Attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of hypertension and hypertension-related cardiac disease in general practice: results of the Italian Hypertension and Heart Survey.

The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of hypertensive patients with cardiac organ disease, including left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and coronary artery disease (CAD), in Italy. A predefined 15-item questionnaire was anonymously administered to a large community sample of general practitioners (GPs) and specialised physicians between November 2012 and June 2013. Estimated prevalence of hypertension-related clinical conditions was stratified into four groups (10-20%, 20-40%, 40-50%, >50%); preferences were reported as percentage among valid answers to the survey questionnaire. A total of 1319 physicians (672 males, age 55.0 ± 7.1 years, age of medical activity 27.1 ± 7.6 years), among whom 1264 GPs and 55 specialised physicians, was included. LVH was reported to be the most frequent marker of organ damage by the majority of physicians (73.5%). LV diastolic dysfunction was reported to be relatively frequent (>40%) by more than half of the specialised physicians (58.2%) and less frequent (10-20%) by GPs (49.8%); LV systolic dysfunction, atrial fibrillation and CAD were considered to be less frequent (10-20%) by the majority of physicians (61.3, 71.6 and 53.3%, respectively). Echocardiography was the preferred diagnostic tool used to estimate LVH (76.6%). Tight blood pressure control (130/80 mm Hg) was considered to be the most appropriate by the majority of physicians, both in hypertensive patients with LVH and in those with CAD. With the well-known limitations of a cross-sectional survey, this study provides information on attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of outpatients with hypertension and high CV risk profile in general practice in Italy.

Lack of Influence of the Androgen Receptor Gene CAG-Repeat Polymorphism on Clinical and Electrocardiographic Manifestations of the Brugada Syndrome in Man.

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies suggest that testosterone (T) plays an important role in the male predominance of the clinical manifestations of the Brugada syndrome (BS). However, no statistically significant correlations have been observed between T levels and electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters in the BS patients. We investigated whether the hormonal pattern and the variation within CAG repeat polymorphism in exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) gene, affecting androgen sensitivity, are associated with the Brugada ECG phenotype in males. METHODS AND RESULTS: 16 male patients with BS (mean age 45.06 ± 11.3 years) were studied. 12-lead ECG was recorded. Blood levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, prolactin, testosterone, free-T, dihydrotestosterone, 17-ß-estradiol, estrone, 3-alpha-androstanediol-glucuronide, delta-4-androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and sex hormone binding globulin were assayed. Genotyping of CAG repeats on DNA extracted from leukocytes was carried out. No relationship was found between hormone values and ECG parameters of BS. BS patients showed the CAG length normally recognized in the human polymorphism range and the number of CAG repeats did not correlate with the ECG pattern of BS. CONCLUSIONS: The AR CAG repeat length does not correlate with the ECG features of the patients affected by BS. The search for genes downstream AR activation as possibly responsible for the increased risk of spontaneous arrhythmias in BS males after puberty is warranted.

Electrophysiological study and catheter ablation of a Mahaim fibre located at the mitral annulus-aorta junction.

Accessory pathways with slow and anterograde decremental conduction (Mahaim fibres) are responsible for a minority of atrioventricular reentrant tachycardias. While usually located along the tricuspid annulus, left-sided Mahaim fibres have been occasionally reported. We here report on a unique case of radiofrequency catheter ablation of a Mahaim pathway located at the supero-septal aspect of the mitral annulus, in a region known as mitral annulus-aorta junction, between the right and left fibrous trigons. Electrophysiological properties and embryological implications of this unusual accessory pathway are discussed.

Analysis of the chaotic component of the sinusal R-R intervals as a tool for detecting a silent cardiac dysautonomia in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

This study explores the heart rate (HR) variability (V) in order to detect whether the chaotic component of the sinusal R-R intervals (SRRI) can be interpreted as an early indicator of a silent cardiac neurovegetative dysautonomia in apparently uncomplicated Type 2 diabetic patients (DP). The SRRI were provided by the 24-h Holter ECG of 10 Type 2 DP (5 M and 5 F, mean age = 41 +/- 5 years). Control data were obtained by the 24-h Holter ECG of 10 clinically healthy subjects (CHS, 5 M and 5 F, mean age = 38 +/- 6 years). The chaotic component of HRV was investigated via the correlation dimension (CD) analysis (A) of the SRRI, performed per each hour of the ECG recording. The hourly-qualified series of SRRI, HR and CD index (I) were, in turn, analyzed via methods of conventional statistics and chronobiology, the latter ones for assessing the circadian rhythm (CR). The CDI CR was found to peak during the night in CHS, and to be unphysiologically rotated to the diurnal hours of the day in Type 2 DP. The diurnal inversion of the CDI CR in Type 2 DP suggests that the chaotic component of HRV shows an abnormal rhythnic pattern over the day-night period. Considering that the investigated Type 2 DP were lacking of documentable signs of cardiac neuropathy, it is hypothesized that the diurnal phase of shift CDI CR might be a potential indicator of a silent autonomic cardiac dysfunction in Type 2 DP. Such a hypothesis waits for further confirmations.

