Browsing by Author "Lović, Dragan (57205232088)"

Our aim was to establish the association of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and ankle-brachial index(ABI) with the severity of coronary artery dissease (CAD). The study enrolled 150 examinees and divided them into two groups. The patients with stenotic changes in the coronary artery, constituted the first group (CP)(n=100); the second group consisted of the examinees without CAD - control goup (CG) (n=50). The following methods were used in the study: Color Doppler sonography of the carotid arteries, ABI, calculation of SCORE risk and coronary angiography. The number of coronary blood vessels affected by atherosclerosis was significantly higher with the increase of CIMT, CV risk score, and waist-hip ratio by one measurement unit: CIMT by 0.729; p<0.05; CV risk score by 0.033; p<0.05; and waist-hip ratio by 3.182; p<0.01. With each increase of ABI value by one measurement unit, the number of involved blood vessels dropped by 0.844; p<0.05. Our results demonstrated that reduced ABI value, increased CIMT and number of plaques in the carotid arteries were in correlation with the severity of coronary artery disease. © 2014 Versita and Springer-Verlag.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the mortality rate and risk of death in relation to the blood pressure (BP) categories during 36 years of follow-up period. Methods: 265 healthy middle-aged participants were included in the follow up for 36 years; 136 deaths occurred during this time. Causes of death (myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and other causes) were obtained from the death certificates. Participants were divided into four groups according to their blood pressure measurements (normal blood pressure, prehypertension, stage I and stage II hypertension). Hazard ratios (HR) for mortality from all investigated causes of death were calculated using measurements of normal BP as a reference. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate probability of survival for each BP category. Results: Participants with prehypertension and stage I hypertension have shared similar all-cause mortality rates (15 deaths per 1000 person-years), and MI mortality rates (7 per 1000 person-years). Participants with stage II hypertension had the highest risk of all-cause mortality (HR 2.78, 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 6.66). Conclusion: Prehypertension and stage I hypertension induced similar rates of mortality due to myocardial infarction or all-causes. The survival probabilities were lower for participants with hypertension and prehypertension in comparison with those who had normal blood pressure. Participants with stage II hypertension had the highest mortality rates and the lowest probability of survival during a 36-year follow-up period. © 2013 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the aortoiliac segment is found in nearly a half of patients with PAD. The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of obesity and fat distribution on the occurrence of aortoiliac PAD in middle-aged men. Methods: This case-control study included 204 middle-aged men (mean 58 ± 7 years; range 45-70 years): 102 patients with aortoiliac PAD and 102 healthy controls without PAD. Aortoiliac PAD was diagnosed by ankle-brachial index (ABI) and angiography. Body mass index (BMI) was categorized as: normal weight, overweight, and obese. Percents of body fat were grouped according to quartile distribution. The relationship between anthropometrics and aortoiliac PAD was estimated by multivariate logistic regression. Results: Patients with aortoiliac PAD had higher body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and percent of body fat. A strong correlation between all anthropometric parameters and ABI index and mean angiographic score was shown among patients with PAD. Multivariate regression, adjusted for blood pressure and cholesterol level, identified being overweight, body fat over 26.5% and WHR over 1.02 as predictors for aortoiliac PAD. Body fat over 26.5% and WHR over 1.02 remained significant after further adjustment for blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index. Conclusion: This study has identified the quantity of fat tissue (body fat over 26.5%) and its visceral distribution (waist-hip ratio over 1.02) as predictors of aortoiliac PAD in middle-aged men. Body mass index, a crude indicator of obesity, should be combined with these parameters when assessing the risk for aortoiliac PAD. © 2010 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: Exercise-based rehabilitation is an important part of treatment patients following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Hypothesis: To evaluate effect of very short/short-term exercise training on cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters. Methods: We studied 54 consecutive patients with myocardial infarction (MI) treated with CABG surgery referred for rehabilitation. The study population consisted of 50 men and 4 women (age 57.72 ± 7.61 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 55% ± 5.81%), who participated in a 3-week clinical and 6-month outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program. The Inpatient program consisted of cycling 7 times/week and daily walking for 45 minutes. The outpatient program consisted mainly of walking 5 times/week for 45 minutes and cycling 3 times/week. All patients performed symptom-limited CPET on a bicycle ergometer with a ramp protocol of 10 W/minute at the start, for 3 weeks, and for 6 months. Results: After 3 weeks of an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program, exercise tolerance improved as compared to baseline, as well as peak respiratory exchange ratio. Most importantly, peak VO2 (16.35 ± 3.83 vs 17.88 ± 4.25 mL/kg/min, respectively, P < 0.05), peak VCO2 (1.48 ± 0.40 vs 1.68 ± 0.43, respectively, P < 0.05), peak ventilatory exchange (44.52 ± 11.32 vs 52.56 ± 12.37 L/min, respectively, P < 0.05), and peak breathing reserve (52.00% ± 13.73% vs 45.75% ± 14.84%, respectively, P < 0.05) were also improved. The same improvement trend continued after 6 months (respectively, P < 0.001 and P < 0.0001). No major adverse cardiac events were noted during the rehabilitation program. Conclusions: Very short/short-term exercise training in patients with MI treated with CABG surgery is safe and improves functional capacity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.