The revision committee of the 2019 Thai Guidelines on the Treatment of Hypertension has reviewed new developments in the body of knowledge, together with the expertise in real-life clinical practice and evidence collected from clinical studies worldwide. The guidelines consist of newly highlighted key topics to ensure the guidelines remain up to date, user friendly, and suitable for the country’s context. The guidelines still maintain the current office blood pressure (BP) cut-off point of 140/90 mmHg for the diagnosis of hypertension. The use of out-of-office BP measurements, including home BP monitoring (HBPM) or ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM), is also advocated to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension. Target BP levels depend on the age of the patients, such as 120 to 130/70 to 79 mmHg for patients aged 18 to 65 years old, or 130 to 139/70 to 79 mmHg for patients over 65 years of age. There are five main groups of antihypertensive medication, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, and thiazides or thiazide-like diuretics. Two types of medications should be started for most patients, except for frail elderly patients, patients with a relatively low initial BP of 140 to 149/90 to 99 mmHg, and low-risk patients, in which only one type of starting medication should be selected. Medication that involves a combination of two types in one pill should ideally be selected. Keywords: Hypertension; Guidelines; Thailand

An unusual case of right ventricular outflow obstruction and right heart failure due to an isolated unruptured congenital sinus of Valsalva aneurysm originating from the right coronary sinus in a 75-year-old-man is described. The diagnosis was made by two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. Successful surgical resection of the aneurysm resulted in dramatic symptomatic improvement.

Background. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) practice and outcomes vary substantially in different parts of the world. The contemporary data of PCI in Asia are limited and only available from developed Asian countries. Objectives. To explore the pattern of practice and results of PCI procedures in Thailand as well as a temporal change of PCI practice over time compared with the registry from other countries. Methods. Thai PCI Registry is a prospective nationwide registry that was an initiative of the Cardiac Intervention Association of Thailand (CIAT). All cardiac catheterization laboratories in Thailand were invited to participate during 2018-2019, and consecutive PCI patients were enrolled and followed up for 1 year. Patient baseline characteristics, procedural details, equipment and medication use, outcomes, and complications were recorded. Results. Among the 39 hospitals participated, there were 22,741 patients included in this registry. Their mean age (standard deviation) was 64.2 (11.7) years and about 70% were males. The most common presentation was acute coronary syndrome (57%) with a high proportion of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (28%). Nearly two-thirds of patients had multivessel disease and significant left main stenosis was reported in 11%. The transradial approach was used in 44.2%. The procedural success rate was very high (95.2%) despite the high complexity of the lesions (56.9% type C lesion). The incidence of procedural complications was 5.3% and in-hospital mortality was 2.8%. Conclusion. Thai PCI Registry provides further insights into the current practice and outcomes of PCI in Southeast Asia. The success rate was very high, and the complications were very low despite the high complexity of the treated lesions.

Hypertension remains a significant risk factor for major cardiovascular events worldwide. Poor adherence to treatment is extremely common in clinical practice, leading to uncontrolled hypertension. However, some patients with resistant hypertension still have uncontrolled blood pressure despite good medical compliance. A specific group of patients also develop adverse reactions to many blood pressure-lowering medications. These scenarios indicate that innovative strategies to lower blood pressure in challenging cases of hypertension are needed. The blood pressure-lowering efficacy of catheter-based renal denervation therapy to decrease sympathetic tone has been confirmed in many publications in recent years. Apart from both the invasiveness and the expensiveness of this technology, appropriate case selection to undergo this procedure is still developing. The utilization of renal denervation therapy for hypertension treatment in Thailand has lasted for 10 years with a good response in most cases. Currently, only certain interventionists at a few medical schools in Thailand can perform this procedure. However, more physicians are now interested in applying this technology to their patients. The Thai Hypertension Society Committee has reviewed updated information to provide principles for the appropriate utilization of renal denervation therapy. The blood pressure-lowering mechanism, efficacy, suitable patient selection, pre- and postprocedural assessment and procedural safety of renal denervation are included in this statement.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is currently the main revascularization modality for these patients. The practice of PCI, outcomes and resource utilization varies in many parts of the world. Therefore, it is important to have local information regarding the patient demographics, pattern of PCI practice, and outcomes. Objective: To report the study design, protocol and rationale of the Thai PCI registry. Materials and Methods: Thai PCI Registry is a prospective, multi-center study which is an initiative project of the Cardiac Intervention Association of Thailand (CIAT). The study consisted of phase I for cross-sectional data registry and phase II for follow up study. The project was started in November 2015. All catheterization laboratories in Thailand were invited to participate in this nationwide registry. The details regarding patient characteristics, procedural details, equipment, and outcomes of PCI were prospectively collected using well-constructed case record form. The protocol of the registry has been approved by the Central Research Ethics Committee (CREC). The project received a research grant from the Health System Research Institute, The Ministry of Public Health, in Thailand, March 2017. Results: There were 39 hospitals from all areas of the country participated in the registration. The hospital type and size were varied and well represented of the PCI centers in Thailand. The registry planned to enroll all consecutive PCI patients at each hospital for approximately one year with the estimated number of PCI at 22,000 procedures. Initially, all patients were followed up for at least 6 and 12 months. Conclusion: The present study provides rationale, protocol, definition and study design of Thai PCI registry. The results of the Thai PCI registry would yield the essential information regarding the current real-world practice as well as the results and complications of PCI. Keywords: Coronary angioplasty; Nationwide registry; Percutaneous coronary intervention; Thailand; Real-world