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•Respiratory symptoms common in the 2021 Gamma outbreak in pregnant women.•CVD caused poor outcomes in pregnant/postpartum women with COVID-19.•Gamma COVID-19 was most lethal for pregnant/postpartum women with CVD in Brazil.•This study underscores the Gamma variant's significant impact on maternal outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the presence of clinical symptoms of peripheral artery disease and severe renal artery stenosis in patients referred for renal angiography.

•The increase of arterial stiffness at younger ages has been considered a strong predictor of cardiovascular outcomes.•Elevated “pulsatile load”, which translates into elevated arterial stiffness, would lead to a cascade of phenomena (left atrium distension, neurohormonal activation and inflammatory response), that in their final common path would lead to the development of atrial fibrillation.•A genetic predisposition for a higher arterial stiffness index was unidirectionally associated with an increase in incidence risk and prevalence of atrial fibrillation. These results are consistent with a causality association between arterial stiffness and atrial fibrillation.•A knowledge gap to be clarified is whether a reduction in arterial stiffness could lead to a decrease in atrial arrhythmia burden, from frequent atrial ectopic beats to atrial fibrillation. Another knowledge gap is the possible rule of arterial stiffness in the so-called “pre-fibrillatory stage”.

Hospitalization during pregnancy and childbirth increases the risk of Venous Thromboembolism Risk (VTE). This study applied a VTE risk score to all hospitalized pregnant women to ascertain its effectiveness in preventing maternal death from VTE until 3 months after discharge.

We explored whether high blood pressure is associated with metabolic, inflammatory and prothrombotic dysregulation in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Renal artery stenosis can lead to renovascular hypertension; however, the detection of stenosis alone does not guarantee the presence of renovascular hypertension. Renovascular hypertension depends on activation of the renin-angiotensin system, which can be detected by functional tests such as captopril renal scintigraphy. A method that allows direct measurement of the baseline and post-captopril glomerular filtration rate using chromium-51 labeled ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (51Cr-EDTA) could add valuable information to the investigation of hypertensive patients with renal artery stenosis. The purposes of this study were to create a protocol to measure the baseline and post-captopril glomerular filtration rate using 51Cr-EDTA, and to verify whether changes in the glomerular filtration rate permit differentiation between hypertensive patients with and without renal artery stenosis.

Even with anti-hypertensive therapy, it is difficult to maintain optimal systemic blood pressure values in hypertensive patients. Exercise may reduce blood pressure in untreated hypertensive, but its effect when combined with long-term anti-hypertensive therapy remains unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the acute effects of a single session of aerobic exercise on the blood pressure of long-term-treated hypertensive patients.

This is a report of the successful angioplastic treatment of an association of renovascular hypertension with renal artery stenosis and the Goldenhar syndrome (a variant of oculoauriculovertebral dysplasia). For the first time to date, this association, which occurred in a 13-year-old girl, is reported. Additionally, increased arterial distensibility in spite of arterial hypertension was detected by noninvasive methods. The similarity of this finding and in those for other genetic diseases, suggests that the vascular lesions could be linked to the Goldenhar syndrome.

To describe the MORPHEOS (Morbidity in patients with uncontrolled HTN and OSA) trial, and describe the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids in athletes is a strategy used to enhance strength and skeletal muscle hypertrophy. However, its abuse leads to an imbalance in muscle sympathetic nerve activity, increased vascular resistance, and increased blood pressure. However, the mechanisms underlying these alterations are still unknown. Therefore, we tested whether anabolic androgenic steroids could impair resting baroreflex sensitivity and cardiac sympathovagal control. In addition, we evaluate pulse wave velocity to ascertain the arterial stiffness of large vessels.