The heart is a target of injury for many chemical compounds, both medically prescribed and not medically prescribed. Pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the development of chemical-induced cardiomyopathies vary depending on the inciting agent, including direct toxic effects, neurohormonal activation, altered calcium homeostasis, and oxidative stress. Numerous chemicals and drugs are implicat...

Cardiomyopathies can be defined as disorders of the myocardium which are associated with cardiac dysfunction and are aggravated by arrhythmias, heart failure and sudden death [Ricardson, 2006]. Genetics has played a very important role in the understanding of the different cardiomyopathies since, in 1957, Bridgen cited for the first time the word “cardio‐ myopathy” and in 1958, Teare, the Briti...

The cardiomyopathies are heart muscle diseases of primary or secondary origin. Primary cardiomyopathies are often of unknown cause, hence their treatment is limited to general heart failure management. In secondary cardiomyopathies, in contrast, the identification of the underlying cause allows for a more specific, hence effective, approach that, when applied early, may prevent the development ...

objective(s):this study aimed to examine the hypothesis that an antiarrhythmic effect might be obtained by ischemic preconditioning of the liver, and also to characterize the potential underlying mechanisms. materials and methods: male wistar rats were anesthetized by thiopental sodium (50 mg/kg, ip) followed by iv injection of heparin (250 iu). remote ischemic preconditioning (ripc) was induce...

Ventricular myocardial non-compaction has been recognized and defined as a genetic cardiomyopathy by American Heart Association since 2006. The argument on the nomenclature and pathogenesis of this kind of ventricular myocardial non-compaction characterized by regional ventricular wall thickening and deep trabecular recesses often complicated with chronic heart failure, arrhythmia and thromboem...

The causes of heart failure are diverse. Inherited causes represent an important clinical entity and can be divided into 2 major categories: familial and metabolic cardiomyopathies. The distinct features that might be present in early disease states can become broadly overlapping with other diseases, such as in the case of inherited cardiomyopathies (ie, familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or ...

Cardiomyopathies are a group of diseases characterized by the structural and functional abnormalities heart muscles in absence other illnesses that might be responsible for observed myocardial anomaly. Hypertrophic dilated cardiomyopathies most prevalent types. Rare types include restrictive cardiomyopathy with arrhythmia. Dilated has documented prevalence 36 cases per 100,000 population Europe...

The voltage-gated KV7 (KCNQ) potassium channels are activated by ischemia and involved in hypoxic vasodilatation. We investigated the effect of KV7 channel modulation on cardiac ischemia and reperfusion injury and its interaction with cardioprotection by ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed expression of KV7.1, KV7.4, and KV7.5 in the left ant...

Despite current treatments, including use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, digoxin, and diuretics, morbidity and mortality remain alarmingly high. An estimated 50% of patients with severe signs and symptoms of heart failure will die within 1 year and 70% within 3 years. Additional pharmacological therapies to mitigate this disorder, such as β-blockers, continue to be investiga...

We used a sonomicrometric determination of ventricular dimension to examine the effect of ischemia and reperfusion on the work-length relationship in the intact heart to develop a useful and precise variable of ventricular contractile response to injury. Twenty anesthetized dogs were instrumented with epicardial ultrasonic dimension transducers to record right ventricular free wall chord length...