OBJECTIVE: To draw attention to the left ventricular false tendon which can be misinterpreted as echogenic focus in the fetus. METHODS: The study group consisted of 9 fetuses out of the 161 who had been misdiagnosed for left ventricular false tendon as echogenic focus by obstetricians. Fetal echocardiography and 2-D ...

BACKGROUND: Right ventricular mechanics influence outcomes in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). The aim of this study was to determine whether differences in right ventricular performance have their origins in fetal life and if the architectural character of the hypoplastic left ventricle affects right ventricular mechanics. METHODS: The ...

AIM: Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) is widely accepted as the most common type of congenital heart defect in trisomy 21. Most of these studies, however, were conducted in Caucasian communities. The few Asian studies that had been conducted on this subject yielded different results. In the largest study of its ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The present article aims to review recent literature about intracardiac echogenic foci (ICEFs), with special emphasis in potential causes, relationships with aneuploidy and cardiac function. RECENT FINDINGS: The presence of an ICEF may be considered as a soft marker that may be of interest only in high-risk ...

Abstract Aortico-left ventricular tunnel (ALVT) is a rare congenital heart anomaly of unclear pathogenesis causing left ventricular volume overload. Most descriptions are from surgical corrections in the neonatal and infantile period and little is known about ALVT in utero. Here we describe a case of ALVT ending in intrauterine demise ...

A case of prenatally diagnosed fetal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is reported. The mother was referred to our department at 37 weeks' gestation because of suspected congenital heart disease. Prenatal echocardiography showed biventricular hypertrophy and pericardial effusion, without additional abnormalities. Postnatal echocardiography confirmed prenatal diagnosis. Neonatal EKG showed biventricular hypertrophy and Wolff-Parkinson-White ...

OBJECTIVE: In a sheep model we tested the hypothesis that the fetal left ventricle is less tolerant to worsening acidemia than the right ventricle. STUDY DESIGN: At 106-124/145 days of gestation, 12 fetuses were instrumented. After a 4-day recovery, placental vascular resistance was increased by fetal angiotensin (AT) II infusion. ...

Radiofrequency intravascular ultrasound uses radiofrequency backscatter data to determine the sub-plaque anatomy and composition of coronary atherosclerosis and hence permits plaque classification. The thin-capped fibroatheroma is associated with future major adverse cardiovascular events, emphasizing its biological importance.

BACKGROUND: In postnatal life, patients with single ventricle (SV) with morphologic right ventricles have a worse prognosis than those with morphologic left ventricles. The aim of this study was to test the hypotheses that (1) the SV in fetuses with SV has decreased longitudinal strain compared with fetuses with normal ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare cortical maturation between fetuses with isolated mild ventriculomegaly (IMV) and healthy fetuses, and to explore its potential prognostic value in IMV. METHODS: This prospective study quantified cortical maturation by ultrasound in 24 fetuses with IMV and 46 healthy fetuses. Depth and grading the developmental pattern of the ...

Heart failure can be defined as the inability of the heart to sufficiently support the circulation. In the fetus, heart failure can be caused by a myriad of factors that include fetal shunting abnormalities, genetic cardiomyopathies, extracardiac malformations, arrhythmias and structural congenital heart disease. With advances in ultrasound has come ...

In vitro studies using rat and fetal sheep cardiomyocytes indicate that, in addition to its role as a clearance receptor, the insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF-2R) can induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In the present study, we have determined the effect of specific activation of the IGF-2R in the heart of ...

BACKGROUND: Stentless porcine bioroots and pericardial composite roots were developed as prostheses that avoid the anticoagulation necessary for mechanical composite roots. Data on the hemodynamics of all root replacements are lacking and questions remain regarding comparative performance. METHODS: This study evaluated patients receiving a stentless porcine bioroot, a pericardial, or ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the cardiac output (CO) and ejection fraction (EF) of the heart of male and female fetuses obtained by 3D-ultrasonography using spatio-temporal image correlation (STIC). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study with 216 normal fetuses, between 20 and 34 weeks of gestation, 108 male and 108 female. Ventricular ...

Barth syndrome is a rare, multisystem disorder caused by mutations in tafazzin that lead to cardiolipin deficiency and mitochondrial abnormalities. Patients most commonly develop an early-onset cardiomyopathy in infancy or fetal life. Knockdown of tafazzin (TAZKD) in a mouse model was induced from the start of gestation via a doxycycline-inducible ...

Homogeneous contractility is usually assigned to the remote region, border zone (BZ), and the infarct in existing infarcted left ventricle (LV) mathematical models. Within the LV, the contractile function is therefore discontinuous. Here, we hypothesize that the BZ may in fact define a smooth linear transition in contractility between the ...

