Evaluation of heart failure management in a Military Hospital.

PURPOSE: Evaluate heart failure management in a Military Hospital in 2005. METHODS: Retrospective audit of 46 case records of patients hospitalised with heart failure within the framework of an accreditation procedure. RESULTS: The left ventricular ejection fraction was evaluated in 85% of cases during the reference hospital stay. Systolic heart failure was detected in 63% of cases. At least one NT-proBNP assay was performed for each patient. A global assessment was systematically performed, except for the mini mental state examination in patients aged over 75 years who represented 80% of patients. Initial therapeutic education was provided for 50% of systolic heart failure patients. Prescription rates in systolic heart failure were 76% for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, 7% for angiotensin receptor antagonists; 84% for at least one medicinal product in the above 2 classes; 68% for beta-blockers and 32% for spironolactone. A hospital discharge report was available for 93% of the patients. Elective re-admissions to hospital for uptitration of treatment concerned 10% of systolic heart failure patients. Emergency hospital re-admissions after a cardiovascular event (usually decompensation), concerned 35% of patients, after an average duration of one year of follow-up. These latter re-admissions, often repeated, led to 4% of additional hospital deaths. The initial hospital mortality rate was 13%. CONCLUSION: Therapeutic patient education is under development. Medication may still be optimised, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Surveillance is planned with a yearly audit.

Coronary heart disease and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in the elderly diabetic.

Diabetes and old age come together to increase the frequency and severity of coronary heart disease. Often clinically nearly silent, symptoms frequently manifest dramatically, to such an extent that the question of screening should be raised, as in younger subjects. Preventing these manifestations relies on better management of the cardiovascular risk factors and obtaining good blood glucose control, but here progress remains necessary, which also requires adapting to the older patient's clinical and psychological condition. Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is a frequent degenerative complication in diabetics, particularly in the oldest subjects. The most severe types have serious clinical consequences, thus a higher mortality factor, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. As for coronary heart disease, the therapeutic tools have expanded these last few years and should be thought out in relation to the geriatric evaluation, with the objective of improving these patients' quality of life. Therefore, a necessary distinction should be made between subjects who have aged successfully, whose management, ultimately, differs little from younger subjects, and frail elderly individuals for whom exploratory techniques and treatment should be adapted.

Home blood pressure monitoring in diabetic population.

Normalization of blood pressure is today as necessary as an optimal blood glucose control. These targets aim at reducing the negative consequences of hypertension which is particularly frequent and of poor prognosis for these patients. Nevertheless, the definition of the real blood pressure of these patients is uneasy because of the lack of precision of clinical blood pressure measurement. New methods have been developed to address this insufficiency. Home blood pressure monitoring is characterised by good compliance and accuracy, but patient education needs a special training and validated automated devices. This method has to be proposed to the diabetic population as soon as hypertension may be a problem. These patients will contribute to monitor their own blood pressure as they do it with blood glucose control.

[Importance of transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography in the differential diagnosis of a case of papillary fibroelastoma revealed by a neurologic accident]. / Intérêt de l'échocardiographie transoesophagienne et du scanner multicoupes dans la démarche diagnostique d'un cas de fibroélastome papillaire révélé par un accident neurologique.

In the light of a new case revealed by a stroke, the authors confirm the importance of transesophagal echocardiography (TEE), and show that multislide computered tomography can be used as a new efficient tool for the diagnosis of cardiac papillary fibroelastoma (CPF). These benign tumours of endocardium are rare and case reports have been published sporadically. Stroke is an usual clinical complication and the most frequent symptom associated with CPF. Transesophageal echocardiography is the reference for diagnosis of CPF when transthoracic echocardiography is normal. When TEE is contraindicated or technically impossible, multislide computered tomography appears as an interesting alternate solution for diagnosis because of its fast acquisition and high spatial resolution. Symptomatology may be connected to either tumoral embolisation or cruoric emboli. Surgery is required for any symptomatic tumour.

Antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability of low-dose perindopril/indapamide combination compared with losartan in the treatment of essential hypertension.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the antihypertensive efficacy and tolerability of the low-dose combination of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor perindopril 2 mg plus the diuretic indapamide 0.625 mg (P/I) compared with the angiotensin II antagonist losartan 50 mg (L50) in the treatment of essential hypertension. Patients (n = 277) were randomised, double-blind and allocated to receive either P/I or L50 once daily for a period of 12 weeks. Responder and normalisation rates in the two groups were compared by a chi 2 test. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring results were compared using the one-tailed Student's t-test. Normalisation rates were significantly greater in the P/I group (76.0%) than in the L50 group (60.0%) (p = 0.009). Responder rates were significantly higher in the P/I group (91.7%) than in the L50 group (81.8%) (p = 0.025). The average blood pressure reductions were: in sSBP (P/I-L50 = -2.4 mmHg; CI: 6.2; 1.3) and sDBP (P/I-L50 = -2.0 mmHg; CI: -4.2; 0.2). The average night-time SBP decrease (ABPM) was significantly greater in the P/I group (p = 0.041). The tolerability was comparable between the two groups in terms of emergent adverse events related to treatment (12.4% for P/I patients and 8.4% for L50 patients). Laboratory evaluations did not show any significant variations. It was concluded the low-dose P/I combination had significantly higher responder and normalisation rates than L50. This study also confirmed the good tolerability of both treatments.

[Leiomyosarcoma of the right ventricle]. / Léiomyosarcome cardiaque du ventricule droit.

A 58-year-old woman has dyspnea and palpitations which reveal a leiomyosarcoma of the right ventricle. The medical imaging shows a lobulated sessile tumor attached to the ventricular septum and the tricuspid valve extending into the pulmonary artery trunk. The resection is performed with a tricuspid valvoplasty. In spite of chemotherapy (epirubicin-cyclophosphamide), relapse is observed with pulmonary metastases 17 months after the surgery. The death becomes on 18 months in congestive heart failure. From this case, the authors make a review of the literature about this exceptional tumour, and talk over the low possibilities of treatment, despite the capacities of the new ways of diagnosis.

User procedure for self-measurement of blood pressure. First International Consensus Conference on Self Blood Pressure Measurement.

OBJECTIVE: To review the medical literature regarding the methodology of self-measurement of blood pressure and to provide some practical recommendations regarding protocol and procedure for measurement, documentation and analysis of data, choice and provision of devices and education of patients and physicians. PROCEDURE AND PROTOCOL FOR MEASUREMENTS: Technical recommendations regarding measurement of blood pressure do not differ from usual guidelines. Frequency of measurement remains a matter of discussion. At the beginning of the self-measurements of blood pressure and during the titration phase, there should be a 7-day measurement period with two measurement of blood pressure each morning and two measurements in the evening at pre-stipulated times. For long-term observation, a minimum measurement period of 1 week per quarter is required. The minimum number of measurements performed during each period should be a total of 12 readings recorded within seven working days. Depending on individual needs (e.g. poor compliance) or for pharmacologic studies, a higher frequency of readings could be used. DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA: Owing to the lack of reliability of patients' diaries, the use of printer-equipped or memory-equipped devices is advocated. All the recorded data, except those obtained on the first day, must be used for analysis. CHOICE AND PROVISION OF DEVICES: Self-measurement of blood pressure should be performed with validated fully automated devices using a brachial cuff. The preference should be given to apparatus offering the possibility of storing and transmitting measurements. Wrist apparatus should be used with caution due to the risk of measurement errors if it is used inappropriately. A manual device should be considered for patients suffering from irregular cardiac rhythms and patients with large or small arm circumferences, since automated devices have not been validated for use in these situations. Reimbursement of hypertensive patients using validated devices should be considered, so long as they are adequately trained and supervised. EDUCATION OF PATIENTS: In a therapeutic perspective, self-measurement of blood pressure should be performed by trained patients under the supervision of their practitioner. Teaching must be performed by skilled staff in hypertension centers and ultimately in general practice. Self-measurement of blood pressure is to be recommended for any hypertensive patient who is sufficiently motivated to participate in the treatment of his own hypertension. Patients with physical problems or mental disabilities that make them unable to perform or to understand the measuring technique represent the limits of the method. Education of patients must encompass information about hypertension and cardiovascular risk, blood-pressure-measurement procedures, advice on items of equipment and their proper use, protocols, and interpretation of data. A patient's proficiency must be checked before he or she should be considered competent at performing the procedure. Annual reevaluation is required.

[Importance of the blood pressure exercise graph in the diabetic]. / Intérêt du profil tensionnel d'effort chez le diabétique.

