Dislodgement of Intracoronary Thrombus During Angiography in a Patient with Unstable Angina Pectoris

A patient with unstable angina pectoris in whom thrombus release from intracoronary lesion was seen during angiography is described. The event resulted in improvement of vessel patency and resolution of ischemic symptoms. To our knowledge, only two similar cases have been reported in English literature since 1966.     

Risks of adverse events in patients with orthostatic intolerance undergoing surgery with general anesthesia

Clinical Autonomic Research - Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is a group of disorders characterized by symptoms that occur upon standing and resolve with recumbence. Although well established but not...     

Orthostatic hypotension and long‐term incidence of atrial fibrillation: the malmö preventive project

Abstract. Fedorowski A, Hedblad B, Engström G, Gustav Smith J, Melander O (Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö; and Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden). Orthostatic hypotension and long‐term incidence of atrial fibrillation: the Malmö Preventive Project. J Intern Med 2010; 268 : 383–389. Objectives. Orthostatic hypotension (OH), a common manifestation of autonomic dysfunction, has been identified as an independent risk factor for all‐cause mortality and incident cardiovascular disease. However, the role of OH in the development of atrial fibrillation has not been studied. Design. We investigated the incidence of atrial fibrillation in relation to baseline presence of OH according to international consensus criteria in the Swedish population‐based prospective cohort of the Malmö Preventive Project. The study sample consisted of 33 346 individuals (67.3% men; mean age, 45.6 ± 7.4 years; range, 26–61 years). The association between OH and incidence of atrial fibrillation during follow‐up was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, taking into account conventional risk factors for atrial fibrillation. Results. At baseline, 1987 participants (6.1%) met the diagnostic criteria for OH. Over a follow‐up period of approximately 24 years, 2312 individuals (3.0 events/1000 person‐years) were diagnosed with new‐onset atrial fibrillation. Of these, 196 had OH at baseline (4.6 events/1000 person‐years amongst all OH‐positive individuals). In a multivariable Cox regression analysis, OH predicted incidence of atrial fibrillation independently of other risk factors (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05–1.61; P = 0.016), and this association was significant in hypertensive (HR: 1.44; 95%CI: 1.10–1.88; P = 0.008), but not in normotensive participants (HR: 1.10; 95%CI: 0.77–1.58; P = 0.60). Conclusions. The presence of OH predicts the incidence of atrial fibrillation in middle‐aged hypertensive individuals, independently of conventional risk factors. Further studies of the association of autonomic dysfunction and OH with atrial fibrillation are needed.     

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: clinical presentation,aetiology and management

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a variant of cardiovascular autonomic disorder characterized by an excessive heart rate increase on standing and orthostatic intolerance. POTS affects younger individuals 15–45 years old with a distinct female predominance (≈80%). The prevalence ranges between 0.2% and 1.0% in developed countries. The onset of POTS is typically precipitated by immunological stressors such as viral infection, vaccination, trauma, pregnancy, surgery or psychosocial stress. The most common complaints are dizziness, weakness, rapid heartbeat and palpitation on standing. Moreover, patients often report physical deconditioning and reduced exercise capacity as well as headache, ‘brain fog’, dyspnoea, gastrointestinal disorders and musculoskeletal pain. The aetiology of POTS is largely unknown and three main hypotheses include an autoimmune disorder, abnormally increased sympathetic activity and catecholamine excess, and sympathetic denervation leading to central hypovolaemia and reflex tachycardia. The golden standard for POTS diagnosis is head‐up tilt test with a non‐invasive beat‐to‐beat haemodynamic monitoring. Although long‐term prognosis of POTS is poorly explored, around 50% of patients spontaneously recover within 1–3 years. After the diagnosis has been established, patient should be thoroughly educated about non‐pharmacological measures alleviating the symptoms. Exercise training may be very effective and counteract deconditioning. In more symptomatic patients, different drugs directed at controlling heart rate, increasing peripheral vasoconstriction and intravascular volume can be tested. However, the overall effects of pharmacological therapy are modest and the most affected patients remain handicapped. Future efforts should focus on better understanding of POTS pathophysiology and designing randomized controlled trials for selection of more effective therapy.     

