Search results for "Cardiology"

Sublingual administration of captopril versus nitroglycerin in patients with severe congestive heart failure.

1990

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition has proven to be a successful approach for the long-term treatment of patients with congestive heart failure. This investigation compared the acute hemodynamic changes after sublingual administration of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril with those after nitroglycerin. A total of 24 patients with severe left heart failure (New York Heart Association classes III and IV) were given 25 mg captopril and 0.8 mg nitroglycerin sublingually in this randomized, cross-over study. Hemodynamic monitoring revealed a clear improvement in pre- and afterload parameters for both drugs (P less than 0.01 and P less than 0.001), while captopril induce…

Vulnerability of the right ventricle to cathodal, anodal, and bipolar stimulation at double diastolic threshold strength

1984

The repetitive ventricular response (RVR) to three stimulation techniques (bipolar, cathodal and anodal) was investigated in 35 patients. 26 patients suffered from coronary heart disease and 9 patients from dilative cardiomyopathy. The stimulation study was performed at a ventricular driving rate of 120/min with one and two premature ventricular extrastimuli. We used rectangular impulses of 1.8 ms duration at duable diastolic threshold strength. RVR was scored as follows: 0: no RVR, 1: one nonstimulated RVR, 2: two nonstimulated RVR, 3: three nonstimulated RVR, 4: four to ten nonstimulated RVR, 5: more than ten nonstimulated RVR lasting less than 2 minutes, 6: sustained ventricular tachycar…

Clinical application of a new rheolytic thrombectomy catheter system for massive pulmonary embolism

1999

Quantitative assessment of aortic stenosis by three-dimensional echocardiography

1997

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of three-dimensional echocardiography in aortic stenosis. Planimetric determination of valve area and dynamic volume-rendered display were performed. Three-dimensional echocardiography permits display of any desired plane of the cardiac structure. Thus in the case of aortic stenosis, the plane used for planimetric evaluation can be positioned exactly through the valve orifice. Dynamic volume-rendered display may provide a spatial demonstration of the stenotic valve. In 48 patients aortic valve area was measured by planimetry. The three-dimensional data set was acquired by a workstation in the course of a multiplane transesophageal exam…

Serial echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction measurements: A tool for detecting thalassemia major patients at risk of cardiac death

2013

Cardiac damage remains a major cause of mortality among patients with thalassemia major. The detection of a lower cardiac magnetic resonance T2* (CMR-T2*) signal has been suggested as a powerful predictor of the subsequent development of heart failure. However, the lack of worldwide availability of CMR-T2* facilities prevents its widespread use for follow-up evaluations of cardiac function in thalassemia major patients, warranting the need to assess the utility of other possible procedures. In this setting, the determination of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) offers an accurate and reproducible method for heart function evaluation. These findings suggest a reduction in LVEF≥7%, ov…

Effect of acute systemic hypoxia on human cutaneous microcirculation and endothelial, sympathetic and myogenic activity

2015

The regulation of cutaneous vascular tone impacts vascular vasomotion and blood volume distribution as a challenge to hypoxia, but the regulatory mechanisms yet remain poorly understood. A skin has a very compliant circulation, an increase in skin blood flow results in large peripheral displacement of blood volume, which could be controlled by local and systemic regulatory factors. The aim of this study was to determine the acute systemic hypoxia influence on blood flow in skin, local regulatory mechanism fluctuations and changes of systemic hemodynamic parameters. Healthy subjects (n=11; 24.9±3.7years old) participated in this study and procedures were performed in siting position. After 2…

Cardiac output in single-lead VDD pacing versus rate-matched VVIR pacing.

1995

The importance of atrioventricular synchronous pacing compared with single-chamber rate-responsive pacing is still under discussion, especially for low-intensity workload representing daily life activities. We evaluated hemodynamics in single-lead VDD pacing versus VVIR pacing in 11 patients (8 men and 3 women, aged 58.6 +/- 13.8 years) with normal left ventricular function and a previously implanted single-lead VDDR pacemaker. A low-intensity steady-state treadmill test at 1 to 2.5 mph with a gradient of 2% to 4% was performed. Cardiac output was determined using a standard carbon dioxide rebreathing technique. Initially, the VDD mode was programmed, and after 5 minutes of exercise, cardia…

Visceral Adiposity Index

2010

OBJECTIVE To individuate a novel sex-specific index, based on waist circumference, BMI, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol, indirectly expressing visceral fat function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Visceral adiposity index (VAI) was first modeled on 315 nonobese healthy subjects. Using two multiple logistic regression models, VAI was retrospectively validated in 1,498 primary care patients in comparison to classical cardio- and cerebrovascular risk factors. RESULTS All components of metabolic syndrome increased significantly across VAI quintiles. VAI was independently associated with both cardiovascular (odd ratio [OR] 2.45; 95% CI 1.52–3.95; P < 0.001) and cerebrovascular (1.63; 1.0…

Retinal vessel analysis and heart rate variability

2014

Heart rate variability (HRV) is used to index the vegetative nervous system and is linked with cardiovascular and nervous diseases [1]. Funduscopic assessment of the retinal vasculature can be utilized to evaluate the health status of microcirculation and to assess the predisposition of major vascular diseases [2]. The purpose of this study was, for the first time, to examine the influence of HRV on microcirculation as an early marker of cardiovascular alteration. The study population was comprised of apparently healthy employees of a high-tech company in Germany. The participants spanned the entire age of the work force (18–65 years) and all levels of socioeconomic status. A total of 292 s…

Decision making in a presumptive case of STEMI-like myocarditis

2015

In youngmales, differential diagnosis during chest pain is not always easy. When ECG findings suggest a cardiac origin of such symptoms, myo-pericarditis is usually themost likely hypothesis, beingmore common than Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) in the first decades of life [1]. In the presence of ST segment elevation, Troponin release and ventricular wall motion abnormalities, the diagnosis can be challenging, though. In the young a lowcoronary risk profile and atypical symptoms seldom support a working diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), and, therefore, urgent coronary angiography is not recommended routinely, although cases of early ACS are not so rare. In October 2014 a 26-year-ol…