In this issue of the Netherlands Heart Journal, van der Linde et al. describe a novel Dutch founder mutation (MYH7p.Asn1918Lys) in MYH7, the gene encoding myosin heavy chain 7, leading to cardiomyopathy and congenital heart defects [1]. Van der Linde et al. showed that the MYH7p.Asn1918Lys mutation resulted in predominantly dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) but was also present in patients suffering...

OBJECTIVE Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a cardiac syndrome with an acute onset defined by chest symptoms and ST segment elevation on electrocardiograms. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is sometimes misdiagnosed as acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Therefore a non-invasive diagnostic method is needed to be established for setting up appropriate strategies. The purpose of this study was to detect myocard...

BACKGROUND Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is characterized by the basal hypercontractility and apical ballooning of the left ventriculum and T-wave inversion in the electrocardiogram. It has been suggested that Takotsubo cardiomyopathy might underlie the pathogenesis of persistent cardiac dysfunction; however, few reports are present demonstrating the advent of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in patients wi...

OBJECTIVE The collagen subtypes I (Col I) and III (Col III) are essential components of the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) maintaining the functional integrity of the heart. Histological, immunohistological, and biochemical studies, however, demonstrate characteristical changes of the ECM in dilated cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and hypertensive heart disease. METH...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether viral infection acts as a trigger factor for the development of dilated cardiomyopathy in genetically predisposed individuals with a family history of disease. SETTING Patients attending the cardiomyopathy unit in a cardiac tertiary referral centre. DESIGN Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) was used to determine whether enteroviral, adenoviral, or cytom...

Doxorubicin (DOX) is one of the secondary metabolites of Streptomyces peucetius var. caesius. It is a common and effective chemotherapeutic agent used for the treatment of different diseases, including lymphoma, leukemia, breast cancer, and solid tumors. However, this medicine causes cardiotoxic side effects, which limit its clinical application. The present study examined the cardiomy...

The topography and specificity of fibre disarray and fibrosis in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy were determined in a histological study comprising 40 necropsy hearts--10 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 10 with congestive cardiomyopathy, 10 with aortic valve stenosis, and 10 normal hearts. Seven standard regional sections were sampled from each heart and graded "double-blind" (tissue ...

OBJECTIVES Clinically, patients with chronic heart failure arising from different etiologies receive the same treatment. However, the prognoses of these patients differ. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether the pathogenesis of heart failure arising from different etiologies differs. METHODS Heart failure-related dataset GSE1145 was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus datab...

Introduction Mutations in PKD1 and PKD2 cause autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Experimental evidence suggests an important role of the polycystins in cardiac development and myocardial function. To determine whether ADPKD may predispose to the development of cardiomyopathy, we have evaluated the coexistence of diagnoses of ADPKD and primary cardiomyopathy in our patients. ...

Cardiomyopathy is an important cause of heart failure in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for up to 30% of adult heart failure hospitalisations. This high prevalence poses a challenge in societies without access to resources and interventions essential for disease management. Over 80 genes have been implicated as a cause of cardiomyopathy. Mutations in the phospholamban (PLN) gene are associated ...