The evaluation of the real blood pressure in the diabetic population has a major interest. Arterial blood pressure measure during standardised exercise test could be a supplementary aid in this field of research. This retrospective work is based on 134 diabetic patients compared with age, sex and body mass index matched controls. All of them were tested with a standardised protocol of bicycle ergometer. In the diabetic group, 62 patients present a microalbuminuria over 30 mg/day. The heart rate and arterial pressure do not differ between diabetics and controls before, during, and after the exercise. The registered parameters at the top of the effort are exactly the same for the pulse the systolic and the diastolic blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure gradient during effort is not different between the two groups. The presence of microalbuminuria into the diabetic group do not provoke any modification of cardiac frequency or pressure during the effort. Nevertheless a decrease in systolic blood pressure gradient is noted into the microalbuminuria group despite their older age is in favour of an increase in this parameter. Exercise test has a main place to track down coronary disease and the field of interest is the same that non diabetic patients to find white coat hypertension, to value arterial pressure reactivity during effort of hypertensive athletes or border line hypertensives. The signification and interest of the modification of systolic blood pressure gradient should to be evaluated by other works.

[Can ambulatory arterial blood pressure monitoring taken in the 4th month of pregnancy in normotensive primaparas predict the appearance of a fetomaternal event? Results of a French multicenter study. Report of 170 cases]. / La mesure ambulatoire de pression artérielle réalisée au 4e mois de grossesse chez la primipare normotendue peut-elle prédire l'apparition d'un événement foetomaternel? Résultats d'une étude multicentrique francaise. A propos de 170 cas.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in a primigravid normotensive population the predictive value of outcome of the ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) at the 4th month of pregnancy. DESIGN AND METHODS: A longitudinal observational study was carried out in 174 primigravid normotensives free from proteinuria and glycosuria during the first trimester. These women underwent an ABPM (Spacelabs 90207) at 17 +/- 3 weeks gestation and were then followed up throughout pregnancy for the identification of outcome: gestational hypertension (blood pressure > or = 140/80), proteinuria, hyperuricemia, preterm delivery, birth weight < 10th percentile, need for admission to the special care neonatal unit (SCNU). STATISTICS: Non parametric tests, ROC curves. RESULTS: Of the 174 women, 170 had sufficient readings to be considered for analysis. Pre-eclampsia occurred in 5 cases (3%), gestational hypertension in 27 (16%), proteinuria in 20 (12%), hyperuricemia in 2 (1%), preterm delivery in 11 (6%), low birth weight in 9 (5%) and admission to SCNU in 16 (9%). Women with gestational hypertension already exhibited at the 4th month, both ambulatory and clinical blood pressure (BP) higher than did normotensive women (respectively: 117 +/- 7/70 +/- 5 vs 110 +/- 7/65 +/- 6 mmHg, p < 0.0001 for 24-hour ABPM, and 124 +/- 8/76 +/- 7 vs 117 +/- 10/70 +/- 9 mmHg, p < 0.005 for clinical BP). There was a non significative trend for both ambulatory and clinical values to be slightly higher in the setting of preterm delivery, proteinuria and admission to SCNU and in contrast to be slightly lower in case of low birth weight. The occurrence of one outcome or more (49 outcomes, low birth weight excepted), was associated with significantly higher ambulatory and clinical BP levels (114 +/- 7/68 +/- 6 vs 111 +/- 7/65 +/- 5 mmHg, p < 0.009 for ABPM, and 121 +/- 9/74 +/- 8 vs 117 +/- 9/70 +/- 8 mmHg, p < 0.007 for clinical BP). Positive and negative predictive values for the outcome of gestational hypertension were respectively for systolic ambulatory BP of 28% and 95% using a cut off value of 115 mmHg and for systolic clinical BP of 26% and 97% using a cut-off value of 120 mmHg. CONCLUSION: ABPM in a normotensive primigravid population at 17 weeks of gestation is not a better predictor of outcome, even of gestational hypertension, than clinical measurement.

Relationship between diabetic autonomic dysfunction and heart rate variability assessed by recurrence plot.

Beat-to-beat heart rate (HR) and blood pressure were measured by the Finapres system in 44 healthy and 64 diabetic subjects in the at-rest condition. Autonomic control in diabetic subjects was assessed by the Ewing test. HR variability was explored by both linear and nonlinear methods. Linear methods used HR standard deviation and power spectrum. The percentage of the spectrum in the low frequencies was used to assess the sympathetic tone of the autonomic control. The nonlinear method used the "recurrence plot." This method explored long parallel subsequences in the HR time series. These sequences characterize the dependence of the HR dynamics on initial values. The HR standard deviation was reduced in the diabetic subjects compared with the healthy subjects (2.80 +/- 1.17 vs. 3.64 +/- 1.45 beats/min; P < 0.001). In the diabetic subjects, the HR standard deviation and the percentage of the spectrum in the low frequencies showed no correlations with the Ewing score (P > 0.10). In contrast, the longest length index was very strongly correlated to the Ewing score (r = -0.60; P < 0.0001). The results suggest that nonlinear methods might be powerful to explore the autonomic dysfunction in diabetic subjects.