AimsThe aim of this study was to determine the outcome benefits in those originally assigned atorvastatin in the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-8 years after closure of the lipid-lowering arm (LLA) of the trial (ASCOT-LLA) among the UK population.Methods and resultsASCOT-LLA was a factorially designed double-blind placebo-controlled trial of atorvastatin in ...

A 55-year-old man underwent catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) after anterior myocardial infarction. Although electrophysiological study suggested that the VT originated from the septum, biventricular endocardial irrigated radiofrequency ablation failed to interrupt the VT. Epicardial ablation at the site located halfway between the lesions in the right and left ...

Diminished serum arylesterase activity, catalyzed by the high-density lipoprotein-associated paraoxonase-1, is associated with heightened systemic oxidative stress and atherosclerosis risk. In the present study, we sought to determine the prognostic role of serum arylesterase activity in subjects with systolic heart failure, particularly in relation to established cardiac biomarkers. We measured ...

We studied the association of serum levels of arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) with the prevalence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We measured serum AA and EPA on admission in 146 consecutive AMI patients. The primary clinical endpoint was occurrence of MACE, ...

Serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), L-arginine, and C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were assessed in 100 Egyptian male 35-50-year-old patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), classified into: patients under conservative medical treatment, patients directed for percutaneous coronary interventions, patients directed for coronary artery bypass graft operation and patients suffering ...

Oral deferiprone was suggested to be more effective than subcutaneous desferrioxamine for removing heart iron. Oral once-daily chelator deferasirox has recently been made commercially available but its long-term efficacy on cardiac iron and function has not yet been established. Our study aimed to compare the effectiveness of deferasirox, deferiprone and ...

A 76 year-old woman with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting and prior myocardial infarction was transferred to the emergency room with loss of consciousness due to marked bradycardia caused by hyperkalemia. The concentration of serum potassium was high, and normal sinus rhythm was restored after correction of the ...

Cardiac metabolism and cardiac function are inextricably linked, with changes in cardiac metabolism during cardiac ischaemia contributing to the development of cardiac arrhythmias. Using metabolomics, we aim to identify metabolite changes occurring during cardiac ischaemia through analysis of peripheral serum to reconstruct myocardial metabolic pathways that contribute to the development ...

our aim was to evaluate early initiated one month n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) supplementation effects on ultrasound indices of endothelial function and serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Forty patients with AMI and successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were recruited into the study ...

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) was shown to be elevated in the acute phase of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to have prognostic significance in AMI patients. The aim of this study was to estimate whether the value of PTX3 could be used as a prognostic biomarker, with the global registry of ...

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element with antioxidant function. The aim of the present study was to estimate the alterations of Se serum level during the acute phase of myocardial infarction and its relation to biomarkers of myocardial necrosis. Serum Se levels were measured at admission and after 24 h ...

To evaluate the association of serum phosphorus with cardiac structure/function and incident heart failure. We related serum phosphorus to echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) measurements cross-sectionally, and to incident heart failure prospectively in 3300 participants (mean age 44 years, 51% women) free of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and chronic kidney disease ...

doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2010.00367.x Relationship between root caries and cardiac dysrythmia Background:  Cardiac dysrhythmia are frequently found in the elderly population because of conduction system disease and ageing. Recent reports have suggested that dental caries and periodontal disease are predictors of coronary heart events. However, this hypothesis remains largely unproven. Objective:  This ...

We investigated the kinetics of circulating biomarker elevation, specifically correlated with morphology in acute myocardial injury. Male Hanover Wistar rats underwent biomarker and morphologic cardiac evaluation at 0.5 to seventy-two hours after a single subcutaneous isoproterenol administration (100 or 4000 microg/kg). Dose-dependent elevations of serum cardiac troponins I and T ...

The present work aimed to prove the usage of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as an early biomarker for kidney injury and to assess the relationship between NGAL and serum creatinine and cystatin C in patients with normal serum creatinine undergoing percutaneous coronary angiography. Thirty patients with normal serum creatinine undergoing ...

Resistin, a 12.5-kDa polypeptide, has been associated with both insulin resistance and inflammation in animal models. Although initially discovered in the adipocytes, it has subsequently been found in other tissues. In humans, controversy still exists regarding the role of resistin but serum resistin concentration has been correlated with risk factors ...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe a method to measure ischaemia-induced alterations of the binding capacity of serum albumin to exogenous nickel. METHODS: We measured the levels of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), serum albumin, ischaemia-modified albumin (IMA) measured by a cobalt-albumin binding assay (CABA), and a nickel-albumin ...

