losartan-potassium and Atrial-Fibrillation

The associations between atrial fibrillation (AF) or complete right bundle branch block (RBBB) and other laboratory tests have not been examined sufficiently in healthy populations.. These associations were examined with multivariable logistic regression analyses using data from 6,381 apparently healthy subjects including 46 subjects with AF and 100 subjects with RBBB.. The mean age, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin, the prevalence of male sex and a history of coronary heart disease (CHD) were significantly higher in subjects with AF or RBBB than without. The odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) of AF was 1.62 (1.28-2.05) p<0.0001 for each 1 g/dL increment of hemoglobin and 1.07 (0.36-3.21) p=0.90 and 4.32 (1.29-14.43) p=0.017, respectively for the second and the third tertiles of hemoglobin compared with the first tertile after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, CHD, and other confounding covariates. The OR (95% CI) of RBBB was 1.53 (1.32-1.77) p<0.0001 for each 1 g/dL increment of hemoglobin and 2.53 (1.06-6.00) p=0.036, 3.10 (1.12-8.61) p=0.030, and 4.03 (0.91-17.82) p=0.066, respectively, for the second, third, and fourth quartiles of hemoglobin compared with the first quartile after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, CHD, and other confounding covariates.. An increased blood levels of hemoglobin was independently associated with AF and RBBB after adjusting for sex, age, BMI, CHD, and other confounding covariates in apparently healthy subjects.

Topics: Age Factors; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Atrial Fibrillation; Bundle-Branch Block; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Confidence Intervals; Databases, Factual; Electrocardiography; Erythropoietin; Female; Humans; Japan; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Reference Values; Risk Assessment; Sex Factors

Haemolytic anaemia is a well-recognised but rare complication of heart-valve prostheses. The authors report a case of an 80-year-old woman with severe haemolytic anaemia previously treated with valvuloplasty and annuloplasty without rings. To our knowledge, no cases of haemolysis have been described with this type of surgery.

Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Anemia, Hemolytic; Atrial Fibrillation; Diagnosis, Differential; Echocardiography; Echocardiography, Transesophageal; Erythrocyte Indices; Erythrocyte Transfusion; Erythropoietin; Female; Hematocrit; Hemoglobinometry; Humans; Mitral Valve Annuloplasty; Mitral Valve Insufficiency; Postoperative Complications; Psychotic Disorders; Recombinant Proteins; Respiratory Insufficiency; Suture Techniques; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color

In 2007, several international studies brought useful information for the daily work of internists in hospital settings. This summary is of course subjective but reflects the interests and questions of the chief residents of the Department of internal medicine who wrote this article like an original trip in medical literature. This trip will allow you to review some aspects of important fields such as heart failure, diabetes, endocarditis, COPD, and quality of care. Besides the growing diversity of the fields covered by internal medicine, these various topics underline also the uncertainty internists have to face in a practice directed towards evidence.

Topics: Accidental Falls; Aged; Albuterol; Anemia; Anticoagulants; Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; Atrial Fibrillation; Attitude of Health Personnel; Benzazepines; Bronchitis, Chronic; Bronchodilator Agents; Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; Diabetes Mellitus; Endocarditis, Bacterial; Erythropoietin; Heart Failure; Heparin; Humans; Internal Medicine; Interprofessional Relations; Medical Staff, Hospital; Myocardial Infarction; Recombinant Proteins; Risk Management; Rosiglitazone; Salmeterol Xinafoate; Thiazolidinediones; Thromboembolism; Tolvaptan; Vasodilator Agents; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left; Workload