0000000000452630
AUTHOR
Christopher Adlbrecht
Research update for articles published in EJCI in 2016
The association of an excessive blood pressure increase with exercise (i.e., an increase in systolic blood pressure with exercise ≥95th percentile) with lower risk of subsequent events in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease has been consistently verified even in those with baseline hypertension. Nonetheless, this negative association, also confirmed in another study on a Japanese population, might depend on peak VO2, such that the prognostic value of blood pressure response might be limited in patients with preserved exercise capacity. In addition, a hypertensive response with exercise (defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥220 mmHg during the test) has also been associ…
Cardiac magnetic resonance-derived fibrosis, strain and molecular biomarkers of fibrosis in hypertensive heart disease
Aims Myocardial fibrosis is a relevant component of hypertensive heart disease (HHD). Novel cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging techniques have shown potential in quantification of diffuse cardiac fibrosis, with T1 mapping, and estimating preclinical cardiac dysfunction, with strain analysis. Molecular biomarkers of fibrosis have been related with clinical outcomes and histologically proven myocardial fibrosis. The relationship between these CMR-imaging techniques and circulating biomarkers is not fully understood. Methods and results CMR was performed on a 3T scanner in 36 individuals with HHD. Extracellular volume fraction (ECV) and the partition coefficient were assessed usin…