Atrial fibrillation and arterial hypertension.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and arterial hypertension frequently coexist, not only because arterial hypertension increases the incidence of new onset of atrial fibrillation, but also because those two entities share common risk factors and conditions that increase the incidence of both. Thus, in our daily clinical practice we will often have to manage and treat those patients. In order to assess and treat these patients, proper blood pressure (BP) measurement as well as detection of atrial fibrillation is mandatory. The use of oscillometric devices for home and ambulatory blood pressure measurements may accurately measure systolic but not diastolic blood pressure levels. Current guidelines suggest to palpate the pulse and perform an electrocardiogram (ECG) as well as a long-term ECG monitoring in order to detect AF. However there is evidence that: the use of oscillometric BP device with a specific algorithm for the detection of AF as well as the interrogation of a permanent pacemaker may further help physicians to reveal periods of AF. Finnaly, although guidelines suggests the use of specific drugs in order to treat arterial hypertension in AF patients, the main goal is BP control per se. In this review, we are going to summarize the diagnostic work up of these patients namely the proper arterial blood pressure measurement, the detection of atrial fibrillation as well as the treatment of these patients based on the latest data of the literature.

The diagnostic approach and management of hypertension in the emergency department.

Hypertension urgency and emergency represents a challenging condition in which clinicians should determine the assessment and/or treatment of these patients. Whether the elevation of blood pressure (BP) levels is temporary, in need of treatment, or reflects a chronic hypertensive state is not always easy to unravel. Unfortunately, current guidelines provide few recommendations concerning the diagnostic approach and treatment of emergency department patients presenting with severe hypertension. Target organ damage determines: the timeframe in which BP should be lowered, target BP levels as well as the drug of choice to use. It's important to distinguish hypertensive emergency from hypertensive urgency, usually a benign condition that requires more likely an outpatient visit and treatment.

State of the art approach to managing angina and ischemia: tailoring treatment to the evidence.

Stable angina represents a chronic and often debilitating condition that affects daily activities and quality of life in patients with chronic coronary syndromes (CCS). Current European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend a four-step approach for the medical treatment of patients taking into consideration hemodynamic variables (heart rate and blood pressure) and the presence or absence of left ventricular dysfunction. However, CCS patients often have several comorbidities and risk factors. Thus, a tailored approach that takes into consideration patient risk factors and comorbidities may have additional benefits beyond angina relief. This is a state of the art review of stable angina treatment based on the currently available evidence.

Sympathetic overactivity in hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

From the first description of its anatomy by T. Willis to the novel therapeutic manipulations, it is unanimously recognized that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) holds a crucial role in cardiovascular homeostasis. The introduction of sophisticated techniques, as microneurography and regional norepinephrine spillover provided the evidence for the role of sympathetic overactivity in various cardiovascular disease entities. Sympathetic activation is common in patients with essential hypertension and contributes to initiation, maintenance and progression of the disease and it contributes to the manifestation of its major complications. A considerable body of evidence relates SNS overactivity with high sodium intake in experimental animals and humans and the underlying mechanisms have nowadays been elucidated. SNS activity is more pronounced in patients with resistant hypertension and there are several conditions that lead to this phenomenon, as older age, kidney disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome, mental stress and sleep apnea. SNS overactivity holds also a key physiopathological role in heart failure, acute coronary syndromes and arrhythmias. Moreover, inhibition of sympathetic overactivity by various means, including central SNS suppressing drugs, peripheral alpha- and beta- adrenergic receptor blockers, or novel approaches as renal sympathetic denervation have been used successfully in the treatment of all these disorders.