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Copyright of Anatolian Journal of Cardiology / Anadolu Kardiyoloji Dergisi is the property of KARE Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Although there is sufficient data supporting the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with advanced stage of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT), it is not clear whether same is valid for patients with subclinical forms of this disease. In this study we aimed to evaluate coronary atherosclerosis burden of asymptomatic pHPT patients by using tomographic coronary calcification scoring.Patients and Methods: Thirty-one mild asymptomatic pHPT patients (28 female, 3 male; mean age: 54.4 +/- 12.1 years) and 19 gender- and age-matched normotensive healthy controls (17 female, 2 male; mean age: 50.6 +/- 5.8) constituted our study population. Asymptomatic pHPT patients were subdivided according to presence of hypertension (19 hypertensive and 12 non-hypertensive patients). All subjects in study population underwent tomographic coronary calcification scoring by using 16-multidetector computed tomography (16-MDCT).Results: Median tomographic coronary calcification score was comparable between the whole group of pHPT patients [0.0 (Interquartile Range, IQR:18.70] and the controls [0.0 (IQR: 0.90). Median tomographic coronary calcification scores of pHPT patients with hypertension was 0.90 (IQR: 75.0) HU, whereas no calcification was noted in coronary arteries of normotensive pHPT patients. Calcification scores of hypertensive pHPT patients were significantly higher than both normotensive pHPT patients (P = 0.014) and controls (P = 0.046). There was no significant difference regarding calcification scores of normotensive pHPT patients versus controls. In the binary logistic regression model, only the presence of hyperlipidemia was found to be independently associated with presence of calcification on coronary arteries (relative risk 6.56, 95% CI 1.18-36.56, P = 0.032).Conclusion: These results suggest that mild asymptomatic pHPT with serum calcium levels in the high-normal range does not constitute an independent risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis. The combined presence of classic cardiovascular risk factors determines the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vasovagal syncope is a common and challenging problem that may result in injury and causes substantial anxiety among patients and their relatives. However, treatment of vasovagal syncope with standard pharmacologic approaches is not satisfactory. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant drug, by using its anticholinergic effects in preventing syncopal episodes in patients with vasovagal syncope.Methods: In this study, 74 patients (mean age 24 +/- 1.9 years, 26 male) with a history of recurrent syncope and baseline positive head-up tilt table test (syncope or presyncope) were included. Oral amitriptyline treatment was given to all patients, with a starting dose of 10 mg once a day. Head-up tilt table test was performed in all patients 4 weeks after the treatment started. Patients were followed up clinically for 6 months.Results: After 4 weeks, during head-up tilt table test in 69 patients (93%), syncope or presyncope was not seen and test was assumed as negative. At the end of the 6th month, 67 patients (91%) were free of symptoms. Only two patients (0.3%) did not tolerate amitriptyline due to side effects.Conclusions: Oral amitriptyline can be used in the prevention of recurrent episodes of vasovagal syncope safely. However, randomized controlled studies are essential to assess the real effectiveness of this therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]