Management of Hypertension in High-Risk Ethnic Minority with Heart Failure

Hypertension (HTN) is the most common co-morbidity in the world, and its sequelae, heart failure (HF) is one of most common causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. Current understanding of pathophysiology and management of HTN in HF is mainly based on studies, which have mainly included whites. Among racial groups, African-American adults have the highest rates (44%) of hypertension in the world and are more resistant to treatment. There is an emerging consensus on the significance of racial disparities in the pathophysiology and treatment options of hypertension and heart failure. However, African Americans had been underrepresented in all the trials until the initiation of the A-HEFT trial. Since the recognition of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as an important medical condition, large clinical trials have shown benefits of OSA treatment among patients with HTN and HF. This paper focuses on the pathophysiology, causes of secondary hypertension, and treatment of hypertension among African-American patients with heart failure. There is increasing need for randomized clinical trials testing innovative treatment options for African-American patients

Calcific aortic valve stenosis:hard disease in the heart: A biomolecular approach towards diagnosis and treatment

Calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS) is common in the ageing population and set to become an increasing economic and health burden. Once present, it inevitably progresses and has a poor prognosis in symptomatic patients. No medical therapies are proven to be effective in holding or reducing disease progression. Therefore, aortic valve replacement remains the only available treatment option. Improved knowledge of the mechanisms underlying disease progression has provided us with insights that CAVS is not a passive disease. Rather, CAVS is regulated by numerous mechanisms with a key role for calcification. Aortic valve calcification (AVC) is actively regulated involving cellular and humoral factors that may offer targets for diagnosis and intervention. The discovery that the vitamin K-dependent proteins are involved in the inhibition of AVC has boosted our mechanistic understanding of this process and has opened up novel avenues in disease exploration. This review discusses processes involved in CAVS progression, with an emphasis on recent insights into calcification, methods for imaging calcification activity, and potential therapeutic options

Aortic stenosis: An update

Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disease in the world. It is a disease of the elderly and as our population is getting older in both the developed and the developing world, there has been an increase in the prevalence of AS. It is impacting the mortality and morbidity of our elderly population. It is also causing a huge burden on the healthcare system. There has been tremendous progress in our understanding of AS in recent years. Lately, studies have shown that AS is not just a disease of the aortic valve but it affects the entire systemic vasculature. There are studies looking at more sophisticated measures of disease severity that might better predict the optimal timing of valve replacement. The improvement in our understanding in etiology and pathophysiology of the disease process has led to a number of trials with possible treatment options for AS. In this review, we talk about our understanding of the disease and latest developments in disease assessment and management. We look forward to a time when there will be medical treatment for AS

An unusual cause of breathlessness in a young man

Amphetamine abuse is a common problem in the developed world. Cardiomyopathy secondary to amphetamine abuse is rare in the general population. The present report describes a 34-year-old man who presented with shortness of breath. Following further investigations, the cause of his breathlessness was determined to be amphetamine abuse. The incidence of amphetamine abuse and its cardiac sequelae are reviewed. The mechanism of amphetamine-induced dilated cardiomyopathy is analyzed, with further review of its complications and treatment

Validation of a prediction score model to distinguish acute coronary syndromes from other conditions causing raised cardiac troponin T levels

Objective: Serum cardiac troponins can be elevated in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and other non-ACS conditions. We investigated the usefulness of a prediction score model comprising clinical variables to distinguish patients with ACS from other non-ACS conditions. Methods: Two independent, non-randomized observational cohorts (groups 1 and 2) were examined, comprising consecutive patients who were admitted to a university teaching hospital and found to have a raised serum troponin T level (>=0.01 [mu]g/l). The international definition was used to confirm acute myocardial infarction. Multivariate logistic regression identified clinical variables in the first cohort, which were used to construct a score model for distinguishing between ACS and non-ACS, and this score was re-evaluated in the second cohort. Results: Of the 313 patients in group 1, a score model was formulated using logarithm troponin T, ischaemic chest pain, ST depression and atrial fibrillation or flutter. Using a score of more than or equal to 1.5, sensitivity and specificity for predicting non-ACS were 0.81 and 0.84. The area under the curve was 0.900 (95% confidence interval 0.867-0.934). Sensitivity and specificity for predicting non-ACS among the 341 patients in group 2 using the same model and a score of more than or equal to 1.5 were 0.76 and 0.89, respectively, and the area under the curve was 0.918 (confidence interval 0.887-0.945). Conclusion: A prediction score model using simple clinical variables has been validated, and this can help clinicians in distinguishing patients with ACS from other non-ACS conditions