Pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy has been associated with negative maternal and fetal outcomes over the past decades. With the emergence of novel treatment modalities, morbidity and mortality of women who have pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy have improved. In this review, we aim to explore the contemporary updates in the management of pre-capillary and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy.
Humans ; Pregnancy ; Female ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/physiopathology* ; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular/diagnosis* ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use*

BACKGROUND: There is little published evidence about the role of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the progression from prehypertension to hypertension. This study was conducted to investigate the association of NAFLD and its severity with the risk of hypertension developing from prehypertension. METHODS: The study cohort comprised 25,433 participants from the Kailuan study with prehypertension at baseline; those with excessive alcohol consumption and other liver diseases were excluded. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography and stratified as mild, moderate, or severe. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression was used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of incident hypertension according to the presence and 3 categories of severity of NAFLD. RESULTS: During a median of 12.6 years of follow-up, 10,638 participants progressed to hypertension from prehypertension. After adjusting for multiple risk factors, patients with prehypertension and NAFLD had a 15% higher risk of incident hypertension than those without NAFLD (HR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.10-1.21). Moreover, the severity of NAFLD was associated with the incidence of hypertension, which was higher in patients with more severe NAFLD (HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.10-1.21] in the mild NAFLD group; HR = 1.15 [95% CI 1.07-1.24] in the moderate NAFLD group; and HR = 1.20 [95% CI 1.03-1.41] in the severe NAFLD group). Subgroup analysis indicated that age and baseline systolic blood pressure may modify this association. CONCLUSIONS NAFLD is an independent risk factor for hypertension in patients with prehypertension. The risk of incident hypertension increases with the severity of NAFLD.
Humans ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/complications* ; Prehypertension/diagnosis* ; Risk Factors ; Hypertension ; Incidence

Sleep apnea causes cardiac arrest, sleep rhythm disorders, nocturnal hypoxia and abnormal blood pressure fluctuations in patients, which eventually lead to nocturnal target organ damage in hypertensive patients. The incidence of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is extremely high, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of patients. This study attempts to extract features associated with OSAHS from 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure data and identify OSAHS by machine learning models for the differential diagnosis of this disease. The study data were obtained from ambulatory blood pressure examination data of 339 patients collected in outpatient clinics of the Chinese PLA General Hospital from December 2018 to December 2019, including 115 patients with OSAHS diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG) and 224 patients with non-OSAHS. Based on the characteristics of clinical changes of blood pressure in OSAHS patients, feature extraction rules were defined and algorithms were developed to extract features, while logistic regression and lightGBM models were then used to classify and predict the disease. The results showed that the identification accuracy of the lightGBM model trained in this study was 80.0%, precision was 82.9%, recall was 72.5%, and the area under the working characteristic curve (AUC) of the subjects was 0.906. The defined ambulatory blood pressure features could be effectively used for identifying OSAHS. This study provides a new idea and method for OSAHS screening.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory ; Humans ; Hypertension/complications* ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive/diagnosis*

