[Clinical course, prognosis in patients treated for dilated cardiomyopathy]. / A dilatitiv cardiomyopathia kórlefolyása, prognózisa gondozott betegeken.

Studies on heart failure treatment established the rationale of polypharmacy: it means combined diuretics, digoxin and vasodilators first of all ACE inhibitor therapy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of this therapy on the clinical course of 209 pts with dilatative cardiomyopathy and consecutive moderate--severe heart failure followed by and regularly controlled through 2.5-4 on the average 3 years at specialised out-patient clinic. Analysis of pts history showed the different frequency in occurrence of previous longlasting physical stress, alcohol consumption and viral infection respectively, which might have been the conditioning factors of heart failure. Cardiomegaly was evaluated on the basis of quantitative data of X-ray, and haemodynamic data from radionuclide measurements, that of the clinical course by a score system. The improvement of cardiomegaly and haemodynamic data, were observed in 6 months of treatment. The evaluation of clinical course showed improvement in 61%, and stable condition in 26% of pts in half a year. The rate of pts with improved and stable condition proved the beneficial effect of regular care and combined drug therapy. A similar longterm follow-up study on same large pts population with heart failure has not been published yet in Hungary.

[Correlation between ABO and Rh blood groups, serum cholesterol and ischemic heart disease in patients undergoing coronarography]. / Az ABO- és Rh-vércsoportok, a serum cholesterin és az ischaemiás szívbetegség összefüggései coronarographizált betegekben.

UNLABELLED: The associations of the ABO- and Rh-blood groups, the serum cholesterol and the extent of the coronary artery disease were examined in 653 patients who underwent coronary angiography between 1980 and 1985 in the Hungarian Institute of Cardiology. CONCLUSIONS: 1. among the patients with positive coronarography blood group A was more frequent and blood group 0 was less frequent than in the Hungarian population, 2. in the blood group 0 the left main stenosis, in the blood group AB the single-vessel-disease was significantly more frequent, 3. the mean serum cholesterol level was almost identical in the ABO-blood groups, but in the Rh-negative patients it was significantly higher, showed no difference according to age, but closely correlated with the extent of coronary artery disease.

Regression of cardiac hypertrophy in hypertensive patients by long-term treatment with isradipine.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of long-term (9-month) treatment with isradipine, alone or combined with bopindolol, on blood pressure, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), and diastolic function. Thirty-five hypertensive patients with LVH and supine diastolic blood pressures (DBPs) greater than or equal to 100 and less than or equal to 120 mm Hg received increasing doses of isradipine (1.25, 2.5, and 5 mg twice daily); if blood pressure was not controlled, bopindolol (0.5-2 mg once daily) was added to the treatment. Clinical and laboratory investigations were carried out after placebo for baseline values, and after 5 and 9 months of isradipine treatment alone (n = 11) or combined with bopindolol (n = 24). At the end of the study, blood pressure was significantly decreased while heart rate did not change with isradipine alone, but decreased significantly after the addition of bopindolol. Although the DBP was normalized (less than or equal to 90 mm Hg) in 28 patients (80%), complete reversal of the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was seen in only 7 patients (20%). The ratio of early to atrial filling did not change, but the deceleration time was significantly decreased after 9 months. No laboratory abnormalities or important side effects were observed. Although isradipine alone or combined with bopindolol was effective in controlling blood pressure and significantly reduced the LVMI after 5 months, improvement in diastolic function was seen only after 9 months of active treatment.