Peter Blomstrand

Länssjukhuset Ryhov · Avdelning för klinisk fysiologi

Background Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an aortic enlargement in which the transverse diameter reaches at least 30 mm. Certain risk factors, such as age, male gender, and smoking, are well known; however, less is known about the genetic factors involved. Fibrillin-1 (FBN1) is a protein that coordinates the deposition of elastin fibres in the...

Numerous studies have shown that lifestyle factors, such as regular physical activity and vitamin D intake, may remarkably improve overall health and mental wellbeing. This is especially important in older adults whose vitamin D deficiency occurs with a high prevalence. This study aimed to examine the influence of lifestyle and vitamin D on global...

Background: Numerous studies have shown that lifestyle factors, such as regular physical activity and vitamin D intake, may remarkably improve overall health and mental wellbeing. This is especially important in older adults whose vitamin D deficiency occurs with a high prevalence. This study aimed to examine the influence of lifestyle and vitamin...

Background: Markers of inflammation and arterial stiffness are predictors of cardiovascular morbidity and events, but their roles in the mechanisms and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in males have not been fully investigated. This study explored possible associations between inflammatory marker levels and arterial stiffness in male...

Background Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) increases the risk of chronic heart failure and other major cardiovascular events. Knowledge about left ventricular function in patients with AAA is lacking. This echocardiographic study aimed to investigate whether AAA is associated with left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Methods Echoca...

Background Physical exercise improves mental health and cognitive function. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature examining the acute effects of a single exercise workout on learning and memory functions in young adults. Methods The review was conducted in alignment with the PRISMA guidelines. Studies were in...

Purpose: The study aimed to investigate resting levels of several selected growth and metabolic hormones in a group of 24 endurance-trained adolescents (aged 13-19 years) compared with 24 untrained age- and sex-matched controls, and to investigate if increased cardiac dimensions were related to these hormones at rest with emphasis on insulin-like...

Abstract Aims Obesity is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and heart failure but it is unclear to which extent it is related to left ventricular systolic dysfunction. The aim of the study was to explore the effects of overweight and obesity on left ventricular systolic function in patients with type 2...

The aims of the study were to explore the temporal change of cardiac function after peak exercise in adolescents, and to investigate how these functional changes relate to maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). The cohort consisted of 27 endurance‐trained adolescents aged 13–19 years, and 27 controls individually matched by age and gender. Standard echoca...

Aims The aims of the study were to explore the effects of long-term endurance exercise on atrial and ventricular size and function in adolescents and to examine whether these changes are related to maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Methods and results Twenty-seven long-term endurance-trained adolescents aged 13–19 years were individually matched by...

The aim of the study was to determine whether left ventricular systolic function, in terms of global left ventricular longitudinal strain (GLS), and diastolic function, expressed as the ratio between early diastolic transmitral flow and mitral annular motion velocities (E/e'), can predict cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus typ...

Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate the independent role of left ventricular systolic function in terms of global longitudinal strain, and diastolic function expressed as the ratio between early diastolic transmitral flow- and mitral annular motion velocities (E/é) in predicting cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2...

Progression rate of disease processes in smoke-induced lung injuries varies greatly. Diverse pathophysiological mechanisms may trigger these divergences. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether circulating markers of monocytes/macrophages and/or neutrophil [i.e. lysozyme (LZM) or myeloperoxidase (MPO)] were associated with reduced values of d...

Background Disabling respiratory symptoms and rapid decline of lung function may occur in susceptible tobacco smokers. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) elicited by direct challenge methods predicts worse lung function outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether BHR to isocapnic hyperventilation of dry air (IHDA) was associated with r...

Genetic factors influencing lung function may predispose to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10) signalling pathway is critical for lung development and lung epithelial renewal. The hypothesis behind this study was that constitutive FGF10 insufficiency may lead to pulmonary disorder. Therefore invest...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart generally requires breath holding and a regular rhythm. Single shot 2D steady-state free precession (SS_SSFP) is a fast sequence insensitive to arrhythmia as well as breath holding. Our purpose was to determine image quality, signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-to-noise (CNR) ratios and infarct size with...

