Search results for "Heart"
showing 10 items of 3201 documents
Detection of spontaneous echocardiographic contrast within the left atrium by transesophageal echocardiography: spontaneous echocardiographic contrast
1986
Transesophageal echocardiography was performed in 314 patients over a period of 24 months using a 3.5 MHz phased-array system fitted to the distal end of a conventional 12 mm endoscope. In 12 patients (2.6%) transesophageal echocardiography could not be performed because of adverse reaction to the gastroscopic procedure. Side effects were a transient A-V block in one patient and asthmatic attack in another. Mitral valve lesions were found in 99 of 314 patients. In 9 of these 99 patients (11%), including 1 patient with mitral valve stenosis and sinus rhythm, 2 with atrial fibrillation, 3 with disc, and 3 with porcine mitral prosthesis, spontaneous echocardiographic contrast was found within …
Coadministration of atorvastatin prevents nitroglycerin-induced endothelial dysfunction and nitrate tolerance in healthy humans.
2010
Objectives We aimed to assess whether concurrent administration of atorvastatin would modify the development of tolerance and endothelial dysfunction associated with sustained nitroglycerin (GTN) therapy in humans. Background Animal studies have demonstrated that administration of 3-hydroxy-3 methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors can protect against GTN-induced endothelial dysfunction and tolerance, likely through an antioxidant mechanism. Methods Thirty-six healthy male volunteers were randomized to receive continuous transdermal GTN (0.6 mg/h) and placebo, atorvastatin (80 mg/day) alone, or continuous transdermal GTN (0.6 mg/h) with concurrent atorvastatin (80 mg/day), all for 7 …
Investigating cardiac and respiratory determinants of heart rate variability in an information-theoretic framework.
2014
This study was aimed at comparing two alternative information-theoretic approaches for the combined analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and respiration variability (RV). The approaches decompose the predictive information about HRV in two terms, quantifying respectively the information stored into HRV and that transferred to HRV from RV. Storage and transfer were assessed by the popular self entropy (SE) and transfer entropy (TE) measures, as well as by the alternative conditional SE (cSE) and cross entropy (CE) measures. The comparison was performed at a theoretical level, computing the exact values of the four measures for simulated cardiorespiratory dynamics, and on real data, estim…
Causal relationships in the variability of cardiovascular system evoked by orthostatic stress by transfer entropy.
2015
The coupling between cardiac and vascular systems in healthy volunteers, elicited by the head-up tilt test is estimated by means of transfer entropy with non-uniform embedding. The method applied to beat-to-beat recordings with heart periods and systolic blood pressure, supports the commonly accepted model, that baroreflex is the key factor in maintaining homeostatic blood distribution after tilting. However the method applied to changes of heart periods and changes of blood pressure, display switches in the driving system, from vascular in the early tilt, to cardiac just after the early tilt and back to vascular in the late tilt.
Insulin-like growth factor 1 and sodium-lithium countertransport in essential hypertension and in hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy
1993
The aim of this work was to study the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), a substance able to promote cell proliferation in vascular smooth muscle, in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension and to analyse its relationship to sodium-lithium countertransport, a genetic marker of hypertension that is related to cardiovascular complications.We studied 32 hypertensive subjects, some with left ventricular hypertrophy, and 14 healthy subjects. Fasting plasma IGF1 was measured by means of a radioimmunoassay after octadecylsilica chromatography and Na(+)-Li+ countertransport was determined by the method of Canessa.Hypertensive patients had higher values of both IGF1 and Na(+)-Li+ countertransp…
Functional heartburn has more in common with functional dyspepsia than with non-erosive reflux disease.
2009
Introduction: Functional dyspepsia and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) are prevalent gastrointestinal conditions with accumulating evidence regarding an overlap between the two. Still, patients with NERD represent a very heterogeneous group and limited data on dyspeptic symptoms in various subgroups of NERD are available. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of dyspeptic symptoms in patients with NERD subclassified by using 24 h impedance-pH monitoring (MII-pH). Methods: Patients with typical reflux symptoms and normal endoscopy underwent impedance-pH monitoring off proton pump inhibitor treatment. Oesophageal acid exposure time (AET), type of acid and non-acid reflux episodes, and symptom ass…
Brain slow waves preceding time-locked visuo-motor performance.
1993
According to previous findings (Konttinen and Lyytinen, 1992), the slow brain negativity preceding the trigger pull in rifle‐shooting tends to be decreased in successful shots among experienced marksmen, whereas no such pattern is found among inexperienced subjects. This effect was interpreted as resulting mainly from optimal arousal. However, another explanation is examined here. The aim of the experiment was to investigate slow electrocortical changes associated with motor regulation and visual aiming related to shooting performance. Four variations on a shooting task were used, in which the visual and motor components were contrasted. Motor activity related to gun stabilization was found…
Biomarkers for characterization of heart failure - Distinction of heart failure with preserved and reduced ejection fraction.
2016
Heart failure (HF) incidence is rising worldwide and HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) represents nearly half of all cases. Treatment options are still limited in HFpEF in comparison to HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).We analyzed biomarkers in the general population to characterize HFpEF and HFrEF and defined a biomarker index to differentiate HFpEF from HFrEF. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), soluble source of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2), C-reactive protein (CRP) and NT-proBNP were measured in 5000 individuals of the population-based Gutenberg Health Study (GHS). The median follow-up time for all-cause mortality was 7.3years with 213 events.Identification of subje…
Differences in ground reaction forces and shock impacts between nordic walking and walking.
2014
The regular practice of Nordic walking (NW) has increased in recent years, in part thanks to the health benefits described by the scientific literature. However, there is no consensus on the effects of shock-impact absorption during its practice. Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the levels of impact and ground reaction forces (GRF) between NW and walking (W). Method: Twenty physically active and experienced participants were assessed using a dynamometric platform and accelerometry analysis. Results: The results show statistically significantly higher levels of acceleration in the tibia (12%) and head (21%) during NW compared with W. Equally, GRF were significantly higher (27%) …
Gender Inequalities in Diagnostic Inertia around the Three Most Prevalent Cardiovascular Risk Studies: Protocol for a Population-Based Cohort Study
2021
Evidence shows that objectives for detecting and controlling cardiovascular risk factors are not being effectively met, and moreover, outcomes differ between men and women. This study will assess the gender-related differences in diagnostic inertia around the three most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors: dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, and to evaluate the consequences on cardiovascular disease incidence. This is an epidemiological and cohort study. Eligible patients will be adults who presented to public primary health care centers in a Spanish region from 2008 to 2011, with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or/and diabetes and without cardiovascular disease. Parti…