Pressão arterial central e risco cardiovascular / Central blood pressure and cardiovascular risk

Pressão Central, como o nome indica, é uma medida hemodinâmica semelhante a pressão arterial convencional porém avaliada de forma indireta por equipamento especifico, que avalia estes parâmetros na saída do sangue na raiz da aorta. Esta medida tem uma maior confiabilidade pois prediz de forma mais acurada os riscos de adoecimento e morte cardiovascular. Isto ocorre, pois a a onda de pulso (OP) ao percorrer os trajetos arteriais sofrem ampliações e importantes modificações no seu contorno deformando o valor original. Embora seja mais precisa em valores, ainda não é usado de rotina na pratica clinica por razoes de custos dos seus equipamentos e provavelmente por exigir habilidades maiores que as medidas captadas pelo equipamentos de mensuração periférica

Central pressure, as the name implies, is a hemodynamic measure similar to conventional blood pressure, but indirectly assessed by specific equipment, which evaluates these parameters at the blood outlet at the root of the aorta. This measure has greater confidence because it more accurately predicts the risks of cardiovascular disease and death. This occurs because the pulse wave (OP) when traversing the arterial paths provides enlargements and modifications in its contour, deforming the original value. Although it is more precise in terms of values, it is not yet routinely used in clinical practice for reasons of the cost of its equipment and probably because it requires greater needs than measures captured by peripheral measurement equipment

Hipertensión arterial, mecánica arterial y otras lides / Hypertension, Arterial Mechanics and Other Issues

La hipertensión arterial incide sobre las paredes de las arterias alterando su funcionalidad. La aplicación del conocimiento de los principios de la mecánica arterial posibilita diagnósticos más adecuados con mejores indicaciones terapéuticas para los pacientes. Los grandes ensayos clínicos y de indicaciones terapéuticas generaron la llamada medicina basada en la evidencia. Han significado un enorme avance en el conocimiento de la historia natural de las enfermedades y permitieron establecer las mejores opciones terapéuticas, pero el paciente que se presenta ante el médico asistencial tiene condiciones personales, geográficas, sociales, culturales y emocionales que en la mayoría de los casos difieren de las de los seleccionados en los ensayos y requieren variantes dentro de los tratamientos resultantes de dichos estudios. Las guías de indicaciones terapéuticas fueron diseñadas de acuerdo con los resultados de los estudios de medicina basada en la evidencia y son de gran utilidad para reducir los errores de quienes no son expertos en el tema. Pero el médico especializado debe considerar al paciente en particular que tiene frente a sí y utilizar los conocimientos que le brindaron no sólo la medicina basada en la evidencia, sino añadir el que surge de su experiencia personal y de otras formas de evaluación para que, fundamentada su resolución, pueda salirse de las prácticas aconsejadas en las guías en bien de su paciente. Brevemente, implicaría virar de la medicina basada sólo en evidencia a la medicina personalizada basada en evidencia.

Hypertension alters arterial wall function. The application of knowledge of the principles of arterial mechanics allows making more adequate diagnoses with better indications about how to treat patients. The development of large clinical and treatment trials produced the so-called evidence based medicine. These studies have represented a significant advance in the knowledge of the natural history of diseases and allowed establishing the best therapeutic options. However, the patient seeking medical advice has personal, geographical, cultural and emotional conditions that, in most cases, differ from those of the patients selected in the trials, and require a variant of the therapeutic approaches used in those trials. Treatment guidelines were designed on the basis of the results of evidence based medicine and are useful to reduce mistakes made by those who are not experts in the topic. The specialist should consider the particular patient he/she is facing using the knowledge provided not only by evidence based medicine but also by his/her personal experience and other ways of evaluation. In this way, the specialist can justify why he/she does not follow the recommendations suggested by the guidelines for his/her patient's benefit. Briefly, this would mean moving from only evidence-based medicine to personalized evidence-based medicine.