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Objectives: The diagnosis and follow-up of hypertension (HT) depend on the blood pressure measurements, which can be affected by several factors. In the present work, we aimed to explore the role of uric acid/HDL-cholesterol ratio (UHR) in HT and whether/or not it was associated with poor blood pressure control., Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional cohort study, all the participants treated for hypertension and then followed up in the internal medicine clinics of our institution were enrolled. Hypertensive patients were grouped as either poorly or well-controlled hypertension groups, according to the suggestions of Joint National Committee VIII criteria and healthy volunteers were enrolled as control group. UHR of the study groups was compared., Results: Our study cohort consisted of 535 subjects; 258 in the well-controlled HT group, 186 in the poorly controlled HT group, and 91 in the control group. Median UHR levels of the poorly controlled HT group (13 (4-43) %) were significantly higher than well-controlled HT group 11 (4-22) %) and control group (8 (4-19) %) (p < 0.001). UHR was correlated with systolic (r = 0.33, p < 0.001) and diastolic (r = 0.28, p < 0.001) BP. UHR level greater than 11% has 70% sensitivity and 60% specificity in predicting poor BP control (AUC: 0.73, p < 0.001, 95%CI: 0.68-0.77). UHR was an independent risk factor for poor BP control in HT subjects and a unit elevation in UHR increased the risk of poorer BP control by 7.3 times (p < 0.001, 95%CI: 3.9-13.63)., Conclusion: Assessment of UHR may be useful in HT patients since elevated UHR levels could be associated with poor blood pressure control in this population.

Objectives : In this study, we aimed to investigate the value of the frontal QRS-T angle (f(QRS-T)) in determining blood pressure control among newly diagnosed hypertensive patients with no left ventricular hypertrophy. Methods : Fifty patients with newly diagnosed hypertension were included in this single-center study. The patients were examined with 12-lead ECGs and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (24 h-ABPM) before and 1 month after antihypertensive treatment. Results : Baseline and post-treatment f(QRS-T) angle values were observed to be similar (38.0 [0.0-174.0] and 37.0 [1.0-139.0], respectively; p = .827). The values of QT minimum ( p = .006), QTc mean ( p = .030), Tp-e ( p = .027), and JTc ( p = .010) significantly decreased after control of blood pressure. Conclusions : The f(QRS-T) angle, which can be easily calculated on the ECG, is not a useful tool to determine hypertension control at early stage in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is considered the first stage in the development of atherosclerosis. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) has been used to assess endothelial dysfunction. An impaired FMD response may reflect a vascular phenotype prone to atherosclerosis. The thickness of the common carotid intima-media (CIMT) as measured by ultrasound represents a marker of structural atherosclerosis. Recently, it has been shown that color M-mode propagation velocity measured along the origin of descending thoracic aorta (AVP) may reflect atherosclerosis. In this study, the effects of isolated hypertension on these atherosclerosis markers are investigated., Methods: Fifty patients with newly diagnosed hypertension and forty healthy people were enrolled. Patients were evaluated with transthoracic echocardiography. Diastolic functions were evaluated by transmitral filling parameters of deceleration time (DT), E/A ratio, and isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT). Carotid intima-media thickness, FMD, and AVP were measured., Results: Age, gender, and BMI of both groups were similar. Compared to control group CIMT, DT and IVRT values were significantly higher, and FMD and AVP values were significantly lower in hypertensive patients. There were significant correlations between AVP and CIMT (r =-0.699, P < 0.001), AVP and FMD (r = 0.400, P < 0.001), and FMD and CIMT (r =-0.600, P < 0.001). Carotid intima-media thickness, AVP, and FMD were significantly correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressures and DT and IVRT., Conclusions: In patients with isolated hypertension, AVP and FMD decrease and CIMT increases. In addition, CIMT is inversely correlated with AVP and FMD, and AVP is directly correlated with FMD.

Introduction: P-wave dispersion (PWD) has been shown to be a non-invasive electrocardiographic predictor for development of atrial fibrillation (AF). Thus, it may be possible to attenuate AF risk through improvement of PWD. In this study, we compared the effects of an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, quinapril, and an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), irbesartan, on PWD., Methods: A total of 38 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either irbesartan (150-300 mg) or quinapril (20-40 mg). P-wave durations and PWD were measured at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. Echocardiographic examinations were performed at baseline and after 12 months of treatment., Results: Both drugs significantly reduced blood pressure to a similar degree (P<0.001). Deceleration time (both P<0.001) and isovolumetric relaxation time (both P=0.007) were also significantly reduced, whereas there was no significant change in the early diastolic flow/atrial contraction signal ratio. Both irbesartan and quinapril significantly decreased maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) (P<0.001 and P=0.002, respectively) and PWD (from 68.0+/-22.1 to 41.0+/-25.1 msec for irbesartan, and from 70.5+/-20.4 to 46.6+/-13.3 msec for quinapril; both P<0.001). Baseline and follow-up blood pressure, heart rate, echocardiographic findings, and P-wave values were not significantly different between the irbesartan and quinapril groups. No patient developed AF during follow-up. There was no significant correlation between PWD and blood pressure or diastolic function parameters., Conclusion: Antihypertensive treatment with either irbesartan or quinapril is associated with significant reductions in Pmax and PWD.

