0000000000379574
AUTHOR
Riccardo Di Miceli
Role of curcumin in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment: A new therapeutic possibility
The idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension is a complex disease that mainly affects pulmonary arterial circulation. This undergoes a remodeling with subsequent reduction of flow in the small pulmonary arteries. Because of this damage an increased vascular resistance gradually develops, and over time it carries out in heart failure. The inflammatory process is a key element in this condition, mediated by various cytokines. The inflammatory signal induces activation of NF-κB, and prompts TGF-β-related signaling pathway. Clinical evolution leads to progressive debilitation, greatly affecting the patient quality of life. The actual therapeutic approaches, are few and expensive, and include …
A strange pneumonia
We report the case of a 62-year-old man with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction complicated by partial rupture of the antero-lateral papillary muscle in which severe mitral regurgitation with lateralized direction towards the right pulmonary veins gave unilateral pulmonary oedema, resembling an acute pneumonia.Unilateral pulmonary oedema is a rare entity, more frequently appearing as opacity of the right lung and always associated with severe mitral regurgitation. It is very important to suspect and promptly recognize unilateral pulmonary oedema because initial misdiagnosis leads to a delay in the initiation of appropriate treatment and to an increased risk of mortality.
Early subclinical ventricular dysfunction in patients with insulin resistance
AIMS: The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance and the detection of precocious echocardiographic signs of heart failure in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: We enrolled 34 consecutive patients with cardiovascular risk factors. All patients underwent coronary angiography, echocardiography, and laboratory tests. Exclusion criteria were diabetes (fasting glucose greater than 126 mg/dl or treatment with insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents), coronary artery disease, creatinine above 1.5 mg/dl, left-ventricular hypertrophy, valvular heart disease, ejection fraction below 50%, atrial fibrillation, or other severe arrhythmia. The presence of…