background: cardiac resynchronization therapy (crt) is an effective treatment for patients with moderate to severe heart failure. however, 20-30% of patients remain non-responders to crt. we sought to identify which patients benefit the most from crt in regard to the etiology of heart failure. methods: eighty-three consecutive patients (62 men) who had a biventricular pacemaker inserted at tehr...

background: differences in the quantity and distribution of coronary veins between patients with ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy might affect the potential for the left ventricular (lv) lead targeting in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (crt). in the current study, we assessed and compared the suitability of the coronary venous system for the lv lead placement in i...

I n this issue of Kardio list, Elliott and Mohiddin have published in the Almanac 2011 an excellent review article on the latest achievements and knowledge of diagnostics, pathogenesis and treatment, especially genomics and genetics of cardiomyopathies. I thought that the Editorial should address the existing definitions, classifications, general features and clinical significance of the most c...

Maintenance of protein quality control is a critical function of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). Evidence is rapidly mounting to link proteasome dysfunction with a multitude of cardiac diseases, including ischemia, reperfusion, atherosclerosis, hypertrophy, heart failure, and cardiomyopathies. Recent studies have demonstrated a remarkable level of complexity in the regulation of the UPS ...

background : the signal-averaged electrocardiography is a noninvasive method to evaluate the presence of the potentials generated by tissues activated later than their usual timing in the cardiac cycle. the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the correlation between the filtered qrs duration obtained via the signal-averaged electrocardiography and left ventricular dimensions and volumes an...

background: venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ecmo) provides systemic arterial support without directly unloading the left heart, which causes an elevated left ventricular (lv) pressure. the aim of the present study was to investigate the adjunctive application of the impella device for lv unloading in patients during ecmo. methods: this retrospective cohort study included patie...

abstract hypoplastic right ventricular is a rare congenital heart disease. a few cases have been reported. we presented a case with hypoplastic right ventricular and multiple associated anomaly (ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and pulmonary stenosis) in whom the main concern was whether biventricular repair or fontan type surgery would be the optimal management in this patient. ...

left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy that affects both children and adults. since the clinical manifestations are not sufficient to establish diagnosis, echocardiography is the diagnostic tool that makes it possible to document ventricular non-compaction and establish prognostic factors. we report a 47-year-old woman with a history of dilated cardio...

background: cardiac rehabilitation has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies for managing cardiovascular indices as well as controlling the cardiovascular risk profile, in particular after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (cabg). however, the effect of this program on right ventricular function following cabg is unclear. the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of ...

• In the vagotomized dog with deafferented peripheral chemoreceptors, hypoxia, hypercapnia, or ischemia of the central nervous system provokes reflex, positive chronotropic and inotropic effects upon the normally oxygenated heart. Bradycardia and depression of myocardial contractility are considered to be the primary reflex effects upon the canine heart elicited by stimulation of the chemorecep...