The factors associated with carotid artery IMT as an indicator of carotid atherosclerosis in community-dwelling oldest elderly aged 80 years or older were sex, aging, orthostatic blood pressure change and no alcohol intake. There were differences in risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis between the male and female population.

Visual analogue scale of happiness (VAS-H) was applied to elderly Himalayan highlanders to investigate the influence of lifestyle and socio-cultural background neuropsychological function tests in 733 Himalayan highlanders who belonged to 5 separate villages were compared with those in 313 Japanese elderly subjects.

he prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease and severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is poor, unless significant functional recovery is gained with coronary revascularization to viable myocardium. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of myocardial viability in the territory supplied by the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in patients with severe LV dysfunction (ejection fraction (EF) ≤35%) who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), because the prognostic and procedural significance of CABG to the LAD coronary artery was underscored recently. 9-11 Methods Study PatientsOne hundred consecutive patients, all who demonstrated of having myocardial viability in the LAD territory and who undergone CABG (66 men, 34 women, aged 42-85 years [mean, 66]) were studied retrospectively. Previous myocardial infarction and CABG had occurred in 66 and 3 patients, respectively. Left main coronary artery disease was found in 31 patients, 3-vessel disease in 44, 2-vessel disease in 23, and 1-vessel disease in 2. Written informed consent was obtained from all of the patients. EchocardiographyEchocardiographms were performed using a Toshiba SSH-65A (Tokyo, Japan) or an Aloka SSD-710 (Tokyo, Japan) with 2.5-3.75 MHz transducers. A complete Mmode and 2-dimensional study were performed and recorded on video tape for subsequent analysis. LV segmental wall motion abnormality and systolic wall thickJpn Circ J 1999; 63: 752 -758 (Received May 6, 1999; revised manuscript received June 24, 1999; accepted July 5, 1999 To evaluate the functional recovery after coronary bypass surgery in patients with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (ejection fraction (EF) ≤35%), 100 consecutive patients with viable myocardium in the territory supplied by the left anterior descending artery (LAD) underwent coronary bypass grafting. In addition, cardiac catheterization and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion imaging with thallium-201 were repeated 1-year postoperatively. Although 12 patients with severe LV dysfunction were preoperatively in a worse New York Heart Association functional class (3.1±0.7 vs 2.4±0.8; p<0.01), had a higher incidence of heart failure (10/12 vs 14/88; p<0.001) and had a worse LVEF (29±5 vs 61±14%; p<0.001) compared with 88 patients without severe LV dysfunction, the operative mortality was similar in the 2 groups (1/12 vs 2/88; p=NS). The postoperative NYHA functional class in the patients with severe LV dysfunction was similar to that in the patients without such dysfunction (1.6±0.7 vs 1.3±0.6; p=NS). In addition, the 1-year postoperative study revealed a significant improvement in the thallium defect score in both the LAD territory (1.7±1.2 to 0.7±1.0, p=0.01) and all the territories (5.2±2.2 to 3.2±1.9, p=0.002) in patients with severe LV dysfunction, whereas no improvement in defect score was found in either of these territories in those without severe LV dysfunction (LAD: 0.6±1.4 to 0.4±1.2, p=NS; All: 1.9±...

Recently, it has been reported that hypertension causes not only cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, but also a decline of cognitive function in the elderly. However, it is not clear whether or not aging and hypertension have a latent effect on the cognitive-neurobehavioral and cardiac functions in healthy elderly whose scores of basic activities of daily living (ADL) are fully maintained. We evaluated the effect of aging and hypertension on cognitive-neurobehavioral and cardiac functions in 25 healthy community-dwelling elderly subjects (mean age: 69 y.o.) whose scores of basic ADL were fully maintained. Subjects were followed over a 5-year period, and the following examinations were performed before and after a 5-year follow-up: echocardiography, 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), and cognitive-neurobehavioral function test. Left ventricular mass index was significantly increased in the hypertensive (HT) subjects relative to the normotensive (NT) subjects over the 5 years (% change: 3% for HT vs. -0.8% for NT, p = 0.03). The number of non-dippers significantly increased over the 5 years in the HT group (initially: 20% [2/10] vs. follow-up: 58% [7/12], p = 0.04). Visuospatial cognitive performance scale scores for evaluation of higher cognitive-neurobehavioral functions significantly deteriorated in the HT subjects (initially; 2,344 +/- 110 vs. 2,380 +/- 102, ns, and follow-up: 2,149 +/- 181 vs. 2,356 +/- 159, p = 0.04). Hypertension contributes to the impairment of the cognitive-neurobehavioral function in the elderly by latently affecting the functions of multiple organs. This occurs even if basic ADL is maintained for 5 years. Therefore, it is important to control BP not only to prevent cardiovascular events, but also to preserve the neurobehavioral function.

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