American heart journal
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American heart journal · Nov 1999
Comparative StudyRelation between the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and left ventricular structure and function in young normotensive and mildly hypertensive subjects.
High angiotensin II levels in relation to the corresponding urinary sodium excretion have been found to modulate left ventricular (LV) structure in middle-aged hypertensive patients. To analyze whether such a relation between the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and left ventricular structure is already present in young individuals, we examined the changes of angiotensin II and aldosterone in response to increased salt intake and their relations to LV structure and function. ⋯ In contrast to middle-aged hypertensive patients, neither angiotensin II, aldosterone, nor their suppression in response to high salt intake were related to LV structure in young hypertensive patients. However, inadequate suppression of aldosterone after salt intake was associated with diastolic filling abnormalities in our young hypertensive patients, which may represent early changes in hypertensive heart disease and precede potential structural alterations.
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American heart journal · Nov 1999
Multicenter Study Comparative StudySex differences in the clinical care and outcomes of congestive heart failure in the elderly.
There is evidence for sex differences in treatment and outcome of ischemic heart disease. However, little and conflicting data exist about sex differences in the care and outcome of elderly patients with heart failure. ⋯ Female and male patients hospitalized for heart failure have a similar hospital course, treatment pattern, and readmission rates, but women live longer than men. When baseline differences are accounted for, the mortality risk of women and men becomes very similar.
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American heart journal · Nov 1999
Comparative StudyRole of transesophageal echocardiography in assessing diastolic dysfunction in a large clinical practice: a 9-year experience.
Two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography with respiratory monitoring has been used to characterize diseases that impair diastolic function. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has emerged as a complementary technique to evaluate patients with these diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in a large clinical practice the utility of TEE with respiratory monitoring for classification of patients with diastolic dysfunction. ⋯ Two-dimensional and Doppler TEE with respiratory monitoring is useful in categorizing patients with impaired diastolic function, primarily into those with restrictive physiologic features or constrictive pericarditis.
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American heart journal · Oct 1999
Correlation between clinical and Doppler echocardiographic findings in patients with moderate and large pericardial effusion: implications for the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade.
Clinical data are of unquestionable value for management purposes in cardiac tamponade, whereas the precise value of Doppler echocardiographic findings is not yet fully understood. We aimed to prospectively assess the correlation between clinical and Doppler echocardiographic signs in the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade in a large series of patients with pericardial effusion. ⋯ There is a good correlation between absence of collapse and absence of tamponade, but the correlation is poor between collapse and tamponade. Abnormal venous flow has a good correlation with clinical features of tamponade, with a higher sensitivity than right ventricular collapse and a much higher specificity than right atrial collapse.