This work was presented in part at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Physicians, Boston, Mass., April, 1968 (Ann. Intern. Med. 68: 1153). Received for publication 13 February 1969 and in revised form 18 June 1969. usually rose proportionally, with the absolute rise of LVEDP surpassing that of RAP. Although the absolute level of the central venous pressure thus may not be a reliable ...

Multiple modalities contribute to the evaluation of ventricular function. The role of cineangiography, echocardiography, MR imaging, ultrafast CT, and nuclear medicine continue to evolve and improve our understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of ventricular function. This article discusses the use and limitation of each modality.

BACKGROUND The aims of the present study were to determine whether maternal hyperoxygenation affects human fetal pulmonary circulation and whether there is a gestational age-related response in the fetal pulmonary circulation to maternal hyperoxygenation during the second half of gestation. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty women between 20 and 26 weeks of gestation and 20 women between 31 and 36 we...

mitochondria play an important role in energy production for the cell. the proper function of a myocardial cell largely depends on the functional capacity of the mitochondria.  therefore it is necessary to establish a novel and reliable method for a non-invasive assessment of mitochondrial function and metabolism in humans. although originally designed for evaluating myocardial perfusion, 99mtc...

Fetal echocardiography has yet to have an impact on the treatment of congenital heart disease. Critical aortic valve stenosis was diagnosed by echocardiography before birth in a 35 week gestation fetus. The risks to the fetus and mother associated with prolonged rupture of membranes prompted their transport to a hospital with cardiac surgical and high-risk perinatal facilities. Prenatal and pos...

Evaluation of the fetal heart at 11-13 + 6 weeks of gestation is indicated for women with a family history of congenital heart defects (CHD), a previous child with CDH, or an ultrasound finding associated with cardiac anomalies. The accuracy for early detection of CHD is highly related to the experience of the operator. The 4-chamber view and outflow tracts are the most important planes for ide...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important cause of heart failure in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The pro brain natriuretic peptide N-terminal (NT-proBNP) has been suggested as a noninvasive marker to evaluate ventricular function. However, there is no evidence to support the use of NT-proBNP in monitoring the benefits of vasodilators in COPD induced PH. Thus, we used NT-proBN...

RGS family members are GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) for heterotrimeric G proteins. There is evidence that altered RGS gene expression may contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and failure. We investigated the ability of RGS4 to modulate cardiac physiology using a transgenic mouse model. Overexpression of RGS4 in postnatal ventricular tissue did not affect cardiac morphology...

The prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor indomethacin was given orally or intravenously to pregnant ewes. This resulted in a significant rise in the fetal pulmonary-to-systemic arterial mean blood pressure difference across the ductus arteriosus, presumably secondary to constriction of the ductus arteriosus. In five experiments the pressure difference could be promptly but temporarily reversed by...

background: preeclampsia is a condition observed during pregnancy and threatens the life of both mother and fetus. there are studies which suggest that preeclampsia play a major role in the left ventricular mass. the aim of this study is to compare the electrocardiographic changes in normal pregnant and preeclamptic women. methods: the studied groups consisted of 48 mild preeclamptic, 33 severe...