[Optic nerve pilocytic astrocytoma with retinal involvement]. / Astrocitoma pilocítico de nervio óptico con afectación de retina.

INTRODUCTION: This is an atypical case of a pilocytic astrocytoma that involved the optic nerve (ON) and the retina. CLINICAL CASE: The patient was a 30-year-old male, who had attended ONCE since his early childhood because of the suspicion of an intraocular tumor. The ophthalmology exploration showed an ON and retinal coloboma in the right eye and microphthalmy, shutting of the pupil, retinal detachment and proof of an intraocular tumor in the left eye. The MR revealed an ON tumor that involved the retina. The histopathological study after enucleation was pilocytic astrocytoma. DISCUSSION: Long standing congenital pathology in a blind patient does not exclude the possibility of the patient suffering from other pathology as well.

Astrocitoma pilocítico de nervio óptico con afectación de retina / Optic nerve pilocytic astrocytoma with retinal involvement

Introducción: Se presenta un caso atípico de astrocitoma pilocítico de nervio óptico (NO) y retina.Caso clínico: Varón de 30 años afiliado a la ONCE desde niño, con sospecha de tumoración intraocular. En la exploración oftalmológica: coloboma de NO y retina en ojo derecho y microftalmos, seclusión pupilar, desprendimiento de retina y evidencia de una masa retiniana en ojo izquierdo. La RNM mostró una tumoración de NO y retina. El estudio anatomopatológico tras la enucleación diagnosticó astrocitoma pilocítico de NO y de retina.Discusión: La existencia de una patología congénita en un paciente con ceguera legal no excluye el que pueda presentar otras patologías

Introduction: This is an atypical case of a pilocytic astrocytoma that involved the optic nerve (ON) and the retina. Clinical case: The patient was a 30-year-old male, who had attended ONCE since his early childhood because of the suspicion of an intraocular tumor. The ophthalmology exploration showed an ON and retinal coloboma in the right eye and microphthalmy, shutting of the pupil, retinal detachment and proof of an intraocular tumor in the left eye. The MR revealed an ON tumor that involved the retina. The histopathological study after enucleation was pilocytic astrocytoma. Discussion: Long standing congenital pathology in a blind patient does not exclude the possibility of the patient suffering from other pathology as well

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy associated with coeliac disease: the effect of a gluten-free diet on cardiac performance.

An increased incidence of coeliac disease has recently been reported in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. This report deals with three patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and coeliac disease who underwent clinical and laboratory evaluation to establish the effect of a gluten-free diet on cardiac performance. Two patients observed the gluten-free diet regimen very strictly, and, after a 28-month follow-up period, showed an improvement in echocardiographic parameters as well as in cardiological features and quality of life, as evaluated by the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale questionnaire. The third patient did not observe the gluten-free diet and presented a worsening in the echocardiographic parameters and cardiological symptoms which required supplementary drug therapy. These preliminary data appear to suggest that the gluten-free diet may have a beneficial effect on cardiac performance in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

[Circadian periodicity in human heart rate daily variability disorders: subsequent demonstrations through a chronobiological approach to the values of estimated alpha exponent on sinusal R-R intervals]. / Periodicità circadiana del disordine nella variabilità giornaliera della frequenza cardiaca umana: ulteriore dimostrazione tramite approccio cronobiologico ai valori dell'esponente alfa stimato sugli intervalli sinusali R-R.

OBJECTIVE: The present study is aimed at giving a further demonstration that the disorder in human heart rate variability is characterized by a circadian periodicity. Such an evidence has been provided by estimating the alpha exponent of the Lévy's stable distribution approximated to the histogram of the differences between the durations of two adjacent sinusal R-R intervals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The purpose has been pursued by estimating the alpha exponent on fragments of one hour of the Holter electrocardiogram executed in 10 clinically healthy subjects (5 males and 5 females, ranging in age from 23 to 30 years). RESULTS: The chronobiological analysis of the hourly-qualified values of the alpha exponent has demonstrated a significant circadian rhythm for this coefficient. CONCLUSIONS: The significant circadian periodicity of the alpha exponent is a further evidence that the disorder in human heart rate variability, herein represented by the extreme variability of the differences between the durations of two consecutive sinusal R-R intervals, is characterized by a periodic recursivity.

Postmortal decay of acetylcholine levels in the spinal cord of rat, chicken and frog.

The decay of acetylcholine (ACh) after death of an animal has been estimated in the cervical spinal cord of rat, chicken and frog. The level of ACh in the frog (19.90 nmol/g wet weight) shows no variation from 20 to 500 s after death. In the rat and chicken, there is a decrease in the first 100 s after death to lower values; 4.35 nmol/g wet weight in the rat and 4.60 nmol/g wet weight in the chicken. The levels of ACh in the cervical spinal cord of the rat an chicken at the time of death were estimated by extrapolation to time 0 of the curve of the decay of ACh in the first 100 s. The values obtained were: 121.64 nmol/g wet weight in the chicken and 34.19 nmol/g wet weight in the rat.