Cardiac Thrombi in Stress (Tako-Tsubo) Cardiomyopathy: More Than an Apical Issue?
(Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings)...
POSTED 09/01/2010 at 12:01 PM --
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A Big Man With a Broken Heart: Stress-Induced Cardiomyopathy in a Morbidly Obese Man
(Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings)...
POSTED 09/01/2010 at 12:01 PM --
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Cardiac Findings in Congenital Muscular Dystrophies
Cardiac involvement (CI) in congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs) has been only rarely investigated so far. By means of a systematic literature search we reviewed the literature about CI in CMD and found that CI is apparently absent in Ullrich CMD or CMD with integrin deficiency and only mild in Bethlem CMD. CI in merosin deficiency includes dilated cardiomyopathy and systolic dysfunction. CI in dystroglycanopathies seems most prevalent among all CMDs and includes dilated cardiomyopathy, systolic dysfunction, and myocardial fibrosis in Fukuyama CMD. Among the nonspecified dystroglycanopathies, CI manifests as dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (CMP) or systolic dysfunction. With CMD type 1C, as well as with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2I, up to half of the patients dev......
POSTED 09/01/2010 at 10:03 AM --
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Association of ACE I/D polymorphism in Tunisian patients with dilated cardiomyopathy
Primary cardiomyopathies are multifactorial diseases. Genetic factors other than the causal mutations in the modified genes affect the phenotypic expression of dilated cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study was to determine the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D polymorphism with the risk of dilated cardiomyopathy in a Tunisian population. A total of 76 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy was compared to 151 ethnically, age- and gender-matched controls. The frequencies of the DD genotype and D allele were significantly higher in patients as compared with controls, and were associated with increased risk of dilated cardiomyopathy (ACE DD versus ID and II: OR = 3.05 (95% CI, 1.58—5.87; p = 0.001)); D versus I: OR = 2 (95% CI: 1.35—2.97; p = 0.001)). No association w......
POSTED 09/01/2010 at 05:55 AM --
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Clinicopathological profiles of progressive heart failure in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Conclusion
Profiles of advanced heart failure in HCM are due to diverse pathophysiological mechanisms, including LV outflow obstruction and diastolic or global systolic ventricular dysfunction. Atrial fibrillation proved to be the most common disease variable associated with progressive heart failure. Recognition of the heterogeneous pathophysiology of heart failure in HCM is relevant, given the targeted management strategies necessary in this disease. (Source: European Heart Journal)...
POSTED 09/01/2010 at 02:09 AM --
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Barth syndrome: an Xâlinked cause of fetal cardiomyopathy and stillbirth
(Source: Prenatal Diagnosis)...
POSTED 08/31/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Berlin Heart Implantation for Congenital Heart Defects
The Berlin Heart EXCOR ventricular assist device (Berlin Heart AG, Berlin, Germany) was developed to support children awaiting cardiac transplantation and since 2005 has been used increasingly in North America. The EXCOR is a pneumatically driven pulsatile device, capable of supporting the left ventricle or both ventricles. Although the majority of children in whom the device has been used have had either dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis, at least 25% have structural congenital heart disease. Many of the principles important to the implantation procedure of the Berlin Heart apply to all etiologies of heart failure, but for children with structural heart disease, there are certain special considerations. In particular, there is an absolute requirement for complete septation of the hear......
POSTED 08/31/2010 at 12:10 AM --
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ESC: Hot Line Actually Only Lukewarm
STOCKHOLM (MedPage Today) -- Intracoronary bone marrow cell transplantation extended survival in patients with chronic heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy -- that was the good news. The bad news was that the finding was not "new" at all -- it had already been published. (Source: MedPage Today Cardiovascular)...
POSTED 08/29/2010 at 01:49 PM --
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A 57-year-old woman with a stroke and left-sided pleural effusion
Abstract: Severe hypothyroidism is associated with a wide spectrum of pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders. However, it rarely presents with pleural effusion. A 57-year-old woman presented with a stroke and left-sided pleural effusion was suspected of having hypertensive cardiomyopathy. During the treatment with diuretics, her renal function deteriorated and she developed a complete respiratory insufficiency, which led us to the definitive diagnosis. Therapy with thyroid hormone resulted in significant clinical improvement and the pleural effusion disappeared. Myxedema is easily missed when myxedema and pitting edema are simultaneously present in one subject. Severe hypothyroidism should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained pleural effusion. (Source: Respiratory Med......
POSTED 08/28/2010 at 02:52 AM --
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ESC: ECG Not Much Help for Screening Athletes' Hearts (CME/CE)
STOCKHOLM (MedPage Today) -- While hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common cause of sudden death in competitive soccer players, when pro players were screened for the problem with electrocardiography (ECG), all the positive results turned out to be false positives, according to a small study. (Source: MedPage Today Cardiovascular)...
POSTED 08/27/2010 at 10:13 PM --
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Predicting Cardiomyopathic Phenotypes by Altering Ca2+ Affinity of Cardiac Troponin C [Protein Structure and Folding]
Cardiac diseases associated with mutations in troponin subunits include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). Altered calcium handling in these diseases is evidenced by changes in the Ca2+ sensitivity of contraction. Mutations in the Ca2+ sensor, troponin C (TnC), were generated to increase/decrease the Ca2+ sensitivity of cardiac skinned fibers to create the characteristic effects of DCM, HCM, and RCM. We also used a reconstituted assay to determine the mutation effects on ATPase activation and inhibition. One mutant (A23Q) was found with HCM-like properties (increased Ca2+ sensitivity of force and normal levels of ATPase inhibition). Three mutants (S37G, V44Q, and L48Q) were identified with RCM-like properties (a large incr......
