METHODS: Over a 3-year period a group of pregnant women with cardiac disease was followed until 6 weeks postpartum. Twenty women with pulmonary hypertension were compared with 20 controls without pulmonary hypertension with particular reference to maternal and fetal outcome. Analysis of data was carried out using Fisher's exact test and Student's t-test.
RESULTS: Except for Eisenmenger's syndrome, there were no differences in maternal morbidity and mortality between the two groups. There were more low birth weight babies but no significant differences in premature delivery rate, mode of delivery or perinatal mortality.
CONCLUSION: Except for Eisenmenger's syndrome, coexisting pulmonary hypertension complicating cardiac disease in pregnancy generally has a favorable outcome for both mother and fetus.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study, set in Malaysia and the Philippines, builds on two systematic reviews of barriers to effective hypertension management. People with hypertension (pre-existing and newly diagnosed) will be identified in poor households in 24-30 communities per country. Quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to examine their experiences of and pathways into seeking and obtaining care. These include two waves of household surveys of 20-25 participants per community 12-18 months apart, microcosting exercises to assess the cost of illness (including costs due to health seeking activities and inability to work (5 per community)), preliminary and follow-up in-depth interviews and digital diaries with hypertensive adults over the course of a year (40 per country, employing an innovative mobile phone technology), focus group discussions with study participants and structured assessments of health facilities (including formal and informal providers).
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been granted by the Observational Research Ethics Committee at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Research Ethics Boards at the Universiti Putra Malaysia and the University of the Philippines Manila. The project team will disseminate findings and engage with a wide range of stakeholders to promote uptake and impact. Alongside publications in high-impact journals, dissemination activities include a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, engagement with traditional and social media and 'digital stories' coproduced with research participants.
CASE REPORT: The patient was a 55-year-old man who had a past medical history of diffuse multiple liver abscesses. During follow-up examination, a hypovascular nodule measuring 2.1 cm in diameter was incidentally found in segment 8 of the liver. Surgical resection was performed based on a suspected diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. A gastrofiberscopy examination detected characteristic findings of portal hypertensive gastropathy. During the laparotomy, multiple tiny cystic lesions were observed in a diffuse pattern across the liver surface. The liver parenchyma was slightly fibrotic and haemorrhagic. A histopathological examination revealed intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with vascular invasions in von Meyenburg's complex. Multiple biliary adenomas were also observed among the biliary microhamartomas adjacent to the main tumour, suggesting that the malignant transformation of the biliary adenomas might have been responsible for the development of the intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The histopathologic examination also revealed sinusoidal dilation and abnormal spacing of the portal tracts and central veins as evidence of portal hypertension.
METHODS: We enrolled 75 hypertensive patients with CKD into one-month salt restricting diet. 24-hour urinary sodium and potassium was measured to verify their salt intake followed by 1½ year follow-up.
RESULTS: Their creatinine clearance was 43 ± standard deviation 33ml/min/1.73m2. Urinary Na excretion (24HUNa) was 173±129mmol/day, reducing to 148±81 by 31±6 day. Mean, systolic and diastolic BP (MBP, SBP, DBP) were reduced from 102±9 to 97±11 (p<0.001), 148±10 to 139±16 (p<0.001), 78±12 to 75±12 mmHg (p=0.012) respectively. Moderate correlations were shown between reductions in 24-hour urinary Na and MBP, SBP, DBP: r=0.366, 0.260, 0.365; p=0.001, 0.025, 0.001; whereas 24-hour urinary Na-K ratio showed mild correlation. Subjects have some tendency to drift back to previous Na intake profile in follow-up and thus repetitive education is necessary. In subanalysis, 34 subjects with baseline 24HUNa >150 mmol/day, benefited significantly with MBP, SBP, DBP reduction from 102±9 to 95±9 (p=0.001), 146±10 to 135±14 mmHg (p=0.001), 80±11 to 75±11 mmHg (p=0.002) in line with 24HUNa reduction from 253±154 to 163±87mmol/day (p=0.004) and urinary protein-creation ratio reduction from geometric mean of 95 to 65 g/mol. Thirty five subjects with 24HUNa reduction of >20mmol/day have significant reduction in MBP, SBP, DBP: -8 vs -2, -15 vs -4, -5 vs -2 mmHg (p=0.027, 0.006, 0.218) and urinary protein-creatinine ratio: -82 vs 2g/mol (p=0.030) compared to the other forty subjects.
CONCLUSION: Quantification of 24-hour urinary Na helps in predicting potential antihypertensive effect with dietary salt reduction of CKD subjects. Salt restriction reduces BP especially in patients with estimated daily sodium intake of >150mmol/day. Reduction in sodium intake beyond 20mmol/day reduced both BP and proteinuria.
METHODS: A Markov model cohort simulation with a 6-month cycle length to predict acute coronary syndrome, stroke, and heart failure throughout lifetime was performed. A cohort of 399 patients was obtained from two prospective, cluster randomized controlled clinical trials implementing physician-pharmacist collaborative interventions in community-based medical offices in the Midwest, USA. Framingham risk equations and other algorithms were used to predict the vascular diseases. SBP reduction due to the interventions deteriorated until 5 years. Direct medical costs using a payer perspective were adjusted to 2015 dollar value, and the main outcome was quality-adjusted life years (QALYs); both were discounted at 3%. The intervention costs were estimated from the trials, whereas the remaining parameters were from published studies. A series of sensitivity analyses including changing patient risks of vascular diseases, probabilistic sensitivity analysis, and a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were performed.
RESULTS: The lifetime incremental costs were $26 807.83 per QALY (QALYs gained = 0.14). The intervention provided the greatest benefit for the high-risk patients, moderate benefit for the trial patients, and the lowest benefit for the low-risk patients. If a payer is willing to pay $50 000 per QALY gained, in 48.6% of the time the intervention would be cost-effective.
CONCLUSION: Team-based care such as a physician-pharmacist collaboration appears to be a cost-effective strategy for treating hypertension. The intervention is most cost-effective for high-risk patients.
METHODS: This was an open-label, prospective, case-controlled study, conducted over 12 months. Fifty-two consecutive patients referred for secondary hypertension were screened. Eighteen patients with confirmed PA (diagnosis based on the Endocrine Society clinical guideline) and seventeen matched controls with essential hypertension were recruited. BTM (CTX and P1NP), BMD, intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and bone profile were assessed at baseline and three months following treatment among the PA patients. Calcium intake was assessed using a validated questionnaire. Primary outcomes were the changes of bone markers and BMD following treatment of PA, and their relation to other parameters.
RESULTS: PA patients had significantly lower serum calcium and higher iPTH despite comparable vitamin D levels with control group. Both BTM were significantly higher among the PA group. BMD of lumbar spine, neck of femur and distal radius did not differ between groups. Three months following treatment, there were significant: 1) reduction in BTM; 2) improvement in the lumbar spine BMD; 3) reduction in iPTH level; and 4) increment of serum 25-OH vitamin D level.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support that bone loss and potential fracture risk among PA patients are likely a result of aldosterone-mediated secondary hyperparathyroidism. Patients with early PA may already exhibit increased bone turnover despite no significant changes in BMD.