Search results for "heart diseases"
showing 10 items of 115 documents
Comparative impact of multiple biomarkers and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in the context of conventional risk factors for the prediction…
2006
Background— Individual markers of inflammation may add incremental predictive value in the context of conventionally available risk factors. We evaluated the ability of 9 inflammatory biomarkers, microalbuminuria, and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (Nt-proBNP) to improve cardiovascular risk prediction beyond that obtained from traditional risk factors in a secondary-prevention population. Methods and Results— We measured biomarkers representing the acute-phase reaction (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and interleukin-6), proinflammatory pathways (soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 and -2, soluble interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, and interleukin-18), endothelial activation…
Combined Effect of Sauna Bathing and Cardiorespiratory Fitness on the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Deaths in Caucasian Men: A Long-term Prospective Cohort …
2018
Both cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and frequency of sauna bathing (FSB) are each strongly and independently associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk. However, the combined effect of CRF and FSB on SCD risk has not been previously investigated. We evaluated the joint impact of CRF and FSB on the risk of SCD in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective cohort study of 2291 men aged 42-61 years at recruitment. Objectively measured CRF and self-reported sauna bathing habits were assessed at baseline. CRF was categorized as low and high (median cutoffs) and FSB as low and high (defined as ≤2 and 3-7 sessions/week respectively). Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with confide…
Hypoxia and myocardial remodeling in human cardiac allografts: a time-course study.
2009
Background: Cardiac allografts are known to develop myocardial fibrosis, which may be a cause of progressive cardiac dysfunction. Apart from the renin‐angiotensin and transforming growth factor- system, hypoxia has been proposed as an important player in the pathogenesis of fibrosis, but its significance remains unclear. This study examines the degree of myocardial fibrosis, cellular remodeling and hypoxic signaling over a time-course of 10 years after human cardiac allograft transplantation. Methods: Serial right ventricular biopsies of 57 patients were collected in 6-month intervals after cardiac transplant surgery for a total of 10 years to allow a retrospective longitudinal analysis. Ov…
Differences in muscle and adipose tissue gene expression and cardio-metabolic risk factors in the members of physical activity discordant twin pairs
2010
High physical activity/aerobic fitness predicts low morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to identify the most up-regulated gene sets related to long-term physical activity vs. inactivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissues and to obtain further information about their link with cardio-metabolic risk factors. We studied ten same-sex twin pairs (age range 50-74 years) who had been discordant for leisure-time physical activity for 30 years. The examinations included biopsies from m. vastus lateralis and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. RNA was analyzed with the genome-wide Illumina Human WG-6 v3.0 Expression BeadChip. For pathway analysis we used Gene Set Enrichment Analysis utilizing…
Immuno-inflammatory activation in acute cardio-embolic strokes in comparison with other subtypes of ischaemic stroke
2009
Few studies have examined the relationship between inflammatory biomarker blood levels, cardioembolic stroke subtype and neurological deficit. So the aim of our study is to evaluate plasma levels of immuno-inflammatory variables in patients with cardio-embolic acute ischaemic stroke compared to other diagnostic subtypes and to evaluate the relationship between immuno-inflammatory variables, acute neurological deficit and brain infarct volume. One hundred twenty patients with acute ischaemic stroke and 123 controls without a diagnosis of acute ischaemic stroke were evaluated. The type of acute ischaemic stroke was classified according to the TOAST classification. We evaluated plasma levels o…
Left atrial thrombi despite anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy
1994
To investigate risk factors for embolization in patients with echocardiographically detected left atrial thrombi and to evaluate thrombus development, we examined 29 patients with transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography at two points during a follow-up of 18 months. We compared patients with a history of possible arterial embolization (n = 13) with those without (n = 16) in regard to age, gender, left atrial dilatation, localization of the thrombus in the left atrial cavity, spontaneous echo contrast, and atrial fibrillation. Eight patients were treated with aspirin, 20 with phenprocoumon. Only left atrial spontaneous contrast was associated with thromboembolism (10/15 patients w…
Three-dimensional imaging of cardiac mass lesions by transesophageal echocardiographic computed tomography.
1994
Three-dimensional echocardiography is a new imaging technique that allows more realistic visualization of cardiac morphology. This study presents data about the diagnostic potentials of this technique concerning cardiac mass lesions, as well as its feasibility in clinical application. After the conventional investigation, multiple cross-sectional images were obtained during automatic forward advancement of a monoplane transducer mounted on a transesophageal probe. Three-dimensional reconstruction and volume determination were performed off line. Twenty-four patients were studied. In 14 cases results of echocardiographic computed tomography (echo-CT) were compared with those of monoplane/bip…
Gerbode-type left ventricular outflow tract to right atrial fistula complicating prosthetic aortic valve replacement identified by cardiac computed t…
2012
Abstract Acquired left ventricular-right atrial communication ( Gerbode-type defect) is a rare complication of infective endocarditis. Although transesophageal echocardiography remains the technique of choice for the evaluation of complications of endocarditis this case highlights the usefulness of cardiac computed tomography in this scenario, particularly in cases where assessment of coronary anatomy is required before surgery.
Interplay of cardiac remodelling and myocardial stiffness in hypertensive heart disease: a shear wave imaging study using high-frame rate echocardiog…
2019
Abstract Aims To determine myocardial stiffness by means of measuring the velocity of naturally occurring myocardial shear waves (SWs) at mitral valve closure (MVC) and investigate their changes with myocardial remodelling in patients with hypertensive heart disease. Methods and results Thirty-three treated arterial hypertension (HT) patients with hypertrophic left ventricular (LV) remodelling (59 ± 14 years, 55% male) and 26 aged matched healthy controls (55±15 years, 77% male) were included. HT patients were further divided into a concentric remodelling (HT1) group (13 patients) and a concentric hypertrophy (HT2) group (20 patients). LV parasternal long-axis views were acquired with an ex…
Underlying heart diseases and acute COVID-19 outcomes
2021
Background: The presence of any underlying heart condition could influence outcomes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The registry HOPE-COVID-19 (Health Outcome Predictive Evaluation for COVID-19, NCT04334291) is an international ambispective study, enrolling COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital, dead or alive. Results: HOPE enrolled 2798 patients from 35 centers in 7 countries. Median age was 67 years (IQR: 53.0-78.0), and most were male (59.5%). A relevant heart disease was present in 682 (24%) cases. These were older, more frequently male, with higher overall burden of cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, smoking habit, …