Hypertension and Heart Failure

Is Isolated Diastolic Hypotension a New Risk Factor for Incident Heart Failure in Community-Dwelling Older Adults?

Researchers: Guichard J, Ahmed M, Mujib M, et al.

Purpose: To better understand isolated diastolic hypotension (IDH) as “a novel risk factor for new-onset heart failure in older adults,” since “little is known about the prevalence and impact of [IDH] on incident” heart failure despite knowledge that isolate systolic hypertension is common among this population and related to increased heart failure risk.

Results: Not only is IDH common among ambulatory community-dwelling older adults without heart failure, it is associated with increased new-onset heart failure risk.

Cardiac Remodeling and Diastolic Dysfunction Precede non MI-Related Heart Failure in High-Risk Hypertensive Patients: The LIFE Echo Substudy

Researchers: Chinali M, Aurigemma G, Okin P, et al.

Purpose: To evaluate, explains Chinali “changes in cardiac geometry and function preceding and following incident heart failure (HF)—in the absence of an intercurrent myocardial infarction (MI)—in a population of” patients who had been treated for hypertension (HTN).

Results: Chinali concludes that in “the absence of an intercurent MI, changes in echocardiographic parameters occur before HF develops, characterized by signs of LV dilation and restrictive LV filling pattern, while no change is found in EF,” data that could be “useful for planning preventive strategies.”

Prognostic Role of CA125 in a Population at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease: Results from the PROBE-HF Study

Researchers: Betti I, Ballo P, Barchielli A, et al.

Purpose: To determine the value of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA 125) in detecting heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction in patients with hypertension and diabetes, as the predictive role of CA 125 in asymptomatic patients who are at high cardiovascular risk but with no cardiac disease history is unknown.

Results: In a result that the researchers feel primary care physicians should take into account when screening the general population, the team found that “CA-125 appears as an independent predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events in asymptomatic subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease.”

In yet another outstanding set of poster presentations, the following were among the best.