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Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Objectives: Our study aimed at exploring structural and functional differences in the brain during higher cognitive processing between middle-aged hypertensive patients and controls matched for sex, age and years of education. Methods: Two groups of 20 patients took part in MRI examinations. This article reports the results of functional MRI during a Stroop color interference task and structural evaluations based on a modified Fazekas scale. Results: No intergroup differences were found in regards to the severity of white matter lesions (Mann–Whitney U test = 150.5, P > 0.1), nor from the task performance in the scanner (t(35) = 0.2, P > 0.1). However, brain activation patterns between patients and controls varied. Hypertensive patients involved significantly more cerebral areas during the processing, regardless of the task difficulty. Differences were found in 26 diverse regions of both primary and associative cortices (with a peak voxel located in the cuneus, Z = 6.94, P

Arterial hypertension negatively influences the peripheral auditory system, causing sensorineural hearing loss. Much less is known about the detrimental effects of hypertension on the central auditory functions.We tested 32 arterial hypertension patients and 32 age and sex-matched healthy volunteers with the expanded tonal audiometry (0.125-12.5 kHz), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (0.75-8 kHz), horizontal minimum audible angle test for eight azimuths with binaural stimulation and the random gap detection test.Peripheral hearing of the hypertensive patients was impaired in comparison with the controls within all audiometric frequencies (0.125-12.5 kHz) and within specific groups of frequencies. Distortion product otoacoustic emission results were significantly lower for frequencies 4 (P = 0.04) and 6 kHz (P 0.001). The sound localization ability in the horizontal minimum audible angle test was significantly worse in the hypertensive patients in the 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, and 270° azimuth when the interaural pure tone average (0.5-1-2 kHz) was set less than 20 dB hearing level (P 0.05), and in the 0°, 90°, 225°, and 270°azimuth when the binaural pure tone average (0.5-1-2 kHz) was set 20 dB or less hearing level (P 0.05). Gap detection thresholds in the random gap detection test did not differ between the two groups.Arterial hypertension is independently related to the damage of the peripheral part of the auditory system resulting in high-frequency hearing loss. Hypertensive disturbances of central auditory processing are more discrete and concern the spatial hearing resolution.

Objective:The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis if arterial stiffness is linked to reduction of retinal capillary blood flow and development of retinal microvascular remodelling.Design and method:The study group comprised of 88 patients with essential hypertension (n = 88, 54.3 ± 8.3 years

Objective:The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between structural and functional abnormalities of retinal microcirculation and cardiac damage defined as the presence of left ventricle hypertrophy and/or diastolic dysfunction.Design and method:The study consisted of 88 patients with

Background and purpose Heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of autonomic function might provide prognostic information in ischemic stroke. However, numerous difficulties are associated with HRV parameters assessment and interpretation, especially in short-term ECG recordings. For better understanding of derived HRV data and to avoid methodological bias we simultaneously recorded and analyzed heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate. Methods Seventy-five ischemic stroke patients underwent short-term ECG recordings. Linear and nonlinear parameters of HRV as well as beat-to-beat blood pressure and respiratory rate were assessed and compared in patients with different functional neurological outcomes at 7th and 90th days. Results Values of Approximate, Sample and Fuzzy Entropy were significantly lower in patients with poor early neurological outcome. Patients with poor 90-day outcome had higher percentage of high frequency spectrum and normalized high frequency power, lower normalized low frequency power and lower low frequency/high frequency ratio. Low frequency/high frequency ratio correlated negatively with scores in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at the 7th and mRS at the 90th days. Mean RR interval, values of blood pressure as well as blood pressure variability did not differ between groups with good and poor outcomes. Respiratory frequency was significantly correlated with the functional neurological outcome at 7th and 90th days. Conclusion While HRV assessed by linear methods seems to have long-term prognostic value, complexity measures of HRV reflect the impact of the neurological state on distinct, temporary properties of heart rate dynamic. Respiratory rate during the first days of the stroke is associated with early and long-term neurological outcome and should be further investigated as a potential risk factor.