Active clinical trials for "Hypertension"

To establish a registry of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), a lethal disease which causes progressive obstruction of small pulmonary arteries and to investigate basic mechanisms of the disease.

The purpose of this study is to determine how often people with sickle cell anemia develop pulmonary hypertension a serious disease in which blood pressure in the artery to the lungs is elevated. Men and women 18 years of age and older with sickle cell anemia may be eligible for this study. Participants will undergo an evaluation at Howard University s Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center in Washington, D.C. or at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. It will include the following: medical history physical examination blood collection (no more than 50 ml., or about 1/3 cup) to confirm the diagnosis of sickle cell anemia, sickle cell trait or beta-thalassemia (Some blood will be stored for future research testing on sickle cell anemia.) echocardiogram (ultrasound test of the heart) to check the pumping action of the heart and the rate at which blood travels through the tricuspid valve. Following this evaluation, a study nurse will contact participants twice a month for 2 months and then once every 3 months for the next 3 years for a telephone interview. The interview will include questions about general health and recent health-related events, such as hospitalizations or emergency room visits.

The present record represents a secondary data analysis of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial. Study data and specimens were accessed through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Coordinating Center (BioLINCC). A global, untargeted, metabolomic profile was used to investigate biomarkers of the DASH dietary pattern as well as blood pressure change.

This study aims to compare changes in cardiovascular function and markers of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction in women randomized to treatment with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) versus those randomized to treatment with a control oil low in oleic acid and phenols for 8 weeks.

This protocol is of a systematic review for risk factors of pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis.

The goal of the study is to prospectively evaluate Impedance Cardiography as a tool to detect pulmonary hypertension. According to our hypothesis Impedance Cardiography is a valuable method to differentiate patients without pulmonary hypertension from patients with pulmonary hypertension. The main objective is to determine the sensitivity and specificity in comparison to the gold standard right heart catheterization.

Insulin resistance is a key mechanism in metabolic disorders, which has also been implicated in the development of pulmonary hypertension. In this pilot study, the investigators´ goal is to directly determine insulin sensitivity in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients and to compare the results with data from healthy controls.

The investigation serves the identification of pulmonary hypertension (PH) among patients with hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). The exact prevalence of PH in HP is unknown. Data from South America indicate that the prevalence of pre-capillary PH amongst patients with HP is higher than 20%. There are no reliable data from Europe so far. According to the investigators previous analysis, more than 400 HP patients have participated in pulmonary rehabilitation at least once in the past 10 years at Klinikum Bad Gleichenberg (Rehabilitation Center for Agricultural Workers in Austria). This collective of patients is to be invited to participate in the study. A diagnostic algorithm will be applied in the clinical trial, in the case of clinical suspicion the diagnosis of PH will be confirmed by right heart catheterization. Besides the determination of the prevalence of PH in patients with HP the investigators aim to assess the reliability of non-invasive methods (e.g. Echocardiography, ECG...) to predict PH.

Risk stratification of hypertensive patients includes assessment of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical target organ damages particularly left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). LVH may routinely screened by transthoracic echocardiography by measuring the left ventricular mass (LVM). However, transthoracic echocardiography suffers from several pitfalls: poor reproducibility, technical limitations and unavailability at a first evaluation by general practitioners. Other biomarkers may be particularly helpful in hypertension risk stratification. The amplitude of the R wave in aVL lead is a simple validated ECG parameters of LVH and a strong predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality. Plasma N-terminal pro Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) is also strongly related to LVM and is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in hypertension. The main objective of our study is to determine the additive prognostic value of R wave in aVL and NT proBNP on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Secondary objectives are to determine the addition prognostic value of NT-proBNP and R wave in aVL combined in comparison to each marker taken into account This study will include 1600 patients who had a work-up of their hypertension in the Cardiology Department of Croix-Rousse Hospital (Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France) from January 1997 to January 2014. Their data will be collected in an Access database; their vital status will be obtained by the INSEE unit CépiDC.

Toxemia of pregnancy is a recognized entity for over 2000 years with its known complications and fatality. Nowadays, a most accepted terminology for the following defined syndrome is "hypertensive disorders in pregnancy" given by American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is an important cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) was classified as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia and eclampsia. PIH is a hypertensive disorder in pregnancy that occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy in the absence of other causes of elevated blood pressure (BP) (BP >140/90 mmHg measured two times with at least of 4 hour interval) in combination with generalized edema and/or proteinuria (>300 mg per 24 hrs). When there is significant proteinuria it is termed as preeclampsia; seizure or coma as a consequence of PIH is termed as eclampsia. Preeclampsia was classified into mild and severe preeclampsia. Mild eclampsia-BP >140/90 mmHg, proteinuria+, and/or mild edema of legs, Severe preeclampsia-BP >160/110 mmHg,proteinuria++ or ++++, headache, cerebral or visual disturbances, epigastric pain, impaired liver function tests and increase in serum creatinine. Proteinuria was tested using dipstick method as +=0.3 gm/L, ++=1 gm/L, and +++=3 gm/L. The pathological changes of this disease appear to be related to vascular endothelial dysfunction and its consequences (generalized vasospasm and capillary leak). Ocular involvement is common in PIH.Common symptoms are blurring of vision, photopsia, scotomas and diplopia. Visual symptoms may be the precursor of seizures.Progression of retinal changes correlates with progression of PIH and also with the fetal mortality due to similar vascular ischemic changes in placenta.Vasospastic manifestations are reversible and the retinal vessels rapidly return to normal after delivery. Ophthalmoscope should be rated next to the sphygmomanometer as an instrument of diagnostic importance in cases of PIH. Ophthalmoscopy does not only helps in diagnosing the disease but repeated observations assist in assessing the severity, progress of disease, response to treatment if any and ultimate outcome or prognosis.