A survey on knowledge of recommended heart failure guidelines among Chinese physicians / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To obtain the knowledge status on recommended heart failure (HF) guidelines among Chinese physicians.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Questionnaire on heart failure including 20 multiple choice questions and 10 fill in the blank questions was designed based on the Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic heart failure in 2007 and the Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute heart failure in 2010. The rate of correct answer for each item was calculated and compared among physicians specialized for cardiovascular diseases and not.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The Questionnaire was completed in 400 physicians, including 208 physician specialized for cardiovascular disease and 192 physicians not specialized in cardiovascular disease. The rate of correct answer for 20 multiple choice questions was lower than 60% in 8 questions, 60%-80% in 8 questions, higher than 80% in 4 questions. The rate of correct answers for 10 fill in the blank questions focusing on the aimed dosage of 10 ACEI/ARB/β-blockers was 49%. The 8 multiple choice questions with correct answer rate <60% are detailed items of myocardial remodeling, symptoms suggestive of HF, diagnosis tools for patients with suspected HF, the AHA stages of heart failure, the Forrester's hemodynamic classes of acute heart failure, the goals of ACEI/ARBs treatment in patients with HF, names of heart diseases which might benefit from ACEI/ARBs treatment defined by evidenced based medicine, and detailed application methods of ACEI/ARBs and β-blockers for HF patients. In general, the rate of correct answer was significantly higher in physicians specialized for cardiovascular disease compared physicians not specialized for cardiovascular disease.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There is a considerable knowledge gap on the Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic heart failure and the Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute heart failure among Chinese physicians. Efforts must be made to educate physicians to improve their knowledge and improve HF patient care.</p>

Evaluation of the target-organ damage in the elderly hypertension patients by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To explore the prognostic value of 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)for target organ damage (TOD) in the elderly hypertension patients. Methods Two hundred and thirty two elderly hypertension patients who were involved at least one target- organ damage experienced 24 h ABPM. All subjects were randomly divided into 3 groups according to the number of TOD and the clinical situation of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and renal complications. 24 h ABPM recordings of each group were compared with one another. Results The number of TOD were highly correlated with 24 h average systolic pressure, nighttime average diastolic pressure, abnormal circadian rhythm and pressure burden. The difference was significant between patients involved 3 TOD and those with 1 TOD(P