Search results for "heart Failure"
showing 10 items of 863 documents
Assessment of left ventricular function by breath-hold cine MR imaging: Comparison of different steady-state free precession sequences
2005
Purpose To compare steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence protocols with different acquisition times (TA) and temporal resolutions (tRes) due to the implementation of a view sharing technique called shared phases for the assessment of left ventricular (LV) function by breath-hold cine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Materials and Methods End-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (EDV, ESV) were measured in contiguous short-axis slices with a thickness of 8 mm acquired in 10 healthy male volunteers. The following true fast imaging with steady-state precession (TrueFISP) sequence protocols were compared: protocol A) internal standard of reference, segmented: tRes 34.5 msec, TA 18 beats pe…
Analysis of the Blood Viscosity Behavior in the Sicilian Study on Juvenile Myocardial Infarction
2018
Considering the role of hemorheology in coronary circulation, we studied blood viscosity in patients with juvenile myocardial infarction. We examined whole blood viscosity at high shear rate using the cone-on-plate viscosimeter Wells-Brookfield ½ LVT and at low shear rate employing a viscometer Contraves LS30 in 120 patients (aged <46 years) with myocardial infarction, at the initial stage and subsequently 3 and 12 months after. At the initial stage, patients had an increased whole blood viscosity in comparison to normal controls. This hemorheological profile was not influenced by the cardiovascular risk factors, nor by the extent of coronary lesions, even if some differences were evide…
Age-related increase in xanthine oxidase activity in human plasma and rat tissues.
2007
This study assessed the role of xanthine oxidase in vascular ageing. A positive correlation between xanthine oxidase activity and age was found in human plasma. Similar results were found in rat plasma. Xanthine oxidase expression and activity in homogenates from the aortic wall were significantly higher in samples from old rats than in their young counterparts (p<0.01). In rat skeletal muscle homogenates both xanthine oxidase expression and activity showed a similar age-related profile. Superoxide production by xanthine oxidase in aortic rings was higher in aged rats. Uric acid, the final product of xanthine oxidase has been proposed as a risk factor for coronary heart disease and an indep…
Prevalence and clinical characteristics of patients with true resistant hypertension in central and Eastern Europe
2013
Objective Scanty information is available on the clinical characteristics of resistant hypertension in Central and East European countries. The Blood Pressure (BP) control rate and CArdiovascular Risk profilE (BP-CARE) study allowed us to assess the prevalence and the main clinical features of resistant hypertension in this population. Design and method The study was carried out in 1312 treated hypertensive patients living in nine Central and East European countries. Results Four hundred and twenty-three patients had apparent resistant hypertension, of whom 168 had pseudo-resistant hypertension (noncompliant/white-coat) and 255 were true treatment-resistant hypertension patients (TRH). Clin…
Clinical relevance of vegetation localization by transoesophageal echocardiography in infective endocarditis
1992
Infective endocarditis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, with valvular destruction and congestive heart failure being more common in patients with echocardiographically discernible vegetations. The transoesophageal approach affords consistently high quality images with excellent structural resolution. Two-hundred and eighty-one patients with clinically suspected infective endocarditis were studied, to evaluate the prognostic value of ascertaining the site of vegetations. Among them were 118 patients with vegetations attached to the aortic or mitral valve. These patients were followed for a mean period of 14 months. Mitral valve vegetations were associated with a signif…
Pathophysiologic quantities of endotoxin-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha release in whole blood from patients with chronic heart failure.
2002
Bacterial endotoxin activity is elevated in patients with decompensated chronic heart failure (HF) and acts as a potent stimulus for immune activation. We sought to determine whether endotoxin, at an activity level seen in vivo (around 0.6 EU/ml), is sufficient to stimulate the secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and TNF-alpha soluble receptor (sTNFR2) in ex vivo whole blood from patients with HF. We studied 15 patients with HF (aged 65 +/- 1.9 years, New York Heart Association class 2.1 +/- 0.3, left ventricular ejection fraction 31 +/- 5%; mean +/- SEM), of whom 5 had cardiac cachexia, and 7 healthy control subjects (59 +/- 5 years, p = NS). Reference endotoxin was added …
Long-Term Enoximone Therapy in Unstable Chronic Heart Failure
1989
Long-term safety and efficacy of oral enoximone were evaluated in 32 patients with unstable chronic heart failure despite digitalis, diuretics, and vasodilator therapy. Oral enoximone, 75-150 mg t.i.d. was given for an average of 32 weeks. At baseline, 21 patients were in NYHA functional class IV, 10 patients in class III, and 1 patient in class II. Within 12 weeks, 14 of 20 patients surviving for more than 26 weeks had improved by at least one functional class. Hemodynamic data showed an 18% increase of cardiac index and a 34% decrease of diastolic pulmonary artery pressure. Echocardiographic recordings revealed an increase of fractional shortening from 13.9 +/- 7 to 15.6 +/- 5% after 12 w…
Refined atrial fibrillation screening and cost-effectiveness in the German population
2021
ObjectiveLittle is known on optimal screening population for detecting new atrial fibrillation (AF) in the community. We describe characteristics and estimate cost-effectiveness for a single timepoint electrocardiographic screening.MethodsWe performed a 12-lead ECG in the German population-based Gutenberg Health Study between 2007 and 2012 (n=15 010), mean age 55±11 years, 51% men and collected more than 120 clinical and biomarker variables, including N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (Nt-proBNP), risk factors, disease symptoms and echocardiographic variables.ResultsOf 15 010 individuals, 466 (3.1%) had AF. New AF was found in 32 individuals, 0.2% of the total sample, 0.5% of indivi…
The distribution of whole blood viscosity, its determinants and relationship with arterial blood pressure in the community: cross-sectional analysis …
2015
Background: Blood viscosity has a role in modulating cardiovascular homeostasis; changes in this parameter have been associated with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. However, it remains unclear whether these changes are (1) involved in the pathophysiology of disease, (2) an epiphenomenon, or (3) the expression of counterregulatory mechanisms. We report data on the normal values of blood viscosity and its association with cardiovascular risk factors, prevalent cardiovascular disease, and blood pressure in a large population-based cohort study. Methods and results: Viscosity was calculated using validated formulae and its associations were explored in 15,010 participants (mean 55.0, mi…
The joint impact of donor and recipient parameters on the outcome of heart transplantation in Germany after graft allocation.
2013
Organ shortage in heart transplantation (HTx) results in increased use of grafts from donors with substantial risk factors. It is discussed controversially which donor characteristics may be detrimental. Therefore, we evaluated the joint impact of donor- and patient-related risk factors in HTx on patient survival by multiple analysis in a nationwide multicentre study after donor selection was carried out. The research database consists of data concerning hearts donated and transplanted in Germany between 2006 and 2008 as provided by Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation and the BQS Institute. Multiple Cox regression (significance level 5%, hazard ratio [95% CI]) was conducted (n = 774, rec…