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is diagnosed after an average of 10–12 years of diabetic development. Strict glycemic control in diabetic patients promotes the normalization of blood glucose and reduces cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetic complications. Therefore, early diagnosis in non-aware individuals is very important. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Clinical indices and nutrient intakes in Korean diabetic adults aged 19–64 years were examined according to the awareness of diabetes, using 2012 and 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data. The aware group was defined as individuals who were aware of having diabetes from diagnosis by physician before the survey and the non-aware group as individuals who were not aware of having diabetes. RESULTS: The average age was higher in the aware group compared to the non-aware group in both men (P = 0.002) and women (P = 0.004). The prevalences of hypertension and dyslipidemia were not different between the two groups, but the diagnosis rate was significantly lower in the non-aware group. In the non-aware group, total and LDL-cholesterol were significantly higher (P < 0.001), the risk for total cholesterol over 240 mg/dL was 3.4 times (95% CI: 1.58–7.52) higher (P = 0.002) and the risk for LDL-cholesterol over 160 mg/dL was 4.59 times (95% CI: 2.07–10.17) higher (P < 0.001). The calorie intake of the female non-aware group was significantly higher compared to the female aware group (P = 0.033). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the recommendation of screening test is necessary even for young adults. Studies on the methodology for early diagnosis of diabetes are also needed.
Adult ; Blood Glucose ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Complications ; Diagnosis ; Dyslipidemias ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Nutrition Surveys ; Prevalence ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: There have been equivocal results in studies of the effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) on fractures. In this study, we analyzed the effect of DPP-4i on bone fracture risk in a Korean population. METHODS: We extracted subjects (n = 11,164) aged 50 years or older from the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort 2.0 from 2009 to 2014. Our control group included subjects without diabetes (n = 5,582), and our treatment groups with diabetes included DPP-4i users (n = 1,410) and DPP-4i non-users (n = 4,172). The primary endpoint was the incidence of a composite outcome consisting of osteoporosis diagnosis, osteoporotic fractures, vertebral fractures, non-vertebral fractures, and femoral fractures. The secondary endpoint was the incidence of each individual component of the composite outcome. Survival analysis was performed with adjustment for age, gender, diabetes complications severity index, Charlson comorbidity index, hypertension medication, and dyslipidemia treatment. RESULTS: The incidence of the composite outcome per 1,000 person-years was 0.089 in DPP-4i users, 0.099 in DPP-4i non-users, and 0.095 in controls. There was no significant difference in fracture risk between DPP-4i users and DPP-4i non-users or controls after the adjustments (P > 0.05). The incidences of osteoporosis diagnosis, osteoporotic fractures, vertebral fractures, non-vertebral fractures, and femoral fractures were not significantly different between DPP-4i users and non-users. The results of subgroup analyses by gender and age were consistent. CONCLUSION: DPP-4i had no significant effect on the risk of fractures in a Korean population.
Cohort Studies ; Comorbidity ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diagnosis ; Dipeptidyl-Peptidase IV Inhibitors ; Dyslipidemias ; Femoral Fractures ; Fractures, Bone ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; National Health Programs ; Osteoporosis ; Osteoporotic Fractures

BACKGROUND: Free fibular flap is one of the most useful methods in the hard tissue reconstruction of the maxilla-mandible. Free fibular flap presents some advantages in which the reconstruction of both soft and hard tissues can be done at the same time. It also provides a safe and successful bone graft for the reconstruction, along with a low rate of complications. Despite these advantages and the rarity of a postoperative complication, particularly in oral and maxillofacial surgery procedures, a prolonged operation might exhibit some complications related with rhabdomyolysis. We experienced the rare event of rhabdomyolysis after oral cancer surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: In this article, we report the case of a patient who developed rhabdomyolysis after undergoing free fibular flap surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the advantages of the free fibular flap operation, clinicians must be aware of the risk of complications because there are multiple factors that could result in rhabdomyolysis, such as duration of operation, position of the subject, and pre-existing conditions of diabetes and hypertension. Once the diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis is confirmed, a prompt treatment plan should be made and applied as soon as possible. This will increase the chance of a full recovery for the patient who is exhibiting symptoms of rhabdomyolysis.
Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Mandibular Reconstruction ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Postoperative Complications ; Preexisting Condition Coverage ; Renal Insufficiency ; Rhabdomyolysis ; Surgery, Oral ; Transplants

To investigate the clinical features of the recurrence of idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(IBPPV)patients.Patients with IBPPV were enrolled and were followed-up for 36 months after being well controlled.The data of the patients including age,gender,and co-morbidities(hypertension,diabetes,hyperlipidemia)were analyzed.Characteristics of the patients with recurrent BPPV were compared with those without recurrence.Two hundred and one patients were enrolled and twenty-two(10.9%)patients presented recurrent IBPPV within 36 months.Among them,about 16% showed changes in the involved semicircular canals.50% recurrence occurred within 6 months after the first treatment.The recurrence rate of BPPV in 50-60 years old patients(50%)is higher than other patients(P=0.04).No significant difference in terms of gender or co-morbidities(hypertension,diabetes,hyperlipidemia)was observed between the two groups.The incidence of recurrence in idiopathic BPPV patients was 10.9%in the present study.The mean period of 50% recurrence after a symptom-free interval was about 6 months.Furthermore,different semicircular canals were involved in about 50% of patients during recurrence.BPPV recurrence was not correlated with age,gender or co-morbiditie.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo ; complications ; diagnosis ; Comorbidity ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; complications ; Hypertension ; complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Semicircular Canals

