Short-term health-related quality of life in patients with ischaemic stroke after PFO closure

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: None.

Introduction/Purpose: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is common in asymptomatic adults and is associated with cryptogenic stroke (CS). We sought to evaluate the impact of PFO closure in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in PFO patients with CS. 

Method

In this pilot study, 19 patients (mean age 47 ± 7.7; 13 male) who underwent PFO closure at our center were invited to a short-term clinical follow up (mean follow-up period 6-10 months). All patients had suffered an ischaemic stroke and their disability level was assessed using the Modified Rankin Scale (MRS, no significant disability 63%). HRQoL was assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D) preoperatively and at follow-up. 

Results

Both SF36 and EQ-5D scores improved after the operation as shown by the self-rating scores (20,67% and 40,52% higher scores, respectively). Patients with major mobility problems were more likely to be current smokers (r = 0.481) and those who had lower scores on the MRS scale (r=-0.571) rated higher their scale diagram.  The categories of energy/fatigue (r = 0.459; p = 0.048), social functioning (r = 0.547; p = 0.015) and pain (r = 0.550; p = 0.015) were positively correlated with physical function. Finally, there was a positive correlation between role limitations due to emotional problems and energy/fatigue (r = 0,519; p = 0.023), and between energy/fatigue and emotional well-being (r = 0.519; p = 0,023).

Conclusions

The results of our study indicate that shortly after PFO, subjects perceive improvements in their QoL. However, it seems that poorly rated physical function was more common in active smokers, and affects patients" social life and their emotional state. Health care professionals should encourage these patients to participate in rehabilitation and psychological support programs postoperatively.

The dominant role of the systolic component of nondipping status on target-organ damage in never-treated hypertensives

BACKGROUND

Blood pressure (BP) nondipping has been associated with target-organ damage (TOD) and adverse outcomes in hypertension. Diverse definitions of nondipping status appear in the literature, regarding the BP components taken into account. Aim of this study was to compare the effects of isolated nondipping of systolic, diastolic and combined systolic and diastolic BP on various indices of TOD.

METHODS

From 630 consecutive subjects with never-treated essential hypertension stage I-II, we selected 279 subjects who were consistently isolated systolic nondippers (SND, n=76) isolated diastolic nondippers (DND, n=64) and combined systolic and diastolic nondippers (SDND, n=139) in two ambulatory BP monitoring sessions. All three subgroups were subjected to echocardiographic examination, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV(c-f)) and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) determination. Metabolic profile was determined in a morning blood sample.

RESULTS

SND compared to DND and SDND exhibited higher left ventricular mass/height(2.7) (42.4 ± 9.9 vs. 38.0 ± 9.1 vs. 40.9 ± 11.0 g/m(2.7), P < 0.05), higher log(10)(PWV(c-f)) (0.94 ± 0.07 vs. 0.86 ± 0.05 vs. 0.91 ± 0.07 m/s, P < 0.005), and higher log(10)(ACR) (1.2 ± 0.5 vs. 0.9 ± 0.3 vs. 1.1 ± 0.4 mg/g, P < 0.05). Isolated systolic BP nondipping was an independent determinant of all the studied indices of TOD whereas isolated diastolic BP nondipping was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Isolated systolic as compared to diastolic and to combined systolic/diastolic BP nondipping is associated with higher left ventricular mass, stiffer arteries, and pronounced urinary albumin excretion.