Opening of an occluded infarct related artery reduces infarct size and improves survival in acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In this study we performed tissue Doppler analysis (peak strain, displacement, mitral annular movement (MAM)) and compared with visual assessment for the study of the correlation of measurements of global, re...

Tissue tracking 4-chamber view. The same patient as above. Tissue tracking of the mitral annular excursion is somewhat low at 8.5 mm in both the septal and the lateral wall. It is not reduced in the septum despite the apical myocardial infarct.

Gray scale 4-chamber view. Patient at follow-up, with thinning and akinesia in the distal part of the septum and in the apex.

Doppler strain imaging 4-chamber view. The same patient as above. The blue trace displays low and delayed peak longitudinal strain (5%) from the apical septal segment while the yellow trace from the normal middle segment of the septum displays normal peak longitudinal strain at about 30%.

Myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (MPS) is frequently used as the reference method for the determination of myocardial infarct size. PERFIT(R) is a software utilizing a three-dimensional gender specific, averaged heart model for the automatic evaluation of myocardial perfusion. The purpose of this study was to compare...

Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging depicts scar in the left ventricle which can be quantitatively measured. Manual segmentation and scar determination is time consuming. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a software for infarct quantification, to compare with manual scar determination, and to measure the time saved. Delayed enhan...

In order to compare the diagnostic ability of pulsed tissue Doppler and myocardial perfusion Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) in patients with a history of unstable coronary artery disease, CAD, 26 patients, 22 men and four women, age 47–76 years, were investigated in a prospective study, 5–10 day after an episode of unstable angi...

Clinical signs of heart failure such as pulmonary rales and dyspnea, ventricular dysfunction, and ventricular arrhythmia are independent predictors of a poor prognosis after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The study aimed to assess the effect of ramipril treatment on mildly depressed left ventricular (LV) systolic function, assessed by atriovent...

Mitral and pulmonary venous flow velocity recordings are often used for the assessment of left ventricular diastolic function. These curves are, however, also influenced by other factors. To investigate whether mitral annulus motion carries additional information in this context, mitral annulus motion was compared to Doppler registrations of mitral...

To investigate the central and peripheral haemodynamic response to dobutamine stress testing in women with suspected ischaemic heart disease and to seek an explanation for the hypotension phenomenon. 18 women aged 54-73 years were investigated with Doppler echocardiography and venous occlusion plethysmography during intravenous infusion of dobutami...

Background: Intravenous heparin is at least as effective as aspirin in preventing new cardiac events after an episode of unstable coronary artery disease (CAD), though the benefits are short-lived. Low-molecular-weight heparin has similar antithrombotic properties but can be given subcutaneously and is therefore suitable for long-term treatment. W...

Dobutamine echocardiography is frequently used for detection of coronary artery disease. The circulatory response in patients is known to some extent, but studies in normals are lacking. Hypotensive response during the test is a common side effect, the cause of which is unclear. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the hemodynamic r...

To compare modern, digital exercise echocardiography and thallium 201 single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with unstable coronary artery disease, 65 men unselected with regard to echocardiography were prospectively investigated 1 month after an episode of unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction. Exercise echoca...

One month after an episode of unstable coronary artery disease, 95 male patients performed coronary angiography, 48 hours ambulatory ST-recording and also an exercise test. ST-depression occurred in 29.5% during the ST-recording and in 44.2% during the exercise test (p 3 leads, ST-depression in 1–2 leads with a maximal work load below the 60th perc...

It is unclear whether echocardiography at peak bicycle exercise adds information to registrations obtained recumbent immediately after the test and what factors influence image quality. Therefore, exercise echocardiography was performed consecutively and prospectively in 66 men, unselected with regard to echocardiography, one month after an episode...

Thesis (doctoral)--Linköping University, 1995.