Search results for "Myocarditis"

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…

Focus on clinical practice: angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and corona virus disease 2019: pathophysiology and clinical implications.

2020

: ACE2 receptor has a broad expression pattern in the cellular membrane and provides a protective action against the development of cardiovascular diseases. Recently, this enzyme has become of extreme interest during the pandemic infection of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). This virus invades alveolar epithelium and cardiomyocytes using ACE2 as a transmembrane receptor. ACE2 is a counter-regulatory peptide that degrades Ang II into Ang 1-7, thereby attenuating the biological effects of the AT1 receptor. The binding between the spike protein of COVID-19 and the enzyme is crucial for the virus to enter the target cells, but whether an increase in ACE2 activity could facilitate the infect…

Analysis of TCR Vbeta repertoire and cytokine gene expression in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

2001

Although the etiopathogenesis of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) is still unclear, it is widely accepted that a complex interplay between viral infections and immune mechanisms is the basis of disease genesis. Previously, we showed that heart-infiltrating T cells of patients suffering from acute, fulminant Coxsackie virus B3+-IDC shared a preferential usage of three variable gene segments of the T cell receptor beta chain-(TCR-Vbeta) encoding families Vbeta3, 7 and 13.1. This indicated the possible presence of a superantigen-driven immune response. Here, we further investigated the IDC immunological scenario by analysing different phenotypes of heart-infiltrating cells: TCR repertoi…

Scientometrics analysis of research activity and collaboration patterns in Chagas cardiomyopathy.

2018

Background Chagas cardiomyopathy is a serious and common complication of Chagas disease. Methods Through bibliometric and Social Network Analysis, we examined patterns of research on Chagas cardiomyopathy, identifying the main countries, authors, research clusters, and topics addressed; and measuring the contribution of different countries. Results We found 1932 documents on Chagas cardiomyopathy in the MEDLINE database. The most common document type was ‘journal article’, accounting for 79.6% of the total (n = 1538), followed by ‘review’ (n = 217, 11.2%). The number of published records increased from 156 in 1980–1984 to 311 in 2010–2014. Only 2.5% were clinical trials. Brazil and the USA …

Coronary Slow Flow in a Patient with Myocarditis

2016

A young patient presented with dyspnea and high troponin. Coronary angiography excluded a diagnosis of CAD, but was diagnostic for the presence of coronary slow flow. Thermodilution showed increased resting resistances in the presence of hypernormal CFR.

Defining Kawasaki disease and pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in…

2021

Abstract Background There is mounting evidence on the existence of a Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome-temporally associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS), sharing similarities with Kawasaki Disease (KD). The main outcome of the study were to better characterize the clinical features and the treatment response of PIMS-TS and to explore its relationship with KD determining whether KD and PIMS are two distinct entities. Methods The Rheumatology Study Group of the Italian Pediatric Society launched a survey to enroll patients diagnosed with KD (Kawasaki Disease Group – KDG) or KD-like (Kawacovid Group - KCG) disease between February 1st 2020, and May 31st 2020. Demographic, clini…

Chronic inflammatory cardiomyopathy of interferon γ-overexpressing transgenic mice is mediated by tumor necrosis factor-α.

2011

We recently described a model of inflammatory cardiomyopathy in interferon (IFN)-γ overexpressing transgenic mice stably circulating IFN-γ in the serum referred to as SAP–-IFN-γ mice. SAP–IFN-γ transgenic mice show cardiac infiltration by mononuclear leukocytes, culminating in dilated cardiomyopathy characterized by an increase of left ventricular end diastolic diameter and reduction of fractional shortening. We hypothesized that the pathological mechanism underlying SAP–IFN-γ cardiomyopathy might be mediated by (auto)immune processes or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α synthesis from IFN-γ–activated macrophages. To verify these hypotheses, we crossed SAP–IFN-γ transgenic mice with immunodefic…

Myocarditis: from bench to bedside. LT Cooper Jr (Ed.). Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, 2002. ISBN: 1 58829 112 X/03

2003

THE USE OF INTERLEUKIN 1 RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST (ANAKINRA) IN KAWASAKI DISEASE: A RETROSPECTIVE CASES SERIES

2018

Introduction: Persistent fever and inflammation after infusion of 2g/kg of IVIG, the standard treatment of KD represents a high-risk situation for coronary aneurysms in Kawasaki disease. Identifying patients at risk for IVIG resistance is difficult outside the Asian population, and there remains a critical unmet need to identify an anti-inflammatory treatment that is efficacious in all KD patients. Recent evidence from studies in animals and humans suggest a critical role for interleukin-1 (IL-1) α and β in the pathogenesis of KD. Objectives: To identify the clinical characteristics, reasons for use and response to treatment with anakinra in a retrospective series of patients with Kawasaki …

Interferon-γ Induces Chronic Active Myocarditis and Cardiomyopathy in Transgenic Mice

2007

Chronic heart failure is associated with an activation of the immune system characterized among other factors by the cardiac synthesis and serum expression of proinflammatory cytokines. There is unequivocal clinical and experimental evidence that the cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha is involved in the development of chronic heart failure, but a putative cardiotoxic potential of the proinflammatory cytokine interferon (IFN)-gamma remains primarily unknown. To investigate this issue we analyzed the cardiac phenotype of SAP-IFN-gamma transgenic mice, which constitutively express IFN-gamma in their livers and hence exhibit high circulating serum levels of this cytokine. SAP-IFN-gamma mice s…