmentally regulated. We have recently reported that smooth muscles with the embryonic phenotype accumulate in the neointimas produced by endothelial denudation or high-cholesterol feeding. In this study, we examined MHC isoform expression in the neointimas and the media of poststenotic dilatation of the rabbit carotid artery, and determined the phenotype of the smooth muscle cell in the dilated segment.

[Spontaneous reversion to sinus rhythm in a case of lone atrial fibrillation of fifteen years duration].

A 69-year-old male visited our clinic in 1973 because of atrial fibrillation noted during an annual check-up for the aged. Blood pressure, heart rate and CTR in chest X-ray films showed 110/80 mmHg, 150/min and 55%, respectively. There were no signs of valvular heart diseases, and a diagnosis of lone atrial fibrillation was convincing.