Search

Background: As the population of obese and severely obese young adults grows, it is becoming increasingly important to recognize the long-term risks associated with adolescent obesity.Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between body mass index (BMI) in young men at enlistment for military service and later risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).Methods: Nationwide register-based prospective cohort study of men enlisting 1969 to 2005, followed through the Swedish National Patient and Cause of Death registries. We identified 1 639 838 men (mean age, 18.3 years) free of prior venous thromboembolism, of whom 29 342 were obese (BMI 30 to <35 kg m-2 ) and 7236 severely obese (BMI ≥ 35 kg m-2 ). The participants were followed until a first registered diagnosis of VTE.Results: During a median follow-up of 28 years (interquartile interval, 20 to 36 years), 11 395 cases of deep vein thrombosis and 7270 cases of pulmonary embolism were recorded. Compared with men with a BMI of 18.5 to <20 kg m-2 , men with higher BMI in young adulthood showed an incrementally increasing risk of VTE that was moderately but significantly increased already at normal BMI levels. Adolescent obese men with a BMI of 30 to 35 kg m-2 had an adjusted hazard ratio of 2.93 (95% confidence interval, 2.65 to 3.24) for VTE. Severely obese men with a BMI of ≥35 kg m-2 had a hazard ratio of 4.95 (95% confidence interval, 4.16 to 5.90).Conclusions: Men who were obese or severely obese in young adulthood had a marked increase in risk of VTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ridderstråle W, Saluveer O, Johansson MC, Bergbrant A, Jern S, Hrafnkelsdóttir TJ (Sahlgrenska University Hospital Östra, Gothenburg; AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden, Landspítali University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland). Consistency of blood pressure and impact on cardiovascular structure over 20 years in young men. J Intern Med 2010; 267: 295–304. Objective. To identify, in a prospective study, how blood pressure levels at the age of twenty predict hypertension and cardiovascular remodelling 20 years later. Methods. Twenty-year-old men with blood pressure (BP) elevation [systolic blood pressure (SBP) 140–160 and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 85–95 mmHg; blood pressure elevation (BPE) group] or normal BP [SBP 110–130 and DBP 60–80 mmHg; normal controls (NC) group] entered the study in 1987. In 2007, follow-up was conducted including ambulatory BP, echocardiography, anthropometric and intima media thickness (IMT) measurements. Results. Assessed with 24-h ambulatory BP, the prevalence of hypertension was 35/47 (74.5%) and 1/17 (5.9%) in the BPE and NC group at follow-up respectively. Twenty-four hour mean arterial pressure (MAP) increased from 86.6 (0.8) to 97.2 (1.2) ( P < 0.0001), and from 83.1 (1.5) to 88.1 (1.2) mmHg ( P < 0.01) from baseline to follow-up in the BPE and NC group respectively. At follow-up, left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was 122 (4) and 106 (4) g m−1 in the BPE and NC group (unpaired t-test; P < 0.01) respectively, whilst IMT was 0.61 (0.01) and 0.57 (0.01) mm in the BPE and NC group ( P < 0.05) respectively. In a logistic regression model, prevalence of hypertension was best explained by office MAP and 24-h DBP at baseline ( R2 0.333; P < 0.05). A combined model of office MAP, body mass index and insulin levels at baseline explained 56% of LVMI at follow-up. Conclusions. BP elevation in young age predicts hypertension and adverse cardiovascular remodelling at the age of 40 years. Baseline office MAP is the best predictor of hypertension, 24-h MAP and LVMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Myocardial ischemia remains a significant perioperative complication in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. We hypothesized that noxious stimuli during major surgery are associated with an acute release of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) into the coronary circulation, and that this response is reduced by CAD. Methods and results: Two patient groups, with ( n=14) and without ( n=8) CAD, were studied during the initial phase of heart surgery. After retrograde great cardiac vein catheterizations during closed-chest conditions, coronary arterial–venous concentration gradients of t-PA and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) were measured together with coronary blood flow measurements, allowing derivation of coronary net release rates. Pre-surgery atrial pacing, performed to evaluate the influence of increases in heart rate (+40 beats/min) and coronary blood flow (+80 ml/min), did not significantly alter coronary net release of t-PA or PAI-1 in either patient group. Sternotomy induced a prominent increase in coronary net release of both total and active t-PA in the non-CAD group. This response was considerably reduced in the CAD group. Conclusions: This study provides the first analysis of coronary t-PA release during major surgery and demonstrates a deficient local endothelial t-PA release in patients with CAD. This suggests a reduced local fibrinolytic capacity in CAD patients, which may explain the increased risk for coronary thrombosis in this patient group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endothelium-derived tissue-type plasminogen activator, t-PA, is the key enzyme in the initiation of endogenous thrombolysis. Plasma levels of t-PA increase in response to sympatho-adrenergic activation. In the mesenteric vascular bed an increased norepinephrine spillover has been observed during positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation, PEEP. This experimental study examines the effects of PEEP-induced alterations on regional release rates and systemic levels of t-PA in vivo.Methods: The protocol included measurements of arterio-venous concentration gradients of t-PA and the respective plasma flow across the pulmonary, coronary, hepatic and preportal vascular beds, in pigs, during zero-PEEP and at 2, 4 and 10 min after the application of a PEEP of 10 cm H2O. Both total plasma t-PA antigen (ELISA with a porcine t-PA standard) and active t-PA (spectrophotometric functional assay) were determined.Results: During zero-PEEP, a high preportal basal net release and hepatic net uptake of total t-PA was observed. With PEEP, the magnitude of the preportal net release of t-PA was markedly enhanced (+24+/-5%), as was hepatic net uptake (+21+/-8%), simultaneously to a significant decrease in liver plasma flow (-30+/-2%). PEEP-induced alterations in active t-PA mirrored those observed in total t-PA. No significant net fluxes of total or active t-PA were