The coronary vasodilatory effect of dipyridamole is competitively blocked by caffeine. The purposes of this study were to (1) assess the incidence of having detectable serum caffeine and (2) evaluate whether an intensive caffeine history screening strategy was superior to routine history screening before dipyridamole myocardial perfusion imaging. One hundred ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether low serum cortisol concentrations are associated with adverse prognosis in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Low serum cortisol concentrations have been associated with adverse prognosis in critical illness of diverse etiology. DESIGN: Nested case-control study. SETTING: Prospective cohort study of consecutive patients admitted with acute myocardial ...

ST2, a member of the interleukin-1 receptor family, is a novel biomarker of mechanical stress measurable in serum that has been shown in animal and in vitro models to be physiologically linked to cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and ventricular dysfunction. In patients with acute myocardial infarction and heart failure (HF), an ...

OBJECTIVE: Soluble TWEAK has recently been introduced as a potential mediator of cardiovascular disease. In this retrospective pilot study we thus sought to evaluate serum levels of soluble TWEAK (sTWEAK) patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: Blood samples of 173 patients admitted to our hospital with acute STEMI ...

A Holstein cow presented for weight loss and anorexia had tachycardia, heart murmur, and a chronic inflammatory process. Serum cardiac troponin I was increased at 3.52 ng/mL. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a thickened tricuspid valve and comet-tail artifacts compatible with gas in the affected area. This report suggests that serum cardiac ...

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which systemic inflammation correlates with disease activity. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to collagen breakdown in atherosclerotic plaques. In the present study, we investigated whether the ratio of MMP-9 and its endogenous inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, in circulating monocytes correlates with the clinical ...

BACKGROUND: A significant and independent association between testosterone levels and coronary events in men and women has not been confirmed in large prospective studies, although some reports have shown that endogenous testosterone concentrations in men are inversely related to cardiovascular and general mortality. METHODS: We aimed to assess the relationship ...

The myocardial infarction biomarker myoglobin was quantified at the biological level in undiluted plasma using developed electrochemical nanosensors with immobilized anti-myoglobin. Method for cardiac myoglobin detection is based on direct electron transfer between Fe(III)-heme and electrode surface modified with gold nanoparticles/didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB/Au) and antibodies. The procedure of myoglobin detection ...

Cardiac iron overload causes most deaths in beta-thalassemia major. The efficacy of deferasirox in reducing or preventing cardiac iron overload was assessed in 192 patients with beta-thalassemia in a 1-year prospective, multicenter study. The cardiac iron reduction arm (n = 114) included patients with magnetic resonance myocardial T2* from 5 ...

BACKGROUND: Recently, serum beta2-microglobulin, an endogenous marker for renal function, has been shown to be an independent predictor of mortality in older adults. However, the prognostic role of beta2-microglobulin in heart failure has not been elucidated. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated serum beta2-microglobulin and creatinine concentrations, creatinine-based renal parameters (estimated glomerular ...

Fructose intake has been increased steadily during the past two decades. Fructose, like other reducing sugars can react with proteins, which may account for aging and myocardial infarction. Fructose participates in glycation (fructation) and AGE formation some 10 times faster than glucose. This study aims to determine the fructose concentration ...

Trait anger, hostility, and serum level of homocysteine are associated with recurrent cardiac events after percutaneous coronary interventions. However, whether trait anger or hostility influences the association between serum level of homocysteine and recurrent cardiac events is unknown. To examine the relationships among trait anger, hostility, serum level of homocysteine, ...

BACKGROUND: Outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by renal insufficiency have been well described. However, data regarding admission serum creatinine and coronary and myocardial flow are scant. The aims of this study are to evaluate the effects of admission serum creatinine on ...

OBJECTIVES: Despite advances in conventional treatment, iron-induced cardiomyopathy is still the most frequent cause of death among patients with beta-thalassaemia major. Recent studies have correlated increased myocardial iron content to decreased levels of vitamin D in thalassaemic patients. The aim of this study was to measure parathormone (PTH) and metabolites ...

BACKGROUND: Heat shock protein (Hsp) 27 expression in cardiomyocytes increases in response to ischaemia. The extracellular release of Hsp27 from cardiomyocytes is proportional to its intracellular levels. Aim: To assess the influence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD), which by definition results in chronic myocardial ischaemia, on blood serum levels ...

We report an 82-year-old male patient who developed complete atrioventricular block (CAVB) with severe bradycardia 1 hour after craniotomy. After emergency placement of a transvenous pacemaker, the patient's heart rate was restored. Serial assays of serum cardiac enzymes, echocardiography and serum digoxin concentration did not show evidence of myocardial infarction, ...

Recently, attention has focused on prostate-specific antigen kallikrein and the cardiovascular system. The finding of diminished PSA during acute myocardial infarction and the correlation of variation of PSA with coronary lesions and occurrence of major adverse cardiac events have opened a possible new intriguing scenario. As with many stories in ...