Search results for "dysfunction"
showing 10 items of 1129 documents
Assessment of systolic left ventricular function: a multi-centre comparison of cineventriculography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, unenhanced a…
2005
Aims To assess the agreement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) determinations from unenhanced echocardiography, contrast-enhanced echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cineventriculography as well as the inter-observer agreement for each method. Methods and results In 120 patients, with evenly distributed EF-groups (G 55, 35-55, L 35%), cineventriculography, unenhanced echocardiography with second harmonic imaging, and contrast echocardiography at tow mechanical index with iv administration of SonoVueR were performed. In addition, cardiac MRI at 1.5T using a steady-state free precession sequence was performed in a subset of 55 patients. On-site, and two blinded …
The impact of aircraft noise on vascular and cardiac function in relation to noise event number: a randomized trial
2020
Abstract Aims Nighttime aircraft noise exposure has been associated with increased risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction, mechanistically linked to sleep disturbance, stress, and endothelial dysfunction. It is unclear, whether the most widely used metric to determine noise exposure, equivalent continuous sound level (Leq), is an adequate indicator of the cardiovascular impact induced by different noise patterns. Methods and results In a randomized crossover study, we exposed 70 individuals with established cardiovascular disease or increased cardiovascular risk to two aircraft noise scenarios and one control scenario. Polygraphic recordings, echocardiography, and flow-mediated dila…
Acute impact of an endurance race on cardiac function and biomarkers of myocardial injury in triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis.
2019
Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of myocardial injury and cardiac dysfunction after an endurance race by biomarkers and cardiac magnetic resonance in triathletes with and without myocardial fibrosis. Methods and results Thirty asymptomatic male triathletes (45 ± 10 years) with over 10 training hours per week and 55 ± 8 ml/kg per minute maximal oxygen uptake during exercise testing were studied before (baseline) and 2.4 ± 1.1 hours post-race. Baseline cardiac magnetic resonance included cine, T1/T2, late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) and extracellular volume imaging. Post-race non-contrast cardiac magnetic resonance included cine and T1/T2 mapping. Non-ischaemic my…
Physical training and hypertension have opposite effects on endothelial brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression
2013
AIMS: Changes in circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were reported in patients with or at risk for cardiovascular diseases associated with endothelial dysfunction, suggesting a link between BDNF and endothelial functionality. However, little is known on cardiovascular BDNF. Our aim was to investigate levels/localization, function, and relevance of cardiovascular BDNF. METHODS AND RESULTS: BDNF levels (western blotting) and localization (immunostaining) were assessed in the heart and aorta from rats with impaired (spontaneously hypertensive rats [SHR]), normal (Wistar Kyoto rats [WKY]), and improved (SHR and WKY subjected to physical training) endothelial function. BD…
Effectiveness and safety of switching to entecavir hepatitis B patients developing kidney dysfunction during tenofovir
2019
Background and Aims: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is recommended for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) treatment, but it may induce kidney dysfunction whose management is not yet known. This Italian, multicentre, retrospective study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of switching to entecavir (ETV) patients who developed TDF-associated glomerular and/or tubular dysfunction. Methods: A total of 103 TDF-treated patients were included as follows: age 64 years, 83% male, 49% cirrhotics, 98% with undetectable HBV DNA, 47% with previous lamivudine resistance (LMV-R) and 71% previously treated with adefovir. Twenty-nine (28%) were switched to ETV because estimated glomerular filtration rate (e…
Impact of cardiac rehabilitation exercise program on left ventricular diastolic function in coronary artery disease: a pilot study.
2012
Abstract Diastolic dysfunction is common in coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves survival and quality of life but its effect on diastolic function is unclear. We sought to determine the impact of CR on diastolic function. We conducted a prospective study of CAD patients referred for 3-month outpatient CR, with pre-CR and post-CR echocardiograms. Twenty-five outpatients (age [mean ± SD], 66 ± 11 years; 7 [28 %] women; 22 [88 %] with recent acute coronary syndrome) were recruited upon beginning CR; one patient lacking follow-up was excluded from analysis. Before CR, patients' mean ejection fraction was 61 ± 7 %; regional wall motion score index wa…
Suppression of the JNK Pathway by Induction of a Metabolic Stress Response Prevents Vascular Injury and Dysfunction
2008
Background— Oxidative injury and dysfunction of the vascular endothelium are early and causal features of many vascular diseases. Single antioxidant strategies to prevent vascular injury have met with mixed results. Methods and Results— Here, we report that induction of a metabolic stress response with adenosine monophosphate kinase (AMPK) prevents oxidative endothelial cell injury. This response is characterized by stabilization of the mitochondrion and increased mitochondrial biogenesis, resulting in attenuation of oxidative c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. We report that peroxisome proliferator coactivator 1α is a key downstream target of AMPK that is both necessary and suffici…
Endothelial Dysfunction in Tristetraprolin-deficient Mice Is Not Caused by Enhanced Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Expression
2014
Cardiovascular events are important co-morbidities in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. Tristetraprolin (TTP) regulates pro-inflammatory processes through mRNA destabilization and therefore TTP-deficient mice (TTP(-/-) mice) develop a chronic inflammation resembling human rheumatoid arthritis. We used this mouse model to evaluate molecular signaling pathways contributing to the enhanced atherosclerotic risk in chronic inflammatory diseases. In the aorta of TTP(-/-) mice we observed elevated mRNA expression of known TTP targets like tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, as well as of other pro-atherosclerotic mediators, l…
Prognostic implications of dipyridamole cardiac MR imaging: a prospective multicenter registry
2011
Purpose: To evaluate dipyridamole cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the prediction of major events (MEs) in patients with ischemic chest pain in a large multicenter registry. Materials and Methods: Institutional ethics committee approval and written informed consent were obtained. A total of 1722 patients who were undergoing cardiac MR imaging for chest pain were included. Wall motion abnormalities (WMAs) at rest, hyperemia perfusion defect (PD), late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), and inducible WMA were analyzed (abnormal if more than one abnormal segment was seen) with the 17-segment model. A cardiac MR categorization was created: category 1, no PD, LGE, or inducible WMA; category…
Hypertension and Impotence
1991
In a group of 472 impotent patients who were evaluated with pharmacologic duplex sonography, 117 patient (24.8%) had a history of hypertension, 26 of them (22.2%) for more than 10 years. Objective data about the changes in pulsation, diameter and blood flow velocity of the penile arteries after papaverine injection and the resulting erectile response allowed indirect assessment of the penile venous function. Varying degrees of impaired arterial function were diagnosed in 85% of the patients. The duration of hypertension had less deteriorating effects on the penile arterial system than second risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (n = 31) or smoking (n = 26). Patients on antihypertensive me…