Objective: To determine whether patients with congestive heart failure on different β adrenoreceptor blocking drugs have similar haemodynamic responses to dobutamine. Design: Single centre, single blind, randomised, two period crossover study comparing carvedilol with metoprolol CR/XL. Patients: Ten patients with stable chronic congestive heart failure (ejection fraction < 40%) on chronic treat...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The benefits of beta blockers in heart failure are highly dependent on dosage. This study aimed to analyze the degree of concordance between targeted (CIBIS II) and achieved doses of bisoprolol in a group of patients with stable heart failure on conventional treatment. We also evaluated functional parameters, adverse effects and the reasons for withdrawal or drop-out...

AIMS The optimal dosing strategies for blocking the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) are poorly known. We sought to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of supramaximal titration of benazepril and valsartan in patients with IDCM. METHODS AND RESULTS 480 patients with IDCM in New York Heart Association functional class II-IV and with left ...

INTRODUCTION Coronary computed-tomography angiography (CCTA) has high diagnostic performance, but it sometimes does not allow evaluation because of artifacts. Currently, the use of a β-blocker is recommended to prevent motion artifacts, but the β-blocker (metoprolol, propranolol, etc.) commonly used has a slow onset and long duration of action. Landiolol hydrochloride is an intravenous β1-block...

BACKGROUND This study evaluates the dose distribution of reversed planned tangential beam intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) compared to standard wedged tangential beam three-dimensionally planned conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) of the chest wall in unselected postmastectomy breast cancer patients METHODS For 20 unselected subsequent postmastectomy breast cancer patients tangential beam ...

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare whether reduced heart rate (HR) or higher beta-blocker (BB) dose affected outcomes to a greater extent in the HF-ACTION (Heart Failure: A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training) trial population. BACKGROUND Recent data have shown that HR is an important modifiable factor in reducing mortality in heart failure (HF) patients. It has a...

OBJECTIVES We performed a post-hoc subgroup analysis in the Metoprolol CR/XL Randomized Intervention Trial in Chronic Heart Failure (MERIT-HF) with the aim of reporting on the heart rate (HR) response during the titration phase and clinical outcomes from the three-month follow-up visit to end of study in two dosage subgroups: one that had reached more than 100 mg of metoprolol CR/XL once daily ...

High-dose ionising radiation is associated with circulatory disease. Risks associated with lower-dose (<0.5 Gy) exposures remain unclear, with little information on risk modification by age at exposure, years since exposure or dose-rate. Tuberculosis patients in Canada and Massachusetts received multiple diagnostic x-ray fluoroscopic exposures, over a wide range of ages, many at doses <0.5 Gy. ...

Acute decompensated heart failure is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures.1 Most patients present with symptoms related to fluid overload, which may be complicated by concomitant renal dysfunction.2 Treating the signs and symptoms of heart failure while preserving or improving renal function is a crucial therapeutic goal. For more than five decades, the...

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility of using helical tomotherapy for locally advanced left-sided breast cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS Treatment plans were generated for 10 left-sided breast cancer patients with positive lymph nodes comparing a multiport breast (three-dimensional) technique with the tomotherapy treatment planning system. The planning target volumes, including the chest wall/br...