BACKGROUND Healing after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is characterized by an intense inflammatory response and increased Interleukin-1 (IL-1) tissue activity. Genetically engineered mice lacking the IL-1 receptor (IL-1R1-/-, not responsive to IL-1) or the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra, enhanced response to IL-1) have an altered IL-1/IL-1Ra balance that we hypothesize modulates infarct h...

BACKGROUND The relationship between lipids and coronary artery disease has been well established. However, this is not the case between lipids and heart failure. Ironically, high lipid levels are associated with better outcomes in heart failure, but the mechanisms underlying the phenomenon are not fully understood. This study was performed to test the hypothesis that reduced intestinal lipid ab...

BACKGROUND The role of coronary atherosclerosis (CA+) in ventricular remodeling after aortic valve replacement (AVR) for isolated aortic stenosis (AS) is not well defined. We sought to evaluate the impact of not revascularized moderate coronary atherosclerosis in long-term left ventricular (LV) remodeling after AVR. METHODS We assessed by coronariography the coronary artery disease in 66 pati...

OBJECTIVE The present study was planned to evaluate the long-term effects of elective cardiac resynchronization therapy devices (CRT-D) of coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS We continuously selected 124 patients with chronic stable heart failure to undergo PCI, and were randomly divided into two groups viz. control group with 72 cases a...

BACKGROUND Pacing has been proposed as a treatment for patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM), but there are few studies with long-term follow-up. We evaluated the long-term effects of dual-chamber pacing therapy for patients with HOCM, and to identify the most prognosis-specific factors for predicting outcome in such treating methods. METHODS A total of 37 HOCM patients...

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) show characteristic abnormalities in cardiac structure and function. We evaluated the influence of these abnormalities on adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes after living donor kidney transplantation in patients with valid preoperative transthoracic echocardiographic evaluation. We then observed any development of major postoperative cardiovascular comp...

Aim: To evaluate the prognostic effect of serum NT-proBNP levels and left ventricular ejection fraction in patients who have acute decompansated heart failure and receive levosimendan treatment. Method: Fourteen patients (10 male (71,4 %), 4 female (28,6%)) with heart failure who have low cardiac output findings and unresponsive to intravenous and vasodilator therapy, functional capacity NHYA c...

OBJECTIVES To perform a meta-analysis of clinical trials and investigate the effect of stem cell therapy on dilated cardiomyopathy. METHODS A systematic literature search was carried out between May 2012 and July 2013 in PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE). The study took place in the Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Ch...

BACKGROUND There are limited data regarding the predictors of mortality in patients with acute congestive heart failure (CHF) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 40%. METHODS We evaluated clinical characteristics, mortality and prognostic factors in a sample of consecutive patients hospitalized for CHF with LVEF ≥ 40%. Multivariable Cox regression models were developed to predict ...

Introduction. The accurate impact of exercise on coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with left ventricular dysfunction is still debatable. We studied the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on echocardiography parameters in CAD patients with ventricular dysfunction. Methods. Patients with CAD who had ventricular dysfunction were included into an exercise-based rehabilitation program and r...