The efficacy and safety of valsartan were studied in 90 children (mean age: 3.2 years; 60% male; 30% black) with systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or =95th percentile. Nineteen percent received valsartan in addition to previous antihypertensive therapy. Subjects were randomly assigned to low-, medium-, or high-dose valsartan for 2 weeks (phase 1) and then reassigned randomly to placebo or to rema...

Impaired relaxation of the left ventricle (LV) (diastolic dysfunction) invariably is associated with LV systolic dysfunction.1 Atrial contribution to ventricular filling (second filling phase of diastole) is pivotal in the presence of impaired relaxation where early filling is reduced. Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) has been shown to improve diastolic function in patients with heart fa...

Following contraction of the heart, efficient relaxation (diastole) is essential for refilling the ventricles with blood. This review describes how ventricular relaxation is controlled by Ca(2+) homeostasis in cardiac muscle cells and how alterations in Ca(2+) cycling affect diastolic function in the normal and failing heart. These discussions illustrate that the diastolic phase is not simply a...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to validate the Omron HEM-907 blood pressure (BP) measuring device according to the international validation protocol. DESIGN The international validation protocol is divided into two phases: the first phase is performed on 15 selected subjects and if the device passes this phase, 18 more subjects are selected making a total number of 33 subjects on which ...

Background The association between alcohol and blood pressure (BP) may be related to the temporal sequencing of alcohol use and BP measurement. We investigated the effects of single and repeated intakes of alcohol on 24-hour BP. Methods and Results Fourteen male habitual drinkers with essential hypertension were placed sequentially on a 4-day control phase: a nonalcoholic drink with the same ca...

To estimate the effects of diltiazem on the left ventricular diastolic abnormalities in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, transmitral flow velocity during diastole was studied before and immediately after dynamic leg exercise with the pulsed Doppler technique combined with two-dimensional echocardiography. Seventeen patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 24 apparently healthy me...

Relationships between initial anthropometric variables and subsequent diastolic blood pressure (fourth phase) were examined in children identified as being in the upper quintile for diastolic blood pressure at Year 1. Of 156 white children, aged 10 to 14 years, with diastolic blood pressure levels in the upper age-race-sex-specific quintile at Year 1, 38% remained in the upper quintile at Year ...

Session XII: Saturday, February 3, 2007 478. EFFICIENT, ACCURATE AND ROBUST LEFT-VENTRICULAR DIASTOLIC FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS BASED ON SHORT-AXIS CINE CARDIAC MRI Marcel Breeuwer, PhD, Gilion Hautvast. Philips Medical Systems, Best, The Netherlands. Introduction: Congestive heart failure is increasingly becoming a problem in the elderly population and is associated with an increased morbidity and ...

BACKGROUND Premenstrual syndrome is a psychoneuro endocrine stress related disorder. PURPOSE To study the effect of premenstrual stress on autonomic function. METHODS Study of autonomic function basal heart rate, basal blood pressure, systolic & diastolic response to cold stimulus was carried out in 80 Eumenorrheic females age between 18-25 yrs. during premenstrual & post menstrual phase. S...