The objective of this study was to use a nationwide epidemiological survey to investigate the factors that affect within-visit blood pressure (BP) variability. We analyzed the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) data for 2005 (n=5488). We examined three within-visit BP variability parameters that include the following: the alarm reaction (AR), defined as the first BP reading minus the third BP reading; the BP discrepancy, defined as the maximal BP reading minus the minimal BP reading (ΔBPmax); and the s.d. (BPSD). Age, fasting glucose, eGFR, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) score were the relevant factors that affected the systolic AR, ΔSBPmax and SBPSD. Multiple linear regression models revealed that age (P<0.0001), the office systolic BP (SBP) level (P<0.0001), the MetS score (P<0.0001), the female gender (P=0.007) and the eGFR (P=0.049) were independently associated with the systolic AR, whereas age (P<0.0001), the office SBP level (P<0.0001), and the female gender (P=0.024 and 0.022) were independently associated with ΔSBPmax and SBPSD, respectively. Within-visit BP variability, especially the variability associated with the SBP, was significantly associated with increased age, female gender and cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, low eGFR and adverse glucose and lipid profiles. In addition, increased age, female gender, the eGFR and the MetS score were independently relevant factors that affected the systolic AR. Systolic within-visit BP variability and systolic AR are associated with cardiovascular risk factors.

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Background/Aims:The detection of white coat hypertension (WCH), treated normalized hypertension, and masked hypertension (MH) is important to improve the effectiveness of hypertension management. However, whether global cardiovascular risk (GCR) profile has any effect on the discordance between ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and clinic blood pressure (CBP) is unknown.Methods:Data from 1,916 subjects, taken from the Korean Multicenter Registry for ABP monitoring, were grouped according to diagnostic and therapeutic thresholds for CBP and ABP (140/90 and 135/85 mmHg, respectively). GCR was assessed using European Society of Hypertension 2007 guidelines.Results:The mean subject age was 54.1 ± 14.9 years, and 48.9% of patients were female. The discordancy rate between ABP and CBP in the untreated and treated patients was 32.5% and 26.5%, respectively (p = 0.02). The prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension and MH was 14.4% and 16.0%, respectively. Discordance between ABP and CBP was lower in the very high added-risk group compared to the moderate added-risk group (odds ratio [OR], 0.649; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.487 to 0.863; p = 0.003). The prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension was also lower in the very high added-risk group (OR, 0.451; 95% CI, 0.311 to 0.655).Conclusions:Discordance between ABP and CBP was observed more frequently in untreated subjects than in treated subjects, and less frequently in the very high added-risk group, which was due mainly to the lower prevalence of WCH or treated normalized hypertension.

Cardiogenic unilateral pulmonary edema (UPE) is a rare clinical entity that is often misdiagnosed at first. Most cases of cardiogenic UPE occur in the right upper lobe and are caused by severe mitral regurgitation (MR). We present an unusual case of right-sided UPE in a patient with cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) without severe MR. The patient was successfully treated by percutaneous coronary intervention and medical therapy for heart failure. Follow-up chest Radiography showed complete resolution of the UPE. This case reminds us that AMI can present as UPE even in patients without severe MR or any preexisting pulmonary disease affecting the vasculature or parenchyma of the lung.

Background and ObjectivesFew studies have invasively assessed diastolic functional reserve and serial changes in left ventricular hemodynamics in euvolemic patients with exertional dyspnea. In this study, sequential changes in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) to leg-raise exercise were measured invasively in patients with early heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) to determine the association between these serial changes and echocardiographic results or clinical features.Subjects and MethodsDuring their hospital stay, 181 patients with early HFpEF underwent left cardiac catheterization, coronary angiography, and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Leg-raise exercise was performed in two stages: during cardiac catheterization and again during TTE.ResultsCompared with the initial values, all the invasively measured LVEDP values increased significantly during the leg-raise exercise, whereas the septal e/e' ratio remained unchanged. Active leg-raise led to increased LVEDP, which caused dyspnea. The severity of symptoms correlated with the level and extent of changes in LVEDP. At the end of active leg-raise, LVEDP decreased in 40 patients (22.1%), who were younger and had significantly lower e/e' ratios. On multivariate analysis to predict the response of LVEDP to active leg-raise, age and the septal e/e' ratio remained significant predictors.ConclusionDespite having similar LVEDP values at rest, patients may respond to exercise with different LVEDP levels and clinical manifestations, depending on their diastolic capacity. The leg-raise exercise in early HFpEF can elucidate individual diastolic profiles, and the LVEDP response to the leg-raise test may serve as a useful criterion in stratifying patients with early HFpEF with respect to functional reserve.