Essential hypertension and hypermetropia: is there really an association?

AIM: To investigate the relationship between hypermetropia and systemic hypertension. METHODS: The study was performed on 2 groups of participants (a total of 1,162 participants). Group 1 comprised 370 patients with arterial hypertension and 205 age- and sex-matched normotensive subjects. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure >or=140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure >or=90 mm Hg. Spherical equivalents between -0.50 and +0.50 dpt were regarded as emmetropia. Keratometry, anterior chamber depth (ACD) and axial length (AL) were measured with IOL Master (Zeiss, USA). Group 2 comprised 124 myopic, 206 emmetropic and 257 hypermetropic subjects. Differences for mean spherical equivalent, keratometry, ACD and AL measurements between hypertensive patients and control subjects (group 1) were compared using independent-sample t test and Mann-Whitney U test, and distributions of refractions were compared with the chi(2) test. Distributions of hypertensive and normotensive subjects (group 2) among myopic, emmetropic and hypermetropic subjects were compared with the chi(2) test. RESULTS: Mean spherical equivalents of the patients with hypertension and of control subjects were -0.03 +/- 1.63 and 0.22 +/- 1.82 dpt, respectively (p = 0.182). The differences for keratometric values, ACD and AL were not significant (p = 0.151, 0.692 and 0.548, respectively). There was also no significant difference (p = 0.143) for hypertension ratios among myopic (66.1%), emmetropic (57.8%) and hypermetropic (55.6%) subjects. CONCLUSION: There is no association between systemic arterial hypertension and hypermetropia.

Military jet pilots have higher p-wave dispersions compared to the transport aircraft aircrew.

OBJECTIVES: For the purpose of flight safety military aircrew must be healthy. P-wave dispersion (PWD) is the p-wave length difference in an electrocardiographic (ECG) examination and represents the risk of developing atrial fibrillation. In the study we aimed at investigating PWD in healthy military aircrew who reported for periodical examinations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seventy-five asymptomatic military aircrew were enrolled in the study. All the subjects underwent physical, radiologic and biochemical examinations, and a 12-lead electrocardiography. P-wave dispersions were calculated. RESULTS: The mean age of the study participants was 36.15±8.97 years and the mean p-wave duration was 100.8±12 ms in the whole group. Forty-seven subjects were non-pilot aircrew, and 28 were pilots. Thirteen study subjects were serving in jets, 49 in helicopters, and 13 were transport aircraft pilots. Thirty-six of the helicopter and 11 of the transport aircraft aircrew were non-pilot aircrew. P-wave dispersion was the lowest in the transport aircraft aircrew, and the highest in jet pilots. P-wave dispersions were similar in the pilots and non-pilot aircrew. Twenty-three study subjects were overweight, 19 had thyroiditis, 26 had hepatosteatosis, 4 had hyperbilirubinemia, 2 had hypertension, and 5 had hyperlipidemia. The PWD was significantly associated with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. Serum uric acid levels were associated with p-wave durations. Serum TSH levels were the most important predictor of PWD. CONCLUSIONS: When TSH levels were associated with PWD, uric acid levels were associated with p-wave duration in the military aircrew. The jet pilots had higher PWDs. These findings reveal that military jet pilots may have a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation, and PWD should be recorded during periodical examinations.

Arterial stiffness and endothelial inflammation in prediabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes patients.

OBJECTIVE: There is a growing body of data supporting the association between diabetes and microcirculatory disfunction. We aimed to study e-selectin levels, and their associations with serum markers of inflammation and arterial stiffness in prediabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes patients in this study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients (25 females) with a newly established elevated fasting serum glucose [20 impaired fasting glucose (IFG), 20 impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 20 newly diagnosed diabetes (T2DM)] and 17 healthy controls (13 females) were included in the study. Serum e-selectin and hs-CRP levels, and arterial stiffness parameters of the patients were studied. RESULTS: Fasting serum glucose was the most important predictor of serum e-selectin levels. Pulse wave velocity and central aortic pressures were significantly higher in IFG, IGT and T2DM groups, compared to controls (p = 0.001, < 0.001, 0.013 and 0.015, 0.002, 0.009, respectively). The mean arterial pressure did not show any significant association with serum e-selectin and hs-CRP levels (ß coefficient: 0.092, p = 0.358; and ß coefficient: 0.189, p = 0.362, respectively). CONCLUSION: Prediabetes patients have increasing e-selectin levels through the diagnosis of T2DM. E-selectin is associated with serum glucose levels. Prediabetic and newly diagnosed diabetics have higher arterial stiffness measurements. Serum e-selectin may be a good marker of endothelial inflammation and dysfunction increasing in parallel with serum glucose levels, predicting future cardiovascular events.