1,720,990 research outputs found
Left coronary to pulmonary artery fistula in a patient with severe coronary atherosclerosis.
No full textBrain Natriuretic Peptide Biomarkers in Current Clinical and Therapeutic Scenarios of Heart Failure
No full textBrain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its inactive N-terminal fragment, NT-proBNP, are serum biomarkers with key roles in the management of heart failure (HF). An increase in the serum levels of these peptides is closely associated with the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying HF such as the presence of structural and functional cardiac abnormalities, myocardial stretch associated with a high filling pressure and neuro-hormonal activation. As BNP and NT-proBNP measurements are possible, several studies have investigated their clinical utility in the diagnosis, prognostic stratification, monitoring and guiding therapy of patients with HF. BNP and NT-proBNP have also been used as criteria for enrollment in randomized trials evaluating the efficacy of new therapeutic strategies for HF. Nevertheless, the use of natriuretic peptides is still limited in clinical practice due to the controversial aspect of their use in different clinical settings. The purpose of this review is to discuss the main issues associated with using BNP and NT-proBNP serum levels in the management of patients with HF under current clinical and therapeutic scenarios
24 h and prolonged ambulatory ECG recording in patients with ventricular ectopy: Maybe 24 h are not enough?
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Potential links between neurological disease and Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy: a literature review
No full textTako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), is defined as a fully reversible acute deterioration of left-ventricular (LV) function, which is mainly found in women after an episode of emotional or physical stress (e.g. psychosocial stress, sepsis, surgery). The underlying mechanisms remain unclear. There is evidence
suggesting a possible link between neurological disease and TTC. The pathophysiology of the several neurologic diseases has been reviewed searching for possible mechanisms that could lead to TTC in these patient
Infiammazione Th17 dipendente e attivazione metallo-proteasica dopo angioplastica coronarica.
No full textMassive pulmonary embolism immediately diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography and treated with tenecteplase fibrinolysis.
No full textTh2-dependent cytokine release in patients treated with coronary angioplasty
No full textAIM: The aim of this study is to investigate the T helper (Th)2-dependent release of interleukin(IL)-4 and IL-13 in patients with unstable angina treated with coronary angioplasty (PCI). METHODS: This study involved 48 consecutive patients with unstable angina who underwent PCI. Blood samples were taken before and 48 h after PCI to evaluate serum IL-4 and IL-13 levels. Coronary atherosclerosis was assessed in terms of the severity of the treated lesions and the presence of multivessel disease, and compared with IL release. RESULTS: Before and after PCI, serum IL-4 levels were, respectively, 53.1±110.7 and 35.1±16.9 pg/ml (P not significant), and serum IL-13 levels 6.7±3.7 and 6.0±2.9 pg/ml (P<0.05). A correlation was present between the severity of the treated coronary lesions and serum IL-13 levels (r 0.36; P<0.05). The patients with multivessel coronary artery disease had a higher periprocedure ratio of IL-4 than those with single-vessel coronary artery disease (1.46±0.76 vs. 0.89±0.34, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A significant decrease was observed in Th2-dependent IL concentrations after PCI; increased Th2-dependent IL levels before PCI seem to correlate with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc
Effects of Sacubitril/Valsartan on the Renal Resistance Index
No full textBackground: Sacubitril/valsartan plays a key role in improving left ventricular remodeling and prognosis in patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Moreover, some data support its role in preserving renal function. In order to better clarify the effects of sacubitril/valsartan in cardiorenal syndrome, this study evaluated its effects on the renal resistance index (RRI). Methods: A group of patients with HFrEF was enrolled. The RRI was assessed with renal echo-color Doppler at enrollment and again after at least six months of sacubitril/valsartan treatment. In a subgroup of patients, the RRI was also evaluated at least six months before enrollment. The variations in echocardiographic parameters reflecting the left and right ventricular function, as well as creatinine and the estimated glomerular filtration rate, were also evaluated. Results: After treatment with sacubitril/valsartan, significant improvements in the left ventricular ejection fraction, and a decrease in the left atrial and ventricular volumes were observed. The RRI also showed a significant decrease. No relationship was found between the improvements in the parameters reflecting cardiac function and changes in the RRI. Conclusions: Treatment with sacubitril/valsartan is associated with improvements in both left ventricular function and renal perfusion, through decreasing the renal resistance. These data help to clarify the effects of the drug on cardiorenal syndrome progression
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