OBJECTIVES We aimed to compare the hemodynamic effects of right-atrial-paced (DDD) and right-atrial-sensed (VDD) biventricular paced rhythm on cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). BACKGROUND Cardiac resynchronization therapy improves hemodynamics in patients with severe heart failure and left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony. However, the impact of active right atrial pacing on resynchroniza...

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD). We sought to characterize sickle cell cardiomyopathy using multimodality noninvasive cardiovascular testing and identify potential causative mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS Stable adults with SCD (n=38) and healthy controls (n=13) prospectively underwent same day multiparametric ca...

Technetium-99m-pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP) has been used, in combination with thallium-201, to estimate the site and extent of myocardial infarcts. We report a case of acute myocardial infarction with severe coronary disease in which the distribution of 99mTc-PYP was extensive. A 78-year-old man presented with dyspnea, and a diagnosis of non-ST-segment elevation acute myocar...

The aims of the present study were to examine the myocardial performance index and aortic elastic properties of athletes engaged in ball sports and to determine their relationships with aerobic and anaerobic characteristics. Standard M-mode and Doppler echocardiography, maximal oxygen uptake and 30 sec Wingate tests were performed for 32 elite male athletes (12 basketball and 20 soccer players)...

Highly available, noninvasive and cost-effective, echocardiography remains a keystone in the evaluation of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac function at rest and during dobutamine stress has direct clinical implications. Conventional echocardiographic parameters however, are partly based on visual interpretation of cardiac motion, thereby subje...

Eighty-seven patients with proven mitral leaflet prolapse were studied emphasizing cardiodynamics and left ventricular asynergy. Significant associated features were female preponderance (83%), skeletal anomalies (pectus excavatum, straight back, scoliosis, narrow antero-posterior diameter of the chest), and anomalous coronary arteries (cork-screw patterns, short left main coronary artery, anom...

The question of whether the carotid sinus baroreceptors modulate myocardial performance remains controversial. Several studies that have stressed their importance have been criticized because the possible role of cerebral ischemia and of other important variables was not eliminated. To reinvestigate this problem, we studied 21 dogs placed on total cardiopulmonary bypass. In each of these animal...

OBJECTIVES This study investigated whether right ventricular (RV) adaptation to chronic pressure overload is associated with pulmonary artery (PA) stiffness beyond the degree of severity of pulmonary hypertension (PH). BACKGROUND Increased PA stiffness has been associated with reduced survival in PH. The mechanisms for this association remain unclear. METHODS Right heart catheterization and...

OBJECTIVES To assess left ventricular systolic and diastolic function in adult patients with cystic fibrosis using radionuclide ventriculography. BACKGROUND Although myocardial fibrosis has been described in autopsy specimens of patients with cystic fibrosis, the possibility that myocardial dysfunction may occur during life in adult patients with cystic fibrosis has not been explored. METHO...