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Maintained benefits and improved survival of dynamic cardiomyoplasty by activity-rest stimulation: 5-year results of the Italian trial on "demand" dynamic cardiomyoplasty
No full textEur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2003 Jan;23(1):81-5.
Maintained benefits and improved survival of dynamic cardiomyoplasty by activity-rest stimulation: 5-year results of the Italian trial on "demand" dynamic cardiomyoplasty.
Rigatelli G, Barbiero M, Rigatelli G, Riccardi R, Cobelli F, Cotogni A, Bandello A, Carraro U.
Source
Cardiomyoplasty Project Unit, Legnago General Hospital, Via T. Speri 18, 37040 Legnago, Verona, Italy. [email protected]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
Latissimus dorsi (LD) muscular degeneration caused by continuous electrical stimulation has been the main cause of the poor results of dynamic cardiomyoplasty (DCMP) and its exclusion from the recent international guidelines on heart failure. To avoid full transformation of the LD and to improve results, a new stimulation protocol was developed; fewer impulses per day are delivered, providing the LD wrap with daily periods of rest ("demand" stimulation), based on a heart rate cut-off. The aim of this work is to report the results at 5 years of follow-up of the Italian Trial of Demand Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty and to discuss their impact on the destiny of this type of cardiac assistance.
METHODS:
Twelve patients with dilated myocardiopathy (M/F=11/1, mean age 58.2+/-5.8 years, sinus rhythm/atrial fibrillation=11/1) were submitted during the period 1993-1996 to DCMP and at different intervals to demand protocol. Clinical, echocardiographic, mechanographic and cardiac invasive assessments were scheduled before initiating the demand protocol and during the follow-up at 0, 6 and every 12 months.
RESULTS:
The mean duration of follow-up was 40.2+/-13.8 months (range 18-64). There were no perioperative deaths. The demand stimulation protocol showed a decrease in 5 years in New York Health Association (NYHA) class (3.17+/-0.38-1.67+/-0.77, P=0.0001), an improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction (22.6+/-4.38-32.0+/-7.0, P<0.001), a 5-year actuarial survival of 83.3% (one patient was switched to heart transplantation programme due to clinical worsening and another one died of massive pulmonary embolism).
CONCLUSIONS:
Demand DCMP maintains over time LD muscular properties, enhances clinical benefits and improves survival of DCMP, thus reopening the debate whether this type of treatment should be considered in patients with end-stage heart failure.
PMID:
12493509
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
Demand Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty: Mechanograms prove incomplete transformation of the rested LD
No full textAnn Thorac Surg. 2000 Jul;70(1):67-73.
Demand dynamic cardiomyoplasty: mechanograms prove incomplete transformation of the rested latissimus dorsi.
Carraro U, Barbiero M, Docali G, Cotogni A, Rigatelli G, Casarotto D, Muneretto C.
Source
Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Padua, Italy. [email protected]
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
In dynamic cardiomyoplasty, standard stimulation produces high fatigue resistance but also undesirable dynamic characteristics of the latissimus dorsi (LD). Based on results of intermittent stimulation in animals we introduced demand stimulation, a lighter regimen of LD activity-rest stimulation, and the mechanogram, a noninvasive method to determine the contractile characteristics of LD wrap.
METHODS:
Surgery and standard stimulation was according to the technique of Carpentier and Chachques, demand stimulation and LD wrap mechanogram were as we previously described. The LD contraction is synchronized to heart systole by mechanogram and echocardiography, and extent of transformation by tetanic fusion frequency analysis. A total of 22 patients were studied to date. Data for the 8 subjects who attained 6-month follow-up are reported. Four of them were lightly stimulated from the conditioning period, whereas 4 others were converted to light and then demand stimulation after years of standard stimulation. Patients were followed up with respect to survival, functional class, hospital admission rate, medication used, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and LD wrap mechanography.
RESULTS:
Latissimus dorsi wrap slowness reverses by the activity-rest regimen, even after years of standard stimulation (Tetanic fusion frequency of 11 +/- 2 Hz after standard stimulation vs 30 +/- 3 Hz after demand regimen, p < 0.0001). After demand dynamic cardiomyoplasty there are no deaths. Quality of life is substantially improved with significant reduction of heart failure symptoms (New York Heart Association class: preoperative 3.0 +/- 0.0, post-demand dynamic cardiomyoplasty 1.5 +/- 0.2, p < 0.0001). In the subgroup of patients lightly stimulated from LD conditioning, exercise capacity tends to increase over preoperative values more than 2 years after operation (VO2 max: preoperative 12.3 +/- 0.7 vs 16.6 +/- 1.7 post-demand dynamic cardiomyoplasty, p = 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS:
Demand stimulation and mechanography of the LD wrap are safe procedures that could offer long-term benefits of dynamic cardiomyoplasty to patients with pharmacologically intractable heart failure.
PMID:
10921684
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
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
Non-invasive evaluation of left ventricular function with systolic time intervals, in 8 normal subjects after oral treatment with di-isobutyric ester of N-methyldopamine
No full textComputerized analysis of the changes in the R wave amplitude during exercise tests of normal subjects and coronary disease patients
No full textExercise-induced R wave changes in normals and coronary patients. Computer analysis of CB5 lead (author's transl
No full textDemand dynamic cardiomyoplasty: mechanograms prove incomplete transformation of the rested latissimus dorsi.
No full textRelationships between leisure time physical activity and coronary risk factors in asymptomatic subjects
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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