[Circadian variations of blood pressure]. / Variations circadiennes de la pression artérielle.

Blood pressure (BP) exhibit diurnal variations with low level during night time and high level during daytime. There is little evidence of an endogenous mechanism of BP variations whereas a lot of clues show the contribution of external factors such as activity, mood, postures. Different pathophysiological conditions may alter the pattern of BP circadian variations. This is the case of severe hypertension, hypertension in the elderly and some secondary forms of the disease. Other pathological conditions concerned by BP rhythm alterations are dysautonomia, complicated diabetes, Cushing syndrome, organ transplantations. Methods currently in use to handle data are reviewed.

[Evaluation of the degree of diabetic dysautonomy with the analysis of heart rate measured at rest with the FINAPRES system]. / Evaluation du degré de dysautonomie diabétique par l'analyse de la fréquence cardiaque mesurée au repos par le système FINAPRES.

In this work, we developped the ERK (Eckmann, Ruelle and Khamporst) method of recurrent plots to analyse Heart Rate Variability (HRV), measured by the FINAPRES system in diabetic subjects. Our aim was to search some indices that might characterize the degree of dysautonomy detected in diabetic subjects, using the Ewing tests. The idea was to analyze the recurrences of the HR to previously observed values. When a value of HR, xi measured at the j-th beat come back to an already observed value, we compare the distances between the following measures (xi + 1 to xj + 1), (xj + 2 to xj + 2)... If the distances are under a given criteria during k beats, xi is deterministic of order k. Let n1 be the number of recurrent points and nk the number of k-order deterministic points, with k = 2, 3, 4... We defined the index of determinism nk + 1/nk and the Shannon entropy of the Nk = nk-nk + 1. These indices will be correlated to the total score of the 5 Ewing tests, which represent the standard measure to evaluate the diabetic dysautonomy. Blood pressure (BP) and HR were measured during about 30 minutes using the FINAPRES system in 44 healthy subjects and 60 non-hypertensive diabetic subjects. In the diabetic subjects, the age, the body weight and systolic and diastolic BP were 56 +/- 13 years (mean +/- standard-deviation), 79 +/- 14 kg, 80 +/- 10 mmHg and 137 +/- 20 mmHg. HR was weakly correlated to age (r = 0.29; p = 0.02) and the Ewing score (r = 0.31; p = 0.01). Its standard-deviation is also weakly correlated to age (r = 0.32; p = 0.01) and to the Ewing score (r = 0.34; p = 0.01). Using the ERK method, we obtained indices which are much more correlated to the Ewing score. In particular, the ratio n2/n1 and Shannon entropy were correlated to the Ewing score with r = 0.51 and r = 0.53, respectively (p < 0.0001 in both cases). These indices are also correlated to age (r = 0.40; p = 0.003) in both cases. The ERK method give some indices which are easy to obtain (measurement of HR during a rest period) and easy to interpret. These indices are strongly linked to the dysautonomy score which required a good cooperation of the patient and a great vigilance during its execution. This method could be applied to BP to explore BP regulation in hypertensive subjects.

The trough: peak ratio and the normalization of blood pressure profiles.

Experts from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA have assumed that hypertensive patients are likely to achieve greatest benefit from therapy in which the antihypertensive effects do not vary excessively during the course of the day. They suggested that the ratio of the minimal (trough) effect to the maximal (peak) effect of the drug should be no lower than 0.5. The concept of the trough: peak ratio (TPR) raises many practical problems. Using actual data, the effect of a drug often shows erratic fluctuations with several local minima and maxima. Mean blood pressure levels for several hours have been used to estimate the trough and peak effects. Blood pressure averages over 4 h may e a good choice, because blood pressures measured 4 h apart are not correlated. The statistical distribution of the TPR is not Gaussian. Negative and very low or positive and very high individual ratios are frequently observed. Therefore, the individual TPR is of questionable clinical value, except when the ratio is applied for responders only. The TPR can be calculated for a sample. In that case, the bootstrap method can be used to estimate the error of the TPR. Most important is the question of why the TPR should be higher than 0.5. We introduced the concept of 'normalization of the blood pressure profile', namely 'reducing the blood pressure profiles in hypertensives to match those profiles in normotensives'. This concept leads very naturally to the TPR and justifies the lower limit of 0.5 for the TPR.

