Olivier Henry

Diastolic Blood Pressure and Mortality in the Elderly With Cardiovascular Disease

Isolated systolic hypertension is predominantly observed in the elderly because of increased arterial stiffness. Aggressive treatment leads to excessive lowering of diastolic blood pressure and favors the presence of a J-shaped curve association with mortality. We investigated whether, in the elderly, this pattern of association is a simple epiphenomenon of increased arterial stiffness and impaired cardiac function. In a cohort of 331 hospitalized subjects >70 years old (mean age±SD: 85±7 years), aortic pulse wave velocity and pressure wave reflections, by pulse wave analysis, and cardiac function, by ultrasound, were assessed. During a 2-year follow-up period, 110 subjects died. No association of prognosis with systolic pressure, pulse pressure, or pulse wave velocity was observed. A J-shaped association between diastolic pressure and overall and cardiovascular mortality was observed. Unadjusted Cox regression analysis showed that patients in the first tertile of diastolic pressure (≤60 mm Hg) had higher mortality. In Cox regression analysis, diastolic pressure ≤60 mm Hg was a predictor of mortality independently from cardiac–vascular properties, cardiovascular risk factors, and drug treatment. Multivariate regression analysis showed that increased age and low total peripheral resistance, but not left ventricular function, were the cardinal determinants of low diastolic pressure. An “optimal” diastolic pressure of 70 mm Hg in subjects with isolated systolic hypertension was found. We showed that, in the frail elderly, a value of diastolic blood pressure ≤60 mm Hg is associated with reduced survival, independent from large artery stiffness and left ventricular function, suggesting that more rational antihypertensive therapy, not only based on systolic pressure level, is needed.

Cardiometabolic determinants of mortality in a geriatric population: is there a "reverse metabolic syndrome"?

AIMSnDiabetes or insulin resistance, overweight, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidaemia are recognized risk factors for cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, their predictive value and hierarchy in elderly subjects remain uncertain.nnnMETHODSnWe investigated the impact of cardiometabolic risk factors on mortality in a prospective cohort study of 331 elderly high-risk subjects (mean age+/-SD: 85+/-7 years).nnnRESULTSnTwo-year total mortality was predicted by age, diabetes, low BMI, low diastolic blood pressure (DBP), low total and HDL cholesterol, and previous CV events. The effect of diabetes was explained by previous CV events. In non-diabetic subjects, mortality was predicted by high insulin sensitivity, determined by HOMA-IR and QUICKI indices. In multivariate analyses, the strongest mortality predictors were low BMI, low HDL cholesterol and previous myocardial infarction. Albumin, a marker of malnutrition, was associated with blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, and HOMA-IR. The inflammation marker CRP was associated with low total and HDL cholesterol, and high HOMA-IR.nnnCONCLUSIONnIn very old patients, low BMI, low DBP, low total and HDL cholesterol, and high insulin sensitivity predict total mortality, indicating a reverse metabolic syndrome that is probably attributable to malnutrition and/or chronic disorders. These inverse associations limit the relevance of conventional risk factors. Previous CV events and HDL cholesterol remain strong predictors of mortality. Future studies should determine if and when the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in the elderly should be incorporated into conventional CV prevention.

Validation of two devices for self-measurement of blood pressure by elderly patients according to the revised British Hypertension Society protocol: the Omron HEM-722C and HEM-735C.

BACKGROUNDnThe validation of self-measurement devices for clinical use by elderly patients has been recommended. The Omron HEM-722C device has recently been validated according to the British Hypertension Society (BHS) protocol for use for general populations and the Omron HEM-735C is a new fully automatic device with a high capacity for storage of measurements that is integrated with a personal computer.nnnOBJECTIVEnTo perform a clinical validation for use by elderly people of the Omron HEM-722C and HEM-735C devices according to the revised protocol of the BHS and the criteria of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI).nnnMETHODSnWe carried out a main validation test according to the revised BHS protocol for validation procedures for special groups on two groups of 30 subjects aged more than 65 years (29 men and 31 women), 11 of 30 with systolic blood pressures (SBP) <110mmHg, 10 of 30 with SBP >200 mmHg, 15 of 30 with diastolic blood pressures (DBP( <70 mmHg and 10 of 30 with DBP >110 mmHg. The results were graded according to the BHS system from A to D.nnnRESULTSnThe Omron HEM 722C achieved an overall A/A grading and satisfied the AAMI criteria for accuracy whereas the Omron HEM-735C achieved an overall B/A grading and satisfied the AAMI criteria for accuracy. The sphygmomanometer measurements were 147 +/- 31/79 +/- 15 and 144 +/- 30/78 +/- 15 mmHg (means+/-SD) respectively, for the models 722C and 735C. The average differences between mercury sphygmomanometer and HEM-722C readings for SBP and DBP were, respectively, 0.76+/-5 and 0.41+/-8 mmHg; those for HEM-735C were, respectively, 0.24+/-8 and 0.9+/-8 mmHg. Readings of the HEM-722C device differed by less than 5 mmHg for 76% of systolic readings and 96% of the readings differed by less than 10 mmHg. Diastolic measurements differed by less than 5 mmHg for 71% and less than 10 mmHg for 71 and 87% of all readings. Readings of the HEM-735C device differed by less than 5 mmHg for 68% of systolic readings and 74% of the readings differed by less than 10 mmHg. Diastolic measurements differed by less than 5 mmHg in 74% and less than 10 mmHg in 88 and 87% of all readings.nnnCONCLUSIONSnOn the basis of these results, for elderly subjects both self-measurement devices (Omron HEM-722C and HEM-735C) satisfied the validation criteria of the BHS and therefore can be recommended for the clinical measurement of blood pressure in elderly patients.

Aortic stiffness, inflammation, denutrition and type 2 diabetes in the elderly.

AIMnObservational studies in the elderly have shown that some of the classical cardiovascular (CV) risk factors are difficult to interpret. Thus, our study investigated whether increased aortic stiffness is associated with higher mortality risk in both the diabetic and non-diabetic elderly before and after adjusting for geriatric confounders such as inflammation (sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, orosomucoid levels, leukocyte count) and denutrition parameters (body weight, body mass index [BMI], plasma albumin and prealbumin).nnnMETHODSnIn a cohort of 324 (84 men) hospitalized elderly subjects, including 255 non-diabetic and 69 diabetic subjects, aortic stiffness was assessed by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) together with CV risk factors. Subjects were studied over a 2-year mean follow-up period, thus enabling evaluation of long-term all-cause mortality.nnnRESULTSnA total of 105 subjects died during the follow-up. Kaplan-Meier curves showed a significantly higher mortality in the diabetics (P=0.024). Multivariate Cox analyses differed for non-diabetic subjects and diabetics. In the former, the hazard ratio (HR) for an increase of 1 SD (with confidence intervals) was 1.36 (1.07-1.72) for PWV, 0.73 (0.52-1.01) for plasma albumin and 0.63 (0.45-0.89) for BMI. In diabetic patients, the HR was 1.60 (1.02-2.50) for leukocyte count, 1.75 (1.03-2.96) for orosomucoid levels and 0.32 (0.15-0.68) for BMI.nnnCONCLUSIONnIn this very elderly population, although marginally significant on crude analysis, PWV, but not systolic or pulse pressure, was a powerful determinant of total mortality after taking into account the important role of type 2 diabetes. In diabetics, inflammation and denutrition predominated over mechanical factors.