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Objectives: Atmospheric pressure is the most objective weather factor because regardless of if outdoors or indoors it affects all objects in the same way. The majority of previous studies have used the average daily values of atmospheric pressure in a bioclimatic analysis and have found no correlation with blood pressure changes. The main objective of our research was to assess the relationship between atmospheric pressure recorded with a frequency of 1 measurement per minute and the results of 24-h blood pressure monitoring in patients with treated hypertension in different seasons in the moderate climate of the City of Łódź (Poland).Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 1662 patients, divided into 2 equal groups (due to a lower and higher average value of atmospheric pressure). Comparisons between blood pressure values in the 2 groups were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test.Results: We observed a significant difference in blood pressure recorded during the lower and higher range of atmospheric pressure: on the days of the spring months systolic (p = 0.043) and diastolic (p = 0.005) blood pressure, and at nights of the winter months systolic blood pressure (p = 0.013).Conclusions: A significant inverse relationship between atmospheric pressure and blood pressure during the spring days and, only for systolic blood pressure, during winter nights was observed. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(5):783-792. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Diabetes (DM) is a strong cardiovascular risk factor modifying also the left ventricular (LV) function that may be objectively assessed with echocardiographic strain analysis. Although the impact of isolated DM on myocardial deformation has been already studied, few data concern diabetics with coronary artery disease (CAD), especially in all stages of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). We compared LV systolic function during DSE in CAD with and without DM using state-of-the art speckle-tracking quantification and assessed the impact of DM on LV systolic strain. Methods and results DSE was performed in 250 patients with angina who afterwards had coronarography with ≥50% stenosis in the left main artery and ≥70% in other arteries considered as significant. In this analysis, we included 127 patients with confirmed CAD: 42 with DM [DM(+); mean age 64 ± 9 years] and 85 patients without DM [DM(−); mean age 63 ± 9 years]. The severity of CAD and LV ejection fraction (EF) were similar in both groups. Global and regional LV peak systolic longitudinal strain (PSLS) revealed in all DSE phases lower values in DM(+) group: 14.5 ± 3.6% vs. 17.4 ± 4.0% at rest; P  = 0.0001, 13.8 ± 3.9% vs. 16.7 ± 4.0% at peak stress; P  = 0.0002, and 14.2 ± 3.1% vs. 15.5 ± 3.5% at recovery; P  = 0.0432 for global parameters, although dobutamine challenge did not enhance further resting differences. LV EF, body surface area, and diabetes were independent predictors for strain in 16-variable model (R 2 = 0, 51, P  < 0.001). Conclusion PSLS although diminished in both groups with CAD was lower in diabetics at all DSE stages, and DM was an independent predictor of this impairment. However, the dobutamine challenge did not deepen the resting differences, suggesting that the direct impact of coronary stenoses effaces the influence of DM during DSE. The comparison with our previous data revealed synergistic, detrimental effect of coexisting CAD and DM on myocardial strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxic myocardial injury can be misdiagnosed as a myocardial infarction, resulting in the patient undergoing standard treatment for cardiac rehabilitation. However, such inadequate therapeutic strategies can lead to cardiovascular complications including dilated cardiomyopathy. This study presents a case of a 65-year-old man after accidental ingestion of organic solvents (toluene and xylene), whose condition demonstrated all the criteria for diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The qualitative determinations of the above mentioned volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in whole blood were carried out using a headspace sampling by means of gas chromatography. Cardiac catheterization revealed no specific coronary lesions, only a muscular bridge causing a 30-50% stenosis in the middle of the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a case of 26-year-old woman, with arrhythmic manifestation of peripartum cardiomyopathy with moderate heart failure. Ventricular arrhythmia recorded in ambulatory Holter ECG (premature ventricular contractions) was most severe during pregnancy, reduced when beta-blocker therapy was initiated and almost completely resolved after delivery. Then, 1 year after hospitalization in Cardiology Department, recurrence was observed with recorded short episode of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The endothelium and sympathetic nervous system play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS)., Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate correlations between noninvasive markers of the endothelial function and the sympathetic nervous system in patients with a recent ACS., Patients and Methods: The study included 52 patients who experienced an ACS within the previous 3 to 6 months. Endothelial function was expressed as the reactive hyperemia index (RHI), and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system--as latency and amplitude of sympathetic skin response (SSR) potentials from the 4 limbs. Linear and partial correlations between the RHI and SSR were calculated., Results: There were significant correlations between the RHI and the latency of the SSR in the upper limbs (r = 0.34, P = 0.02 for the right limb; and r = 0.34, P = 0.01 for the left limb). After eliminating the effects of age, sex, weight, and glomerular filtration rate, the partial correlation between the RHI and the latency of the SSR in the upper limbs remained statistically significant (r = 0.41, P = 0.004 for the right limb, and r = 0.42, P = 0.004 for the left limb). There was no correlation between the RHI and latency of the SSR during the stimulation of the lower limbs., Conclusions: Our study confirmed the correlations between the sympathetic autonomic nervous system and endothelium in patients with ACS. The correlation of the RHI with the latency of the SSR was observed only in the upper limbs.

Background and Aim: We hypothesised that melatonin may represent a safe somniferous drug for cardiac patients, and assessed the effects of administering 5 mg of melatonin daily before bedtime for 30 days in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) regarding changes in the nocturnal breathing pattern., Methods: Sixty patients with CAD (aged 48-80 years) were randomised to melatonin/placebo treatment in a 2:1 ratio. A Holter ECG-based method (Lifescreen Apnea software) which has been validated as a screening tool for sleep-disordered breathing was used to estimate the apnoea/hypopnoea index (AHI). A 24-h Holter ECG was used to detect nocturnal breathing abnormalities at the beginning and at the end of the observation. The values of estimated AHI (eAHI) ≤ 15 were classified as optimal (Opt) and those 〉 15 - as pathological (Pat). A change of the breathing pattern was classified on the basis of the transition between the initial and final eAHI status (Opt→Opt; Opt→Pat; Pat→Pat, Pat→Opt). The mean initial and final value of eAHI and the percent of Opt and Pat values of eAHI in the initial and final assessment were compared between the melatonin and the placebo groups., Results: The breathing pattern was not affected by melatonin - the mean initial value of the eAHI in the melatonin group was 18.2 ± 9.4, and in the placebo group 19.6 ± 12.3 (p = 0.64), whereas at the end of the observation in the melatonin group it increased by 1.2 ± 11.3, and in the placebo group - by 1.0 ± 9.0 (p = 0.44)., Conclusions: Hypnagogic treatment with melatonin did not worsen the eAHI in patients with CAD.