OBJECTIVES To evaluate the accuracy of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) in dyspneic patients aged >or=85 years admitted to the Emergency Department (ED), and to define threshold values in this oldest-old population. DESIGN AND METHODS This study involved 210 oldest-old patients, an...

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) plasma levels are commonly high at the early phase of septic shock and have been suggested to be prognostic markers for this condition. It is uncertain, however, whether this increase reflects sepsis related cardiac dysfunction. In a recent issue of Critical Care, Mokart and coworkers showed the accuracy of NT-proBNP in pre...

BACKGROUND The inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and degree of inspiratory collapse are used as echocardiographic indices in the estimation of right atrial pressure. Brain-natriuretic peptides (BNPs) are established biomarkers of myocardial wall stress. There is no information available regarding the association between the IVC diameter and BNPs in patients with heart failure and various degree...

Background We aimed to investigate the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on electrocardiography (ECG), premature ventricular contraction load on 24-hour Holter recordings, and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and heart failure. Methods Patients with heart failure and ICD and patients with...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of enzymes important for the resorption of extracellular matrices, control of vascular remodeling and repair. Increased activity of MMP2 has been demonstrated in heart failure, and in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) a decrease in circulating MMPs has been demonstrated along with successful treatment. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to ...

Background The present study aims to examine the oxidative stress-related activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a cause of parthanatos in circulating mononuclear leukocytes of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), that was rarely investigated in the human setting yet. Methods Patients with CHF (n = 20) and age- and body mass index-matched volunteers (n = 15) with a normal hea...

A 55-year-old woman presented with progressive heart failure symptoms and was diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy with light chain amyloidosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline showed slightly increased wall thickness of the right and left ventricles and abnormal nulling of the myocardium with a dark blood pool (Figure A) on postgadolinium images, consistent with amyloidosis. Baselin...

RATIONALE Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare progressive disease of the pulmonary vasculature that is characterized by endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and right ventricular dysfunction. OBJECTIVES The main objective was to determine whether endothelial, inflammatory, and cardiac biomarkers would be associated with the World Health Organization functional assessment and sur...

AIM The study aim was to evaluate whether circulating microparticles with apoptotic or non-apoptotic phenotypes are useful for risk assessment of 3-year cumulative fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events in CHF patients. METHODS The incidence of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, as well as the frequency of occurrence of death from any cause in a cohort of 388 patients with CHF duri...