POSTED 08/27/2010 at 08:40 AM --
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Are Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Beta-Blockers Ineffective in Children With Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure?
In a retrospective, single-center study of children with dilated cardiomyopathy, Kantor et al. () compared outcomes in children treated with 3 different heart failure regimens (digoxin alone, digoxin and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACEI] but not beta-blockers [BB], and ACEI-BB combination) in a cohort of 189 patients. Because the study cohort represents their 30-year experience with dilated cardiomyopathy and different treatment regimens, the allocation to treatment groups was determined by the era of presentation and guided by the prevailing standards in adult heart failure therapy. On the basis of their observation that the transplantation-free survival time was similar among the 3 groups, the authors question whether evolving pharmacologic treatments for heart failure are ......
POSTED 08/27/2010 at 12:23 AM --
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Cre-loxP DNA recombination is possible with only minimal unspecific transcriptional changes and without cardiomyopathy in Tg({alpha}MHC-MerCreMer) mice.
Conclusions: Presence of the MCM transgene induced major alterations of gene expression, while administration of tamoxifen induced additional, but less gene regulation. Thus, non-floxed MCM(+/0) should be considered as controls for mice that carry both a floxed gene of interest and the MCM transgene. One single tamoxifen injection administered to MCM(+/0)/Serca2(fl/fl) was sufficient for target gene inactivation, without acute cardiomyopathy, allowing acute studies subsequent to gene inactivation.
PMID: 20802136 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology)...
POSTED 08/26/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Ca2+ overload and mitochondrial permeability transition pore activation in living {delta}-sarcoglycan-deficient cardiomyocytes
In this study we assessed the hypothesis that cytosolic Ca2+ increase triggers cardiomyocyte death through mitochondrial Ca2+ overload and dysfunction in the -SG-deficient CHF147 hamster. We showed that virtually all isolated CHF147 ventricular myocytes exhibited elevated cytosolic and mitochondrial Ca2+ levels by the use of the Fura-2 and Rhod-2 fluorescent probes. Observation of living cells with Mito-Tracker red lead to the conclusion that ~15% of isolated CHF147 cardiomyocytes had disorganized mitochondria. Transmission electron microscope imaging showed mitochondrial swelling associated with crest and membrane disruption. Analysis of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) activity using calcein revealed that mitochondria of CHF147 ventricular cells were twofold leakier ......
POSTED 08/26/2010 at 04:01 PM --
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BAS/BSCR45 The mitochondrial permeability transition pore as a target for cardioprotection in ventricular cardiomyocytes harvested from patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Conclusions
For the first time in diseased human ventricular myocytes, we have demonstrated that the mPTP is functional and that its opening can be inhibited by cardioprotective agents such as CsA and atorvastatin. (Source: Heart)...
POSTED 08/26/2010 at 07:54 AM --
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Prolactin: a new therapeutic target in peripartum cardiomyopathy
Peripartum/postpartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a potentially life-threatening disease of uncertain aetiology in previously healthy women. Clinical and experimental data suggested inflammation, autoimmune processes, apoptosis and endothelial dysfunction as typical pathophysiological features of PPCM. Recent data discovered that unbalanced peri/postpartum oxidative stress linked to proteolytic cleavage of the nursing hormone prolactin into a potent anti-angiogenic, pro-apoptotic and pro-inflammatory 16-kDa subform as a potential pathomechanism for the development of PPCM. Consistent with these idea, blockade of prolactin by bromocriptine, a dopamine D2 receptor agonist, prevented the onset of disease in an experimental model of PPCM and appeared successful in small pilot trials with respect ......
POSTED 08/26/2010 at 07:54 AM --
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Post-Transplant Survival High in Cardiac Patient Subset
Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who undergo heart transplants have comparable short-term
survival and possibly better long-term survival than people who receive heart transplants for other reasons,
according to research published online Aug. 24 in Circulation: Heart Failure. (Source: Modern Medicine)...
POSTED 08/25/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Post-Transplant Survival High in Cardiac Patient Subset
Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who undergo heart transplants have comparable short-term
survival and possibly better long-term survival than people who receive heart transplants for other reasons,
according to research published online Aug. 24 in Circulation: Heart Failure. (Source: Modern Medicine)...
POSTED 08/25/2010 at 06:00 PM --
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Heart Transplant Patients With Common Disorder Have High Survival Rates
Transplant surgery to correct the most common type of genetic heart disease yields similar short-term and potentially greater long-term survival rates as transplant surgery for other heart diseases, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. Researchers found similar survival rates one year after heart transplant surgery between hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients (85 percent) and those with other kinds of heart disease (82 percent)... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)...
POSTED 08/25/2010 at 05:00 AM --
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Association between celiac disease and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: a case report
Content Type Journal ArticleDOI 10.1007/s11739-010-0442-1Authors
Elisa Romagnoli, Unit of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital of Modena, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, ItalyElena Boldrini, Unit of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital of Modena, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, ItalyAntonello Pietrangelo, Unit of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital of Modena, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy
Journal Internal and Emergency MedicineOnline ISSN 1970-9366Print ISSN 1828-0447 (Source: Internal and Emergency Medicine)...
POSTED 08/25/2010 at 01:14 AM --
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