BACKGROUND Diagnosing heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction is difficult on clinical grounds alone. We sought to determine the accuracy of a heart failure register in a single primary care practice, and to examine the usefulness of b-type (or brain) natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay for this purpose. METHODS A register validation audit in a single general practice in the UK wa...

background: recently, stem cells have been considered for the treatment of heart diseases, but no marked improvement has been recorded. this is the first study to examine the functional and histological effects of the transplantation of human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells (hamscs) in rats with heart failure (hf). methods: this study was conducted in the years 2014 and 2015. 35 male wistar ...

Although aortic regurgitation is a diastolic phenomenon, it has been observed during systole in a few cases. Our aims were to determine the incidence of systolic aortic regurgitation in routine clinical practice and to investigate the clinical profiles of patients with the condition. An exhaustive prospective study of all investigations performed by a hospital echocardiographic unit over one mo...

OBJECTIVES To characterise the clinical features of patients with suspected heart failure but preserved left ventricular systolic function to determine if they have other potential causes for their symptoms rather than being diagnosed with "diastolic heart failure." DESIGN Prospective descriptive study. SETTING Outpatient based direct access echocardiography service. PARTICIPANTS 159 cons...

BACKGROUND Hypertension has been established as one of the commonest causes of heart failure especially in sub-Saharan Africa. We have previously observed a high prevalence of left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction in hypertensive heart failure patients in Nigeria despite a low prevalence of ischemic heart disease. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to assess the prevalence of asy...

1. There is a substantial non-harmonic or fractal component to the variability of both heart rate and blood pressure in normal subjects. Heart rate is the more complex of these two signals, with respect to the slope, beta, of the 1/f beta relationship. In congestive heart failure, heart rate spectral power is attenuated, but the fractal and harmonic components of heart rate and systolic blood p...

BACKGROUND Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the inability to achieve or maintain the adequate erection for intercourse. Heart failure is a major risk factor for erectile dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with erectile dysfunction in systolic heart failure. METHODS In a cross-sectional study 100 male patients with systolic heart failure wer...

the incidence and prevalence of obesity are fast increasing worldwide. various indices have been used to measure and assess obesity. the body mass index (bmi) is the most common and practical of these indices. overweight and obesity exert considerable adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. these effects are mediated through various neurohormonal and cytokine pathways, most of which are i...

introduction the sensation of palpitations may either be the initial or the only symptom of cardiac arrhythmia. we describe a case of a visible clear temporal relationship between standard doses of oxazepam and palpitation. case presentation a 48-year-old man presented to the cardiac care unit with systolic heart failure. he was commenced on a medication regimen of routine drugs of patient’s he...