observed across the coronary or the pulmonary vascular beds.Conclusions: Clinically used levels of PEEP induce increases in net release of endothelially derived t-PA within preportal organs. The application of PEEP is associated with increased systemic levels of total and active t-PA, in spite of a simultaneous increase in hepatic net uptake, indicating that the preportal vascular bed can not account for the systemic t-PA response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the long-term effects of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor quinapril and the cardioselective beta-adrenergic blocking agent metoprolol on glycaemic control, with glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) as the principal variable, in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients with hypertension.Design: A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, multicentre study during 6 months preceded by a 4 week wash-out and a 3 week run-in placebo period. Quinapril (20 mg) and metoprolol (100 mg, conventional tablets) were given once daily. No change was made in the treatment of diabetes (diet and hypoglycaemic agents).Subjects: Seventy-two patients fulfilling the criteria were randomized and entered the double-blind period. Twelve patients did not complete the study. Sixty patients, 26 on quinapril and 34 on metoprolol, were available for the final analysis.Main Outcome Measures: The effect was assessed by changes in HbA1c, the fasting serum glucose and the post-load serum glucose, C-peptide and insulin levels during the oral glucose tolerance test.Results: In the quinapril group, the fasting serum glucose, oral glucose tolerance and the C-peptide and insulin responses, determined as the incremental area under the curves (AUC), showed no change, but the mean HbA1c level increased from 6.2 +/- 1.1% to 6.5 +/- 1.3% (P < 0.05). In the metoprolol group, the rise in the mean level of HbA1c, from 6.3 +/- 1.0% to 6.8 +/- 1.3% (P < 0.01), tended to be more marked than after quinapril, although there was no significant difference between the increments. The mean fasting serum glucose showed an increase from 9.1 +/- 1.9 mM to 10.1 +/- 2.8 mM (P < 0.01) which correlated significantly with the duration of diabetes (P < 0.01) and the increase in fasting serum triglycerides (P < 0.001). Moreover, in the metoprolol group we found significant decreases in the oral glucose tolerance as well as C-peptide and insulin responses to the glucose load.Conclusions: Treatment with quinapril for 6 months appears to have advantages over metoprolol in NIDDM patients with hypertension. Although treatment with quinapril or metoprolol over 6 months was concomitant with a rise in the HbA1c, increased fasting blood glucose, decreased oral glucose tolerance and decreased C-peptide and insulin responses to a glucose challenge were observed only in patients treated with metoprolol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this placebo controlled double-blind multicentre (six centres) trial was to investigate the safety and efficacy of ICI 141,292 (Visacor), a new selective beta 1-adrenoceptor antagonist with modest intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA), in hypertensive patients. Fifty-nine patients with mild essential hypertension were randomized to two of five treatment alternatives (placebo, 50 mg, 100 mg 200 mg or 300 mg of ICI 141,292) each given once daily for 2 weeks with a 4 week placebo period before (run in) and in between (wash out) active periods. Thus, each of the five treatments was evaluated in 20- 24 patients. After 2 weeks (24 h after last dose) the reduction in recumbent blood pressure for all doses except 50 mg of ICI 141,292 was statistically significant and in the order of 6/4 mm Hg. Standing systolic blood pressure was reduced in a dose-dependent way but only significant for 200 mg of ICI 141,292 (8 mm Hg). Heart rate changes (delta) less than 4 beats/min) were not statistically significant for any dose. It is concluded that ICI 141,292 was well tolerated and had a significant but weak antihypertensive effect which might be explained by too much beta 1-adrenoceptor ISA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 47 patients admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) at Sahlgren's Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden, due to acute myocardial infraction (MI) the intensity of pain independently assessed by the patient and by the nurse on duty was evaluated during the first 24 hours in CCU. Pain was assessed according to a modified numerical rating scale graded from 0-10, where 0 meant no pain and 10 meant the most severe pain. A positive correlation between the patients' and nurses' assessments was found (r = 0.96; p < 0,001). However, the nurses under-estimated the patients' pain in 23% of the situations and over-estimated it in 20%. Over-estimation was particularly found when heart rate and blood pressure increased. Many patients scoring their pain to fairly high degrees were not given pain-relieving treatment. Treatment with morphine did not cause substantial pain relief in a substantial number of patients. A significantly positive correlation was found between the patients' and nurses' assessments of pain, although under-estimation as well as over-estimation occurred. A few patients with severe pain were not treated and when treatment was given it was often ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by O. Saluveer and colleagues to a letter to the editor about their article on the concept of early blood pressure screening as signs of adverse cardiovascular remodeling in a previous issue is presented.

To study haematological effects of emotional stress, blood samples were obtained from 29 healthy, normotensive, non-smoking males aged 20-34 years before, during and after 10 min of mental arithmetic. There were significant increases in peripheral blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, and haematocrit in response to mental stress. Parallel to these changes significant increases in heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were observed. The relative increments of leucocyte (8%) and platelet (3.5%) count were significantly higher than the increase in haemoglobin concentration (2%). There was a significant positive correlation between the blood pressure increase and the mobilization of leucocytes, whereas the increase in erythrocyte count, haemoglobin concentration, and haematocrit showed significant positive correlations with heart rate reactivity. It is concluded that mental stress causes an increase in leucocyte and platelet count that could not solely be accounted for by the concurrent haemoconcentration.