Search

Background: This study sought to assess the relationship between stage 1 hypertension and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis., Methods: A total of 4,666 individuals with available coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) results from a health checkup were enrolled. The classification of hypertension was adapted from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) 2017 guideline. The presence of coronary plaques and its characteristics, and other CCTA findings were assessed., Results: There was a linear relationship between blood pressure (BP), both systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), and the presence of coronary plaque. Patients were classified into 4 groups according to the BP category: normal BP (SBP <120 mm Hg and DBP <80 mm Hg; n = 2,395; 51.3%), elevated BP (SBP 120-129 mm Hg and DBP <80 mm Hg; n = 467; 10.0%), stage 1 hypertension (SBP 130-139 mm Hg or DBP 80-89 mm Hg; n = 1,139; 24.4%), and stage 2 hypertension (SBP ≥140 mm Hg or DBP ≥90 mm Hg; n = 665; 14.2%). Compared with the normal BP group after multivariate adjustment, the stage 1 hypertension group was significantly associated with the presence of atherosclerotic plaque (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidential interval], 1.37 [1.17-1.62]; P < 0.001), especially in noncalcified and mixed plaques. The relationship between stage 1 hypertension and stenosis >50% was not statistically significant. Isolated diastolic and isolated systolic stage 1 hypertensions were significantly related to the presence of coronary plaque. The elevated BP group was not associated with any positive CCTA findings., Conclusions: Stage 1 hypertension was independently associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis., (© American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2021. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Introduction: Little is known about gender differences among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO)., Methods: A total of 1791 patients with 1852 CTOs underwent PCI at 3 centers in the United States, Italy, and South Korea between 1998 and 2007. We compared baseline characteristics, procedural success rates (residual stenosis <50%), and 5-year clinical event rates in male and female patients., Results: A total of 1534 men (86%) and 248 women (14%) were treated. After multivariate adjustment, procedural success rates were similar in men and women. The median follow-up duration was 2.9 years (interquartile range, 1.5-4.6 years). Successful CTO PCI was associated with reduced mortality (5.7% vs 9.2%; P<.01) and a reduced need for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery (3.1% vs 14.1%; P<.01) in male patients. In female patients, there was a trend toward a lower need for CABG after successful CTO PCI (4.0% vs 6.9%; P=.09). Rates of major adverse cardiac events (MACE; death, myocardial infarction, and CABG) were lower after successful PCI in both men and women (men, 13.1% vs 24.4% and P<.01; women, 12.3% vs 15.5% and P=.04). There was a significant interaction between gender and procedural success in terms of MACE (P<.01), indicating men had a greater reduction in MACE rate after successful CTO PCI compared with women., Conclusion: Our study suggested a greater benefit of a successful CTO intervention in men compared with women. A minority of patients (14%) were women. CTO PCI in women is safe and feasible and should probably be considered more often. A randomized controlled trial is needed to accurately investigate the impact of CTO PCI in both men and women.