Procoagulatory changes induced by head-up tilt test in patients with syncope: observational study

Background

Orthostatic hypercoagulability is proposed as a mechanism promoting cardiovascular and thromboembolic events after awakening and during prolonged orthostasis.We evaluated early changes in coagulation biomarkers induced by tilt testing among patients investigated for suspected syncope, aiming to test the hypothesis that orthostatic challenge evokes procoagulatory changes to a different degree according to diagnosis.

Methods

One-hundred-and-seventy-eight consecutive patients (age, 51 ± 21 years; 46% men) were analysed. Blood samples were collected during supine rest and after 3 min of 70° head-up tilt test (HUT) for determination of fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF:Ag) and activity (VWF:GP1bA), factor VIII (FVIII:C), lupus anticoagulant (LA1), functional APC-resistance, and activated prothrombin time (APTT) with and without activated protein C (C+/?). Analyses were stratified according to age, sex and diagnosis.

Results

After 3 min in the upright position, VWF:Ag (1.28 ± 0.55 vs. 1.22 ± 0.54; p < 0.001) and fibrinogen (2.84 ± 0.60 vs. 2.75 ± 0.60, p < 0.001) increased, whereas APTT/C+/? (75.1 ± 18.8 vs. 84.3 ± 19.6 s; p < 0.001, and 30.8 ± 3.7 vs. 32.1 ± 3.8 s; p < 0.001, respectively) and APC-resistance (2.42 ± 0.43 vs. 2.60 ± 0.41, p < 0.001) decreased compared with supine values. Significant changes in fibrinogen were restricted to women (p < 0.001) who also had lower LA1 during HUT (p = 0.007), indicating increased coagulability. Diagnosis vasovagal syncope was associated with less increase in VWF:Ag during HUT compared to other diagnoses (0.01 ± 0.16 vs. 0.09 ± 0.17; p = 0.004).

Conclusions

Procoagulatory changes in haemostatic plasma components are observed early during orthostasis in patients with history of syncope, irrespective of syncope aetiology. These findings may contribute to the understanding of orthostatic hypercoagulability and chronobiology of cardiovascular disease.

     

Orthostatic hypotension and novel blood pressure-associated gene variants: Genetics of Postural Hemodynamics (GPH) Consortium

Aims Orthostatic hypotension (OH), an independent predictor of mortality and cardiovascular events, strongly correlates with hypertension. Recent genome-wide studies have identified new loci influencing blood pressure (BP) in populations, but their impact on OH remains unknown. Methods and results A total of 38 970 men and women of European ancestry from five population-based cohorts were included, of whom 2656 (6.8%) met the diagnostic criteria for OH (systolic/diastolic BP drop ≥20/10 mmHg within 3 min of standing). Thirty-one recently discovered BP-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were examined using an additive genetic model and the major allele as referent. Relations between OH, orthostatic systolic BP response, and genetic variants were assessed by inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis. We found Bonferroni adjusted (P < 0.0016) significant evidence for association between OH and the EBF1 locus (rs11953630, per-minor-allele odds ratio, 95% confidence interval: 0.90, 0.85-0.96; P = 0.001), and nominal evidence (P < 0.05) for CYP17A1 (rs11191548: 0.85, 0.75-0.95; P = 0.005), and NPR3-C5orf23 (rs1173771: 0.92, 0.87-0.98; P= 0.009) loci. Among subjects not taking BP-lowering drugs, three SNPs within the NPPA/NPPB locus were nominally associated with increased risk of OH (rs17367504: 1.13, 1.02-1.24; P = 0.02, rs198358: 1.10, 1.01-1.20; P = 0.04, and rs5068: 1.22, 1.04-1.43; P = 0.01). Moreover, an ADM variant was nominally associated with continuous orthostatic systolic BP response in the adjusted model (P= 0.04). Conclusion The overall association between common gene variants in BP loci and OH was generally weak and the direction of effect inconsistent with resting BP findings. These results suggest that OH and resting BP share few genetic components.