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Background:Several imaging techniques may reveal calcification of the arterial wall or cardiac valves. Many studies indicate that the risk for cardiovascular disease is increased when calcification is present. Recent meta-analyses on coronary calcification and cardiovascular risk may be confounded by indication. Therefore, this meta-analysis was performed with extensive subgroup analysis to assess the overall cardiovascular risk of finding calcification in any arterial wall or cardiac valve when using different imaging techniques.Methods and results:A meta-analysis of prospective studies reporting calcifications and cardiovascular end-points was performed. Thirty articles were selected. The overall odds ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) for calcifications versus no calcifications in 218,080 subjects after a mean follow-up of 10.1 years amounted to 4.62 (CI 2.24 to 9.53) for all cause mortality, 3.94 (CI 2.39 to 6.50) for cardiovascular mortality, 3.74 (CI 2.56 to 5.45) for coronary events, 2.21 (CI 1.81 to 2.69) for stroke, and 3.41 (CI 2.71 to 4.30) for any cardiovascular event. Heterogeneity was largely explained by length of follow up and sort of imaging technique. Subgroup analysis of patients with end stage renal disease revealed a much higher odds ratio for any event of 6.22 (CI 2.73 to 14.14).Conclusion:The presence of calcification in any arterial wall is associated with a 3–4-fold higher risk for mortality and cardiovascular events. Interpretation of the pooled estimates has to be done with caution because of heterogeneity across studies.

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Contrary to widespread belief (but in line with the renal physiology of SMWP), BNP and NT-proBNP are equally dependent on renal function for their clearance.

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Vascular disease is still the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world, and the primary cause of myocardial infarction, stroke, and ischemia. The biology of vascular disease is complex and still poorly understood in terms of causes and consequences. Vascular function is determined by structural and functional properties of the arterial vascular wall. Arterial stiffness, that is a pathological alteration of the vascular wall, ultimately results in target-organ damage and increased mortality. Arterial remodeling is accelerated under conditions that adversely affect the balance between arterial function and structure such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory disease, lifestyle aspects (smoking), drugs (vitamin K antagonists), and genetic abnormalities [e.g., pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), Marfan's disease]. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the complex mechanisms and different factors that underlie arterial remodeling, learning from single gene defect diseases like PXE, and PXE-like, Marfan's disease and Keutel syndrome in vascular remodeling.

Abstract-It is still uncertain whether one can safely base treatment decisions on self-measurement of blood pressure. In the present study, we investigated whether antihypertensive treatment based on self-measurement of blood pressure leads to the use of less medication without the loss of blood pressure control. We randomly assigned 430 hypertensive patients to receive treatment either on the basis of self-measured pressures (nϭ216) or office pressures (OPs; nϭ214). During 1-year follow-up, blood pressure was measured by office measurement (10 visits), ambulatory monitoring (start and end), and self-measurement (8 times, self-pressure group only). In addition, drug use, associated costs, and degree of target organ damage (echocardiography and microalbuminuria) were assessed. Key Words: blood pressure Ⅲ hypertension Ⅲ self-measurements Ⅲ home monitoring Ⅲ ambulatory blood pressure measurement Ⅲ treatment A s indications for lowering blood pressure (BP) become increasingly stringent, the associated medication use and costs rise markedly. 1 This calls for proper diagnosis and careful selection of patients in whom treatment is really indicated. In this respect, conventional office BP measurements (OBPMs) have disadvantages, because they can easily elicit a white-coat effect, overestimation of a patient's BP, 2 and unnecessary drug prescription. Self-BP measurements (SBPMs) are less liable to the white-coat effect 3 and may provide a more reliable estimate of a patient's "true" BP. In addition, SBPM correlates better with the development of target organ damage (TOD) than OBPM 4 -6 and for the occurrence of cardiovascular complications. 7,8 Therefore, SBPM has the potential to identify subjects that may not need treatment. This could reduce drug use and lead to considerable costs savings. The Home versus Office Measurement, Reduction of Unnecessary treatment Study (HOMERUS) was designed to determine whether treatment based on SBPM leads to a decreased drug prescription without an impaired BP control and TOD as compared with treatment based on OBPM. MethodsThe design of the HOMERUS has been described in detail elsewhere. 9 Briefly, HOMERUS is a multicenter, prospective, randomContinuing medical education (CME) credit is available for this article. Go to http://cme.ahajournals.org to take the quiz.

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