OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of lesions responsible for commissural prolapse, the techniques of valve repair and their long-term results. METHODS Between 1992 and 2004, 128 mitral valve repairs were consecutively performed for commissural prolapse. There were 86 males and 42 females, the median age was 57.5 years (range 14-84 years). Forty-six percent of patient...

u NTlL recently, a~ilbulatory blood pressure measurement was largely tlie preserve of physicians working in specialized centres. ?'lie reasons for this included the fact that the first clevices recorded blood pressure invasively arid were associated wit11 so~tic risk ant1 were tl~ercfore of liniitcd clinical application. l'lie early setiii-automated non-invasive devices of the 1960s had to be f...

Interleukin-18 (IL-18) was discovered as an interferon-γ-inducing factor and has been regarded as a proinflammatory cytokine. However, IL-18 is ubiquitously expressed both in immune/inflammatory cells and in nonimmune cells, and its biological roles have not been sufficiently elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that IL-18-deficient [IL-18 knockout (KO)] mice have heart abnormalities that may be re...

Noonan Syndrome with Multiple Lentigines (NSML, formerly LEOPARD syndrome) is an autosomal dominant "RASopathy" disorder manifesting in congenital heart disease. Most cases of NSML are caused by catalytically inactivating mutations in the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), non-receptor type 11 (PTPN11), encoding the SH2 domain-containing PTP-2 (SHP2) protein. We previously generated knock-in m...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate whether rats dosed with serotonin develop changes similar to those seen in human carcinoid heart disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Ten Sprague-Dawley rats were given serotonin injections subcutaneously once daily for 3 months; controls were given saline. A long-lasting hyperserotoninemia with a >10-fold increase in both platelet-poor plasma a...

OBJECTIVE To compare the transductal velocity ratio (TVR) of the persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with other echocardiographic criteria for haemodynamic significance of a PDA. METHODS This was a prospective study (from January 1997 to August 1998) in the nurseries of the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne. Infants with a clinically suspected PDA were eligible and included if the echocardiogr...

We read with interest the editorial written by Dr. Boraita1 on sudden death and sports. In general, we agree with most of the author ́s statements. However, we think that an echocardiographic study especially designed for the diagnosis of anomalies of the coronary arteries should be included in the athletic pre-participation cardiological examination (APCE). Anomalies of the coronary arteries ar...

A 63-year-old previously healthy man complained of increasing dyspnoea for 2 weeks. A cardiologist saw him, and an echocardiograph showed a mild pericardial effusion. Serum creatinine concentration was 4.6mg/dl, and the patient was admitted to our clinic for further diagnostic work-up. He had no history of renal disease, a routine serum creatinine was normal 6 months previously, and he was taki...

In April 2007, laboratory tests revealed the following values: red blood cell 4.7 million /mm3, hemoglobin 13.4 g/dL, mean corpuscular volume 83 fL, leukocytes 7,700/mm3 (51% neutrophils, 2% eosinophils, 39% lymphocytes, and 8% monocytes), platelets 236,000/mm3, cholesterol 196 mg/dL, high density lipoproteincholesterol (HDLC) 39 mg/dL, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC) 102 mg/dL, trig...

Although doxorubicin (DOX) is a very effective antineoplastic agent, its clinical use is limited by a dose-dependent, persistent and cumulative cardiotoxicity, whose mechanism remains to be elucidated. Previous works in animal models have failed to use a multi-organ approach to demonstrate that DOX-associated toxicity is selective to the cardiac tissue. In this context, the present work aims to...