No abstract

Background Compared to those with health insurance, the uninsured receive less care for chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes and they experience higher mortality. Methods We investigated the relations of health insurance status to prevalence, treatment, and control of major cardiovascular disease risk factors, hypertension and elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, among Framingham Heart Study (FHS) participants in sex-specific age-adjusted analyses. Participants who attended either the seventh Offspring cohort examination cycle (1998–2001) or the first Third Generation cohort examination cycle (2002–2005) were studied. Results Among 6098 participants, 3.8% were uninsured at the time of the FHS clinic examination and participants’ ages ranged from 19 to 64 years. The prevalence of hypertension and elevated LDL cholesterol was similar for the insured and uninsured, however the proportion of those who obtained treatment and achieved control of these risk factors was lower among the uninsured. Uninsured men and women were less likely to be treated for hypertension with odds ratios for treatment of 0.19 (95% CI 0.07–0.56) for men and 0.31 (95% CI 0.12–0.79) for women. Among men, the uninsured were less likely to receive treatment or achieve control of elevated LDL cholesterol than the insured, with odds ratios of 0.12 (95% CI 0.04–0.38) for treatment and 0.17 (95% CI 0.05–0.56) for control. Conclusions The treatment and control of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are lower among uninsured adults. Increasing the proportion of insured individuals may be a means to improve the treatment and control of cardiovascular disease risk factors and reduce health disparities.

Left ventricular (LV) apical hypoplasia is an unusual, recently identified cardiomyopathy, whose clinical course is uncertain. In this report, we describe a case of this cardiomyopathy occurring in an asymptomatic 50-year-old male with a remote history of a surgically corrected patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), primarily using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to illustrate the imaging characteristics. This patient had been referred to our institution for an abnormal electrocardiogram, and TTE subsequently (Figure 1) revealed a dilated left ventricle with moderately to severely reduced function; LV ejection fraction was 30% by two- and three-dimensional quantification. The left ventricle had a spherical appearance with a thin-walled, truncated, and akinetic distal LV. The right ventricle appeared elongated and was noted to wrap around the distal left ventricle, but right ventricular systolic function was normal. There were no significant valvular abnormalities, and no evidence of residual PDA flow. Subsequent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging confirmed these findings (Figure 1). The TTE and CMR findings seen in this patient are consistent with LV apical hypoplasia. Until now, this cardiomyopathy has been described only as an isolated congenital anomaly primarily using CMR and cardiac computed tomography. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of LV apical hypoplasia in conjunction with another congenital cardiac abnormality, and the findings demonstrate that the distinctive appearance of this cardiomyopathy can be easily identified with echocardiography. As more cases are recognized and patients are followed over time, the natural history and optimal treatment for this cardiomyopathy may be further elucidated.