[Comparison of the efficacy of enalapril + hydrochlorothiazide and captopril + hydrochlorothiazide combinations in mild-to-moderate arterial hypertension by ambulatory measurement of blood pressure]. / Comparaison de l'efficacité des associations énalapril + hydrochlorothiazide et captopril + hydrochlorothiazide parmesure ambulatoire de la pression artérielle sur l'hypertension artérielle légère à modérée.

This two-centre trial compared the efficacy of combinations of enalapril + hydrochlorothiazide (E + H) and captopril + hydrochlorothiazide (C + H) on mild-to-moderate hypertension, after a two-week placebo period, in 26 patients with mild-to-moderate HT (DBP between 95 and 114 mmHg) not controlled by previous treatment, randomized under double-blind conditions into two groups for two 4-week crossover treatment periods separated by a 4-week wash-out period. One group received E + H (20 mg/12.5 mg) followed by C + H (50 mg/25 mg) and the other group received C + H (50/25) followed E + H (20/12.5), once a day. The efficacy of the two treatments was evaluated by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) at the start of the study and after each treatment period. Plasma renin activity, aldosterone and angiotensin converting enzyme were assayed under the same conditions. Analysis was based on 26 cases, as none of the patients were withdrawn from the trial. No difference was observed between the two groups in terms of the main biometric and laboratory characteristics. Blood pressure evaluated by ABPM and intermittently was not significantly different between the two groups at the time of inclusion in the study. On intermittent Bp determinations, E + H and C + H decreased diastolic and systolic blood pressure, with no significant difference between the two treatments. On ABPM, the two treatments significantly decreased mean systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure during the diurnal, nocturnal and circadian periods.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Chronic compartment syndrome]. / Le syndrome chronique des loges.

Among causes of leg pains, a usual disability in athletes, chronic exertional compartment syndrome is far from being uncommon. To the opposite, descriptions concerning the others compartments such as the forearm or thigh are still scarce and poorly documented. A variety of techniques have been described for the measurement of intramuscular pressure. Intramuscular pressure measurement is a valuable and essential tool for diagnosing a compartment syndrome, but it is somewhat controversial when the deep posterior compartment is concerned. Conservative treatment is unsuccessful, whereas surgical decompression yield favorable results; two procedures are performed subcutaneous fasciotomy or open fasciotomy.

[Effect of arterial pressure level evaluated using ambulatory measurement on the two year course of microalbuminuria of type 1 diabetic subjects]. / Influence du niveau de pression artérielle évalué par mesure ambulatoire sur l'évolution a deux ans de la microalbuminurie de sujets diabétiques de type 1.

The aim of the present study is the evaluation two years apart of the effect of initial blood pressure values on ambulatory blood pressure determinations on the rise of microalbuminuria in 77 Type 1 diabetic patients. At the beginning of the study, subjects with incipient nephropathy have a whole day systolic and diastolic blood pressure greater than those whose microalbuminuria is below than 30 mg/24 h (127.7 +/- 15.1 mmHg versus 115 +/- 14.3 mmHg, p < 0.001; 76.6 +/- 8.1 mmHg versus 72.5 +/- 7.3 mmHg, p < 0.05). Among patients whose initial microalbuminuria was lower than 30 mg/24 h, incipient nephropathy will not be dependent on initial blood pressure values but conditioned by patients' age and duration diabetes of mellitus. On the other hand, blood pressure increases the microalbuminuria of the patients who had incipient nephropathy at the beginning of the study. In patients with diabetes mellitus, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring appreciates the impact of the pressure rise on the kidney, retina and heart.

[Cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Current realities and future outlook]. / La neuropathie végétative cardiaque d'origine diabétique. Réalités actuelles et perspectives d'avenir.

Cardiac autonomic neuropathy frequently affects Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients. This disease is distinguished by visible clinical consequences which can be tragic. It can also worsen a number of degenerative complications. Therefore, cardiac autonomic neuropathy seems to play a deciding role in silent ischaemia and in dysregulations of blood pressure. Clinical explorations continue to be based on the tests validated by Ewing, but the development of simple and reliable techniques seems to be an objective the interest of which cannot escape any clinician.