BACKGROUND Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy is a reversible cause of heart failure. We hypothesized that although left ventricular ejection fraction measurements normalize after heart rate or rhythm control in patients with tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy, recurrent tachycardia may have abrupt and deleterious consequences. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with tachycardia-induced cardiomyopa...

The mammalian heart develops from a primary heart tube, which is formed by fusion of bilateral cardiac territories in which myocardial and endothelial cells have already begun to differentiate from splanchnic mesoderm. A population of myocardial precursors has been identified in pharyngeal mesoderm, anterior to the early heart tube. Cell labeling studies have indicated that this novel territory...

Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium is a rare cardiomyopathy due to an arrest of myocardial morphogenesis. The characteristic echocardiographic findings are prominent myocardial trabeculations and deep intertrabecular spaces communicating with the left ventricular cavity. The clinical manifestations include heart failure (HF) signs, ventricular arrhythmias, and cardioembolic events. We ...

M mode echocardiography was used in 10 normal subjects to study left ventricular dimension and function variables at identical heart rates during tachycardia induced by supine bicycle exercise or atrial pacing. Echocardiographic data were analysed independently by two observers. The maximum heart rate reached during atrial pacing was lower (mean (1SD) 148 (17) beats/min) than that reached durin...

The goal of organ-conserving cardiac surgery is the preservation of heart function in the setting of heart failure. One way to improve heart function is left ventricular surgical reconstruction. This article briefly reviews the pathophysiology of left ventricular cardiomyopathy and the evolution of surgical left ventricular reconstruction techniques. These techniques are now part of a well-acce...

Objective: To test the hypothesis that, when measured in the long axis, left ventricular systolic function is abnormal in patients with diastolic heart failure. Design: A case–control study. Setting: University teaching hospital (tertiary referral centre). Patients: 68 patients with heart failure, 29 with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of > 0.45 and diastolic dysfunction (diastolic...

THE electrocardiographic patterns of subjects who had evidence at necropsy of left ventricular hypertrophy have been comprehensively reviewed by Seott.1 2 Although no close relationship can be demonstrated between any specific electrocardiographic abnormality and the heart weight, the left ventricular weight, the left ventricular wall thickness, or the ratio of left ventricular/ right ventricul...

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that, when measured in the long axis, left ventricular systolic function is abnormal in patients with diastolic heart failure. DESIGN A case-control study. SETTING University teaching hospital (tertiary referral centre). PATIENTS 68 patients with heart failure, 29 with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of > 0.45 and diastolic dysfunction (diastol...

The complex problem of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) related to systemic arterial hypertension (H) has motivated several experimental, clinical and epidemiological studies. Because LVH is an important predisposing factor for heart failure 1 and because it is physiopathologically related to ischemic heart disease and ventricular arrhythmias, hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy is an i...

critical pulmonary valve stenosis (cpvs) and atrial septal defect (asd) is an uncommon form of congenital heart disease. concurrent transcatheter pulmonary valvuplasty and closure of secundum atrial septal defect appears to be an interesting alternative to surgical correction. we present the simultaneous balloon valvuloplasty of critical pulmonary stenosis (ps) with supra systemic right ventric...