Heart failure: a PKGarious balancing act.

A PKGarious Balancing Act

The pathologically hypertrophied and failing heart is a battlefield in a war that would make even George Lucas proud. On the one side, you have hemodynamic, neurohormonal, morphological, and cellular/molecular dark forces urging the ventricle toward decompensation and ultimate demise. On the other, Jedi signaling cascades try valiantly to stave off the impending disaster. Alas, unlike the movie...

Liver protection in the perioperative setting.

With recent advances in surgical and anaesthetic management, clinical medicine has responded to societal expectations and the number of operations in patients with a high-risk of perioperative liver failure has increased over the last decades. This review will outline important pathophysiological alterations common in patients with pre-existing liver impairment and thus highlight the anaestheti...

Myocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis: a balancing act.

In response to a variety of extrinsic and intrinsic stimuli that impose increased biomechanical stress the heart responds by enlarging the individual myofibers. Even though myocardial hypertrophy can normalize wall tension, it instigates an unfavorable outcome and threatens affected patients with sudden death or progression to overt heart failure, suggesting that in most instances hypertrophy i...

Myocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis: a balancing act

In response to a variety of extrinsic and intrinsic stimuli that impose increased biomechanical stress the heart responds by enlarging the individual myofibers. Even though myocardial hypertrophy can normalize wall tension, it instigates an unfavorable outcome and threatens affected patients with sudden death or progression to overt heart failure, suggesting that in most instances hypertrophy i...

Balancing Bleeding and Clotting: The Known Unknowns of Mechanically Assisted Circulation.