Diagnosis and treatment of arterial stiffness, pulmonary hypertension, diastolic cardiac dysfunction against the background of ischaemic heart disease in comorbid patients

Introduction: In the context of cardiology and neurology, special attention is paid to the problems of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular pathologies, often caused by vascular dysfunction. Haemodynamic parameters, in particular arterial stiffness (AS), and epicardial fat thickness (EFT), play a significant role in the assessment of cardiovascular health. The aim of the study was to evaluate the correlation between arterial stiffness, pulmonary hypertension (PH), epicardial fat thickness and diastolic myocardial dysfunction in comorbid patients. Materials and Methods: The comparative study was conducted in three groups of patients with the most frequent comorbid pathology. The first group (n=75) included patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD), arterial hypertension stage II-III and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) stage II-III. The second group (n=50) consisted of patients with IHD and arterial hypertension without COPD. The third group (n=33) included patients with IHD without comorbidities. Results: The study revealed a significant correlation between indices of AS, blood pressure (BP), EFT and PH in patients with comorbid conditions. The study found that the addition of the combined antihypertensive drug amlodipine-perindopril to standard therapy contributed to normalization of AS, PH and BP during three months of treatment. There was also a significant improvement in the patients’ quality of life, reduction of dyspnoea and heart failure symptoms. Conclusion: The obtained data confirm the presence of correlation between AS, BP, PH and EFT in patients with IHD, AH and COPD, which may serve as indicators of comorbid diseases. The use of combined antihypertensive drug amlodipine-perindopril seems reasonable and scientifically justified, especially after coronary stenting.