Effect of Oral Contraception on Screening Tests for Primary Aldosteronism: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study.

Context: Primary aldosteronism (PA) and oral contraception (OC) can both cause hypertension in young women. However, the effect of OC on the screening test for PA, the aldosterone to renin ratio (ARR), is not clear.

Objective: We evaluated the impact of OC on the screening test for PA.

Willingness to be tested for a secondary cause of hypertension: a survey of the Australian general community.

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) represents the most common and potentially curable cause of secondary hypertension. However, PA is not commonly screened for, and up to 34% of patients who screen positive do not complete the full diagnostic process. This suggests that the diagnostic process may pose a barrier to patients and may contribute to the under-diagnosis of PA.

Abbreviated Antiplatelet Therapy After Coronary Stenting in Patients With Myocardial Infarction at High Bleeding Risk.

Background: The optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy (APT) after coronary stenting in patients at high bleeding risk (HBR) presenting with an acute coronary syndrome remains unclear.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of an abbreviated APT regimen after coronary stenting in an HBR population presenting with acute or recent myocardial infarction.

Methods: In the MASTER DAPT trial, 4,579 patients at HBR were randomized after 1 month of dual APT (DAPT) to abbreviated (DAPT stopped and 11 months single APT or 5 months in patients with oral anticoagulants) or nonabbreviated APT (DAPT for minimum 3 months) strategies.

Abdominal aortic calcification, cardiac troponin I and atherosclerotic vascular disease mortality in older women.

Objective: Examine if two inexpensive measures of atherosclerotic vascular diseases (ASVD), abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) provide complementary information for 10-year ASVD mortality and all-cause mortality risk in older women.

Methods: 908 community-dwelling women without prevalent ASVD (≥75 years) were followed-up between 2003 and 2013. AAC and plasma hs-cTnI measures were obtained in 2003.

Dual Antiplatelet Therapy after PCI in Patients at High Bleeding Risk.

Background: The appropriate duration of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients at high risk for bleeding after the implantation of a drug-eluting coronary stent remains unclear.

Methods: One month after they had undergone implantation of a biodegradable-polymer sirolimus-eluting coronary stent, we randomly assigned patients at high bleeding risk to discontinue dual antiplatelet therapy immediately (abbreviated therapy) or to continue it for at least 2 additional months (standard therapy). The three ranked primary outcomes were net adverse clinical events (a composite of death from any cause, myocardial infarction, stroke, or major bleeding), major adverse cardiac or cerebral events (a composite of death from any cause, myocardial infarction, or stroke), and major or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding; cumulative incidences were assessed at 335 days.

Relationship Between the Aldosterone-to-Renin Ratio and Blood Pressure in Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

[Figure: see text].

The effect of Vitamin-K and Colchicine on Vascular Calcification Activity in subjects with Diabetes Mellitus (ViKCoVaC): A double-blind 2x2 factorial randomized controlled trial.

Background: There is currently no treatment for attenuating progression of arterial calcification. F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography (F-NaF PET) locates regions of calcification activity. We tested whether vitamin-K or colchicine affected arterial calcification activity.

Prenatal Testosterone Associates With Blood Pressure in Young Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study.

[Figure: see text].

Pseudopheochromocytoma.

Pseudopheochromocytoma manifests as severe, symptomatic paroxysmal hypertension without significant elevation in catecholamine and metanephrine levels and lack of evidence of tumor in the adrenal gland. The clinical manifestations are similar but not identical to those in excess circulating catecholamines. The underlying symptomatic mechanism includes augmented cardiovascular responsiveness to catecholamines alongside heightened sympathetic nervous stimulation.

The effect of implant modification: the low contact stress experience.

Aims: The aim of this study was to conduct the largest low contact stress (LCS) retrieval study to elucidate the failure mechanisms of the Porocoat and Duofix femoral component. The latter design was voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer.

Materials And Methods: Uncemented LCS explants were divided into three groups: Duofix, Porocoat, and mixed.

Renal Denervation for Treating Hypertension: Current Scientific and Clinical Evidence.

Initial studies of catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) for uncontrolled HTN using radiofrequency ablation in the main renal arteries showed that RDN was effective in lowering office blood pressure (BP). However, the first randomized sham-controlled trial, SYMPLICITY-HTN-3, did not show significantly lower office or 24-h ambulatory systolic BP compared with sham treatment. Subsequent studies in both animals and humans demonstrated the potential importance of more distal and branch renal artery radiofrequency ablation, and a second-generation multielectrode system became available.

May Measurement Month 2018: a pragmatic global screening campaign to raise awareness of blood pressure by the International Society of Hypertension.

Aims: Raised blood pressure (BP) is the biggest contributor to mortality and disease burden worldwide and fewer than half of those with hypertension are aware of it. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global campaign set up in 2017, to raise awareness of high BP and as a pragmatic solution to a lack of formal screening worldwide. The 2018 campaign was expanded, aiming to include more participants and countries.

Design and rationale of the Management of High Bleeding Risk Patients Post Bioresorbable Polymer Coated Stent Implantation With an Abbreviated Versus Standard DAPT Regimen (MASTER DAPT) Study.

Background: The optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy in high-bleeding risk (HBR) patients with coronary artery disease treated with newer-generation drug-eluting bioresorbable polymer-coated stents remains unclear.

Design: MASTER DAPT (clinicaltrial.govNCT03023020) is an investigator-initiated, open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled trial comparing an abbreviated versus a standard duration of antiplatelet therapy after bioresorbable polymer-coated Ultimaster (TANSEI) sirolimus-eluting stent implantation in approximately 4,300 HBR patients recruited from ≥100 interventional cardiology centers globally.

Round-the-clock performance of coronary CT angiography for suspected acute coronary syndrome: Results from the BEACON trial.

Objective: To assess the image quality of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) for suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) outside office hours.

Methods: Patients with symptoms suggestive of an ACS underwent CCTA at the emergency department 24 hours, 7 days a week. A total of 118 patients, of whom 89 (75 %) presented during office hours (weekdays between 07:00 and 17:00) and 29 (25 %) outside office hours (weekdays between 17:00 and 07:00, weekends and holidays) underwent CCTA.

Comparison of Safety and Efficacy of Unfractionated Heparin Versus Bivalirudin in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Background: Anti-platelet and anti-coagulant adjunctive therapies are associated with a clinically significant increased risk of major bleeding. We retrospectively assessed in-hospital major adverse clinical events (MACE) and major bleeding in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who received either unfractionated heparin (UFH) or bivalirudin.

Method: Consecutive patients undergoing PCI for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) at Fremantle Hospital from August 2008 to December 2013 were identified.

Determinants of aortic regurgitation after transcatheter aortic valve implantation. An observational study using multi-slice computed tomography-guided sizing.

Backgkground: The aim of this paper was to explore the determinants of aortic regurgitation (AR) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) instead of echocardiography-guided sizing.

Methods: Determinants of AR were assessed in 313 consecutive patients who underwent TAVI with the Medtronic (MCS, N.=259) or Edwards Sapien or XT (ESV, N.

Current practices of Asia-Pacific cardiologists in the utilization of bioresorbable scaffolds.

Background & Aims: Although Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds (A-BVS) are routinely used in the Asia-Pacific, there is little information on patient selection or deployment technique here. This document investigates the experiences of leading interventional cardiologists from the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on patient characteristics, deployment techniques and management.

Methods And Results: A detailed questionnaire was distributed to 28 highly-experienced interventional cardiologists ('Authors') from 13 Asia-Pacific countries.