An Asymptomatic Left Ventricular Diverticulum

Congenital ventricular diverticulum is defined as a protrusion of the free wall of the ventricle, including endocardium, myocardium and pericardium. They have been classified in fibrous and muscular types. Congenital ventricular diverticulum may be asymptomatic or may be present with various clinical symptoms. Diverticulum is commonly seen in childhood, and fibrous type being the most common type. Muscular type is very rare seen in adults. We report here, a case with muscular type asymptomatic congenital left ventricular diverticulum in a 65 year-old female

The Effect of Blood Pressure Regulation on Arterial Stiffness in Individuals with Stage I-II Hypertension

Amaç: Hipertansif hastalarda sub-klinik organ hasarı göstergelerinden biri de arteryel sertliktir. Çalışmamızda Evre I-II hipertansiflerde kan basıncı düzenlemesinin arteryel sertlik üzerine etkilerini değerlendirdik. Gereç ve Yöntem: 18-65 yaş Evre I-II hipertansif 60 (34 Evre I, 26 Evre II) hastaya tedavi öncesi ve en az bir ay sonrası olmak üzere 24 saatlik ayaktan kan basıncı izlemi yapıldı. Hastaların tedavileri, arteryel sertlik parametrelerine kör olan hastanın kendi doktorunca verildi. Kan basıncı kontrol altına alınan (Grup 1, n30) ve alınamayan (Grup 2, n30) olarak iki grup oluşturuldu. 24 saatlik holter izleminden hesaplanan aortik sertlik parametrelerinin her iki grupta tedavi öncesi ve sonrası değerleri karşılaştırıldı. Bulgular: Tedavi sonrası; grup 1 hastaların kan basınçları ve arteryel sertlik parametrelerinde [Augmentasyon basıncı (13,46, 10.75.6, p0.001), Augmentasyon indeksi (29,68,2, 26,08,0, p0.001), nabız basıncı (479, 416, p0,001), nabız dalga hızı (7.70.9, 7.10.9, p0.001)] anlamlı düşme izlendi (p0,05). Grup 2 hastaların ortalama diyastolik kan basıncı (948, 918, p0,01) ile kalp hızında (788, 748, p0,03) anlamlı düşme, Augmentasyon basıncında (12,05,1, 14,05,9, p.03) anlamlı yükselme (p0,05) izlenirken, diğer parametrelerde anlamlı değişim görülmedi. Sonuç: Evre I ve Evre II hipertansif hastalarda kan basıncı kontrolü, arteryel sertlik parametrelerinde anlamlı düzelme sağlamaktadır. Yeterli kan basıncı kontrolünün sağlanamadığı durumda ise antihipertansiflere rağmen arteryel sertlik parametreleri düzelmemektedir.Aim: One of the indicators of sub-clinical organ damage in hypertensive patients is also arterial stiffness. We evaluated the effects of blood pressure regulation on arterial stiffness in stage I-II hypertensives. Material and Method: A total of 60 patients ageing 18-65 with stage I-II hypertension (34 stage I, 26 stage II) underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring before and at least one month later treatment. The treatments were performed by their physi- cians who blind to parameters of arterial stiffness. Two groups were generated including blood pressure regulated- (Group 1, n30) and non-regulated (Group 2, n30). Aortic stiffness parameters, calculated by 24-hour monitoring, before and after treatment were compared in both groups. Results: After treatment, the blood pressures and arterial stiffness parameters [Augmentation pressure (13.4±6, 10.7±5.6, p>0.001), Augmentation index (29.6±8.2, 26.0±8.0, p0.001), pulse pressure (47±9, 41±6, p>0.001), pulse wave velocity (7.7±0.9, 7.1±0.9, p>0.001)] of group 1 were significantly decreased. Whereas mean diastolic blood pressures and heart rates of group 2 were significantly decreased, augmentation pressure was significantly increased, other parameters did not change significantly. Conclusion: Blood pressure regulation resulted in statistically significant improve of arterial stiffness parameters in stage I-II hypertension. When blood pressure could be not regulated, aortic stiffness parameters wasnt improved despite using the antihypertensive drugs

Assessment of arterial stiffness and epicardial adipose tissue thickness in predicting the subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Objective Atherosclerosis is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory disease. Recognition of subclinical atherosclerotic vascular changes before clinical manifestation in an asymptomatic population is important for risk stratification and optimal management, which finally leads to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to determine the risk of premature subclinical atherosclerosis by evaluating epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EATT) and arterial stiffness parameters in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods We performed a prospective study of 60 consecutive patients meeting modified New York criteria for AS compared to 60 controls matched for age and sex. Patients with traditional cardiovascular risk factors were excluded. Arterial stiffness parameters and EATT (examined via echocardiography) values of all patients and control groups were measured. Results There was no difference between basal characteristic and echocardiographic parameters in patients with AS and in the control group. EATT and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were higher in the AS patients compared to the control group. EATT was 5.74 ± 1.22 mm and 4.91 ± 1.21 mm (p < .001) and PWV was 9.90 ± 0.98 m/s and 6.46 ± 0.83 m/s (p = .009) in the AS and control groups, respectively. Also, PWV was significantly correlated with EATT, age, and central blood pressure in patients with AS. Conclusions EATT and PWV, markers of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, were significantly higher in patients with AS than the control group. In addition, in this study, it has been shown that there is a significant relationship between PWV and EATT in patients with AS