Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with essential hypertension.

The aim of this study was to determine the significance of the "coronary factor" in patients with essential hypertension (EH). Electrocardiogram Holter monitoring was performed in 61 patients with EH stage II (according to the World Health Organization criteria). Silent, ie, painless ST-segment depression, was found in 34 patients on whom echocardiography, a treadmill test, and transesophageal pacing were performed. In 21 patients with EH and silent ischemia, the examination included 201Tl stress scintigraphy, coronary angiography, and a platelet aggregation test. In 15 patients, catecholamines and beta-endorphins were obtained in blood samples during silent ischemia. 201Tl scintigraphy showed transient defects of perfusion without clearance abnormalities (group I) and with clearance abnormalities (group II). The patients in group I had more severe left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and a significantly higher platelet aggregation response to 0.5 mumol/L adenosine diphosphate; one patient in this group had coronary atherosclerosis. LVH and the platelet aggregation response was less pronounced in the patients in group II, but atherosclerotic lesions of a coronary artery were observed in four patients. In both groups, norepinephrine and beta-endorphin levels were increased during silent episodes of ischemia. The results suggest that there are different pathogenetic mechanisms of coronary insufficiency in patients with EH, a hypertensive heart, and silent ischemia.

[Atrial disorders of the heart rhythm in hypertension]. / Predserdnye narusheniia ritma serdtsa pri gipertonicheskoi bolezni.

A total of 57 males with stage-II hypertensive disease were studied to diagnose latent atrial disturbances of cardiac rhythm. Holter monitoring showed that latent atrial arrhythmias were diagnosed in 82.4% of patients. There was a significant correlation between the incidence of atrial arrhythmias and the left atrial dimension defined at echocardiography. A dilatation of the left atrium of greater than 4.0 cm serves a factor that predisposes to frequent atrial extrasystoles and atrial tachycardias. The electrical instability of a dilated left atrium was evidenced by diagnostic transesophageal cardiac pacing which readily induced persistent paroxysms of atrial fibrillations in patients with enlarged left atrium. The simultaneous use of Holter monitoring and diagnostic transesophageal cardiac pacing in the outpatient setting enhances their diagnostic value in detecting latent atrial arrhythmias in patients with hypertensive disease.

[Incidence of disorders of heart rhythm and conduction in idiopathic mitral valve prolapse]. / Chastota narushenii ritma i provodimosti serdtsa pri idiopaticheskom prolabirovanii stvolok mitral'nogo klapana.

Out of 99 examinees, 78 patients had mitral valve prolapse of various degree. The control group included 21 individuals without the prolapse who had the same clinical signs. All the patients underwent Holter monitoring and bicycle ergometry; diagnostic transesophageal atrial pacing was performed in 26 examinees. Rhythm and conduction disturbances were shown to occur as frequently in patients with mitral valve prolapse as in the controls. For diagnosing extrasystolic arrhythmias, it was recommended to apply Holter monitoring to detect paroxysmal supraventricular tachyarrhythmias and to employ transesophageal cardiac pacing to find accessory pathways.

[Silent myocardial ischemia in patients with essential hypertension]. / "Nemaia" ishemiia u bol'nykh gipertonicheskoi bolezn'iu.

Holter monitoring was performed in 61 patients with essential hypertension. Painless, silent ST segment depression was found in 34 patients. Exercise myocardial scintigraphy indicated the occurrence of transient perfusion defects without abnormal clearance (Group 1) and those with abnormal clearance (Group 2). The patients from Group 1 showed more severe myocardial hypertrophy, higher platelet aggregation, coronary atherosclerosis was detected in 1 case. The patients from Group 2 exhibited less myocardial hypertrophy, lower platelet aggregation. Coronary atherosclerosis was revealed in 4 cases. The patients from the two groups had elevated plasma norepinephrine levels at the onset of silent myocardial ischemia.

[A comparative evaluation of loading tests for the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease at the prehospital stage]. / Sravnitel'naia tsennost' prob s nagruzkoi dlia diagnostiki ishemicheskoi bolezni serdtsa na dogospital'nom étape.

Bicycle ergometry, the treadmill test, transesophageal pacing of the left atrium and 24-h monitoring of the ECG were performed on an outpatient basis in 82 persons (all men) with angina pectoris of effort and stenosing atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries verified with the aid of selective coronarography and in 17 men with intact coronary arteries. Transesophageal pacing and the treadmill test exhibited the highest sensitivity (94 and 89%, respectively) in the diagnosis of the latent forms of coronary failure. The sensitivity of bicycle ergometry (77%) was significantly lower which was caused by a considerable number (21%) of tests completed before the appearance of diagnostic criteria. Meanwhile the results of 24-h monitoring of the ECG (65% sensitivity) depended on the degree of the patients' physical activity and way of life. All the four methods did not significantly differ in the specificity. Proceeding from the data obtained it is recommended that the treadmill test and transesophageal pacing of the heart may be widely used on an outpatient basis to diagnose coronary disease.

"Silent" myocardial ischaemia in essential hypertension.

During 16-h electrocardiographic monitoring of 29 patients with stage II (WHO) essential hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy, the episodes of painless "silent" myocardial ischaemia were registered in 12. In these patients a bicycle ergometry test, transoesophageal atrial pacing, isotope ventriculography at rest and during isometric exercise, and coronary angiography in 3 cases, were performed. A comprehensive evaluation of findings revealed the presence of coronary insufficiency not accompanied by pain syndrome. Absence of angiographic signs of coronary stenosis in 3 patients subjected to coronary angiography suggests the presence of relative coronary insufficiency at least in these patients.