BACKGROUNDFibrosing mediastinitis (FM) is a rare disease. FM is thought to be related to prior granulomatous mediastinal infection, such as histoplasmosis or tuberculosis. The majority of cases have been reported in endemic regions for histoplasmosis. The characteristics of cases of FM in China, where the prevalence of tuberculosis is high, have not been reported. We analyzed the clinical, imaging, and bronchoscopic features of Chinese patients with FM to promote awareness of this disease.

METHODSBetween January 2005 and June 2015, twenty patients were diagnosed with FM in our hospital. Medical records and follow-up data were collected. Imaging and biopsy findings were reviewed by radiologists and pathologists.

RESULTSA total of 20 patients were analyzed (8 males and 12 females). The age ranged from 43 to 88 years with a mean age of 69.5 years. Previous or latent tuberculosis was found in 12 cases. Clinical symptoms included dyspnea (18/20), cough (17/20), expectoration (7/20), and recurrent pneumonia (3/20). Chest computed tomography scans showed a diffuse, homogeneous, soft tissue process throughout the mediastinum and hila with compression of bronchial and pulmonary vessels. Calcification was common (15/20). Pulmonary hypertension was present in 9 of 20 cases. Diffuse black pigmentation in the bronchial mucosa was frequently seen on bronchoscopy (12/13). The patients' response to antituberculosis treatment was inconsistent.

CONCLUSIONSFM in Chinese patients is most likely associated with tuberculosis. Some characteristics of FM are different from cases caused by histoplasmosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Female ; Histoplasmosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Male ; Mediastinitis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Middle Aged ; Sclerosis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Tuberculosis ; diagnosis ; physiopathology

No abstract available.
Chronic Disease ; Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes/*complications/diagnosis ; Gonioscopy ; Humans ; *Intraocular Pressure ; Male ; Microscopy, Acoustic ; Middle Aged ; Ocular Hypertension/diagnosis/*etiology/physiopathology ; Rare Diseases

BACKGROUNDBalanced adjustment of the portal vein shunt volume during a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is critical for maintaining liver perfusion and decreasing the incidence of liver insufficiency. A stent-graft is proved to be superior to a bare metal stent (BMS) for the construction of a TIPS. However, the clinical results of the combination application of stents and stent-grafts have not been determined. This study aimed to compare the technique of using a combination of stents and stent-grafts with using a single stent-graft to construct a TIPS.

METHODSFrom April 2011 to November 2014, a total of fifty patients were randomly assigned to a stents-combination group (Group I, n = 28) or a stent-graft group (Group II, n = 22). Primary patency rates were calculated. Clinical data, including the technical success rate, bleeding control results, incidence of encephalopathy, liver function preservation, and survival rate, were assessed.

RESULTSTechnically, the success rate was 100% for both groups. The primary patency rates at 1, 2, and 3 years for Group I were 96%, 84%, and 77%, respectively; for Group II, they were 90%, 90%, and 78%, respectively. The survival rates at 1, 2, and 3 years for Group I were 79%, 74%, and 68%, respectively; for Group II, they were 82%, 82%, and 74%, respectively. The incidence of hepatic encephalopathy was 14.3% for Group I and 13.6% for Group II. The Child-Pugh score in Group I was stable at the end of the follow-up but had significantly increased in Group II (t = -2.474, P = 0.022).

CONCLUSIONSThe construction of a TIPS with either the single stent-graft or BMS/stent-graft combination is effective for controlling variceal bleeding. The BMS/stent-graft combination technique is superior to the stent-graft technique in terms of hepatic function preservation indicated by the Child-Pugh score. However, considering the clinical results of the TIPS, the two techniques are comparable in their primary shunt patency, incidence of encephalopathy and patient survival during the long-term follow-up.

Aged ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal ; complications ; mortality ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Portal Vein ; surgery ; Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic ; adverse effects ; methods ; Postoperative Complications ; Prospective Studies ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome