OBJECTIVES We sought to assess whether isoproterenol stress echocardiography could detect in advance in which patients hypertrophic cardiomyopathy would progress to a phase resembling dilated cardiomyopathy. BACKGROUND In a few patients, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has been reported to progress to a phase characterized by systolic dysfunction and left ventricular dilation, resembling dilated ...

ICAM-1 mediates interaction of cardiomyocytes with the extracellular matrix and leukocytes and may play a role in altering contractility. To investigate this possibility, rat ventricular cardiomyocytes were activated using TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, or LPS, washed, cultured with quiescent rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) for 4 h, and electrically stimulated to determine fractional shortening. ...

Some patients with aortic regurgitation develop irreversible left ventricular dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to noninvasively examine left ventricular function in patients with aortic regurgitation by determining the end-systolic stress-shortening relationship using M-mode echocardiography. Ten normal volunteers and 10 patients with chronic, isolated aortic regurgitation were studie...

To determine the effects of prolonged exercise on systolic and diastolic left ventricular function, we studied 21 athletes before, at the finish (within 11 +/- 5 min), and during recovery (28 +/- 9 hr) after the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run). Two-dimensionally guided M mode echocardiograms were digitized for wall thickness, cavity dimension, fractional s...

Background Regional performance of the hypertrophied left ventricle (LV) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is still incompletely characterized with studies variably reporting that the hypertrophied myocardium is hypokinetic, akinetic, or has normal function. Different imaging modalities (M-mode or two-dimensional echocardiography) and methods of analysis (fixed or floating frame of reference...

BACKGROUND Recombinant human growth hormone (GH) improves in vivo cardiac function in rats with postinfarction heart failure (MI). We examined the effects of growth hormone (14 days of 3.5 mg. kg-1. d-1 begun 4 weeks after MI) on contractile reserve in left ventricular myocytes from rats with chronic postinfarction heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Cell shortening and [Ca2+]i were measured w...

BACKGROUND Regional performance of the hypertrophied left ventricle (LV) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is still incompletely characterized with studies variably reporting that the hypertrophied myocardium is hypokinetic, akinetic, or has normal function. Different imaging modalities (M-mode or two-dimensional echocardiography) and methods of analysis (fixed or floating frame of reference...

BACKGROUND Existing studies of childhood dilated cardiomyopathy deal mainly with early survival. This population-based study examines long-term outcomes for children with dilated cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS The diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy was based on clinical, echocardiographic, and pathological findings. The primary study end point included time to the combined outcome of de...

OBJECTIVES To examine long axis excursion in patients with all grades of aortic stenosis and preserved transverse systolic function, and to compare long axis excursion in symptomatic with that in asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis. DESIGN Prospective comparative study. SETTING Regional cardiothoracic centre. PATIENTS 78 patients with all grades of aortic stenosis and normal fractional sh...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular systolic function remains subject to debate because of the anatomic peculiarities of the right ventricle. Several methods have been developed for quantifying right ventricular systolic function. The aim of this study was to determine the reliability and reproducibility of a number of echocardiographic parameters by ev...