Introduction: Impaired left ventricular (LV) diastolic relaxation, detected by pulsed Doppler echocardiography, is predictive of a higher incidence of major cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients. An improvement in LV diastolic function is an important goal of treatment. However, treatment of LV diastolic dysfunction remains empirical. The objective of our study was to compare the short-term effects of nebivolol and atenolol on Doppler diastolic filling parameters in hypertensive patients., Methods: A total of 32 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either nebivolol (5 mg/day) or atenolol (50 mg/day) for 1 month. Diastolic filling parameters, with pulsed-wave Doppler transmitral flow velocities, were measured 1 day before and 1 month after treatment., Results: Compared with baseline, both agents significantly decreased heart rate and blood pressure. However, there was no significant difference in pre-and post-treatment values between the nebivolol and atenolol groups. Both drugs significantly improved LV transmitral flow measured by early diastolic flow/atrial contraction signal (E/A) ratio, decreased deceleration time (DT) and isovolumetric contraction time (IVRT), but post-treatment improvement in E/A, DT and IVRT values was more significant with nebivolol compared with atenolol (P=0.05, P=0.05 and P=0.003, respectively)., Conclusions: Although treatment with nebivolol or atenolol results in improved LV transmitral diastolic function filling parameters (E/A ratio, IVRT and DT), nebivolol has a greater effect compared with atenolol in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension.

Introduction: P-wave dispersion (PWD) has been shown to be a non-invasive electrocardiographic predictor for development of atrial fibrillation (AF). Thus, it may be possible to decrease AF risk through improvement in PWD. Our objective was to compare the effects of cilazapril and atenolol on P-wave duration and dispersion in patients with hypertension., Methods: A total of 38 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either cilazapril (5 mg) or atenolol (50 mg). Doppler echocardiographic examination, P-wave durations and PWD were measured before and 1 mo after treatment, Results: Both drugs reduced blood pressure significantly (P<0.001). Posttreatment heart rate was significantly lower in the atenolol group (P=0.01). The change in maximum P-wave duration was not significant. However, both agents decreased PWD (P=0.001 and P<0.001) and increased the minimum P-wave duration (P=0.004 and P=0.02)., Conclusion: Both cilazapril and atenolol treatments resulted in improvement in PWD.

Background: P-wave dispersion has been shown to be a noninvasive electrocardiographic predictor for development of atrial fibrillation . Thus it may be possible to attenuate atrial fibrillation risk through normalization of P-wave variables and improvement in P-wave dispersion may be an important goal in treatment of hypertension., Objective: To compare the effects of nebivolol, a new b-blocker that have additional vasodilating activity via acting on endothelium and nitric oxide release, and atenolol on P-wave duration and dispersion in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension., Methods: A total of 34 newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment with either nebivolol (5 mg) or atenolol (50 mg). P-wave durations (Pmin and Pmax) and P-wave dispersion were measured before and one month after treatment., Results: While Pmin increased (50,6 +/- 11,2 ms to 54,7 +/- 9,1 ms, p=0,05), Pmax decreased (111,9 +/- 9,1 ms to 104,0 +/- 12,4 ms, p=0,003) and P-wave dispersion decreased (62,5 +/- 10,6 ms to 51,3 +/- 8,9 ms, p < 0,001) with nebivolol, Pmin increased (44,4 +/- 9,8 ms to 58,0 +/- 15,5 ms, p=0,02), Pmax didn t change (106,1 +/- 13,8 ms to 107,0 +/- 11,6 ms, p=NS) and P-wave dispersion decreased (61,7 +/- 15,0 ms to 49,0 +/- 13,7 ms, p < 0.001) with atenolol. However, there was no statistical difference between pre- and post-treatment values of two groups., Conclusions: Both nebivolol and atenolol are effective in improvement of P-wave dispersion in patients with hypertension and there s no significant difference between them.

Background and Purpose: P wave dispersion (PWD) has been accepted as a predictor for atrial fibrillation (AF) in hypertension and some other cardiac diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the P wave parameters between patients with mild-moderate hypertension and those with hypertensive crises., Methods: A total of 48 patients, 24 of who presented to the emergency department with hypertensive urgency and 24 patients who were followed in the cardiology clinic with mild-moderate essential hypertension were included in this study. P wave durations were measured manually by two investigators blinded to data of patients., Results: The maximal duration of P wave (P max) and the PWD were found to be significantly different between groups, being longer in patients with hypertensive urgency (p=0,05 and 0,02; respectively)., Conclusions: PWD increases in hypertensive urgency states. Clinical implication of this finding should be addressed with further, prospective studies conducted on larger samples.

The study examines the clinical characteristics of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and its prognosis. Patients with CAE had higher incidence of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and smoking than patients without CAE. The right coronary artery was the most commonly involved vessel among patients with CAE, while patients with isolated CAE had a dual involvement of the right coronary artery and left circumflex artery.