Study of 24 Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Acute Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: Appropriate evaluation of hypertension is important in the patients with a stroke because hypertension is a major cause of a stroke. Blood pressure may be falsely elevated or depressed immediately after a stroke, depending on the severity of neurological deficit, mobility, and physical activity, and the level of consciousness. To overcome this problem, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has been proposed as a method of obtaining a more accurate clinical assessment. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The present study was performed in an acute stage of stroke patients to assess the manifestation of 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure, to observe the nocturnal blood pressure fall and to evaluate the relationship of blood pressure degree on admission and nocturnal blood pressure dip. Thirty four patients admitted within 24 hours after onset of acute stroke were involved in this study. 24 Hour blood pressure monitoring device was installed on an independent arm by oscillometric method as soon as brain imaging study was performed. ABPM readings were obtained each 30 minutes during daytime and each 1 hour during nighttime with electrocardiography. Each patients were classified as the presence or absence of hypertension. We examined nocturnal blood pressure dip and mean pressure of 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure. RESULTS: 1)This study demonstrated that comparing daytime with nighttime 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure, 20 of 24 patients (83%) with acute stroke with hypertension, did not show nocturnal blood pressure dip, and there was sustained high nocturnal blood pressure in patients with acute stroke with hypertension. 2)There were significant differences between 24 hour ambulatory mean daytime blood pressure and mean nighttime blood pressure in patients with acute stroke without hypertension, so was lower in nighttime (p<0.05). 3)It is likely that in acute stroke patients with hypertension, patients with higher blood pressure on admission had more abnormality of nocturnal blood pressure dip. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that in patients with acute stroke, 24 hour ABPM is useful method to assess diurnal variation and evaluate hypertension in acute stage of stroke patients, and suggest that patients with acute stroke with hypertension trend to loss of nocturnal blood pressure dip.

A Case of Congenital Long QT Syndrome Associated with Deafness and Syncope

Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an inherited disease characterized by prolonged QT intervals and polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. The clinical manifestations vary from sudden cardiac death by ventricular arrhythmia to asymptom throughout life. In 1957, Jervell and Lange-Nielsen reported a syndrome of congen-ital sensory deafness associated with a prolonged QT interval in four children. The affected children had multiple syncopal episodes, and three died suddenly. The mode of inheritance is autosomal recessive. Affected persons are susceptible to recurrent syncope, and they have a high incidence of sudden death and short life expectancy. We report a case and review the literature on long QT syndrome diagnosed in a 30-year-old female with a history of convulsion and loss of consciousness during delivery.

Collateral Circulation and 99m Tc - MIBI Heart SPECT in Patients with Totally Coronary Occlusion / 대한내과학회지

OBJECTIVES: The role of coronary collateral circulation in protecting myocardium after the occlusion of a supplying artery has long been debated. Recent date show that the coronary collateral circulation may partially prevent ischemia and preserve myocardial contractile function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relation between the grades of collateral circulation and perfusion scores of 99mTc-Heart SPECT in patients with totally coronary occlusion. METHODS: We studied 44 patients with totally coronary occlusion who had been hospitalized at Kyung Hee University hospital between October, 1989 and May, 1994, Patients were classified into two groups; Group 1: patients with angina pectoris (n=21), Group 2: patients with myocardial infarction (n=23). Angiographic collateral circulation was graded from 0 to 3: 0=none, 1=filling of side branch only, 2=partial filling of the epicardial segment, 3=complete filling of epicardial segment. The perfusion score of dipyridamole stress 99mTc-MIBI Heart SPCET was analyzed with angiographic findings. Resting and stress echocardiography were analyzed to identify left ventricular wall motion abnormalities. RESULTS: 1) When LAD was totally occluded, there were hishevcrgree of collateral circulations from RCA in group 1 and group 2. When RCA was totally occluded, there was higherdesree of collateral circulation from LAD in group 1 and group 2. 2) The degree of collateral development was higher in group 1 than in group 2 (2.5+/-0.7 vs. 1.8+/-1.0, p<0.05). 3) In 99mTc-MIBI Heart SPECT, there was no significant difference of perfusion score at stress but perfusion score was significantly higher in group I than in group 2 at rest. 4) In 99mTc-MIBI Heart SPCET, there was no difference of perfusion score between totally coronary occlusion territories in group 1 and more than 50% coronary artery stenotic territories in group 1 and group 2. 5) In stress echocardiography, ten of the 13 patients showed normal LV wall motion at rest, but 9 of these 10 patients showed LV wall motion abnormalities at stress in group l. In group 2, all 10 patients showed LV wall motion abnormalities at rest and 3 of these patients showed more aggravation of LV wall motion abnormalities. CONCLUSION: Collateral circulation in angina patients can prevent myocardial ischemia and preserve myocardial function at rest, but not at exercise. Collateral circulation in patients with myocardial infarction cannot preserve myocardial function at rest. and exercise. Dipyridamole stress 99mTc-MIBI Heart SPECT is one of the indirect quantification methods to evaluate collateral development and coronary flow reserve.