Background. Many asymptomatic patients with aortic regurgitation and normal left ventricular systolic function remain clinically stable for many years, but others ultimately develop symptoms or left ventricular dysfunction and require operation. To identify indexes of left ventricular function predictive of symptomatic and functional deterioration during the long-term course of asymptomatic pat...

Introduction. The accurate impact of exercise on coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with left ventricular dysfunction is still debatable. We studied the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on echocardiography parameters in CAD patients with ventricular dysfunction. Methods. Patients with CAD who had ventricular dysfunction were included into an exercise-based rehabilitation program and r...

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 Frequent ventricular ectopic beats (VEB) in patients without significant cardiac disease are usually classified as benign arrhythmia. However, they may alter cardiac performance. RF ablation can effectively eliminate VEB. AIM To evaluate the effects of RF ablation on selected haemodynamic parameters of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function and exercise capacity in p...

BACKGROUND To study the role of Parkin in the regulation of mitochondrial autophagy in the heart by assessing mitochondrial autophagy and changes in Parkin protein expression in rat myocardium after myocardial infarction (MI). MATERIAL AND METHODS Rats were randomly assigned to three groups: control, sham, and MI. Four weeks after induction of MI, ultrasonic examination of the rats was performe...

INTRODUCTION Changes in echocardiographic standard measurements as a consequence of training and detraining in elite or subelite athletes have not been comprehensively studied. METHODS We identified 200 potentially relevant studies from 1966 to June 2006 and eliminated 187 studies that did not fulfil the objectives of the study. We identified 13 studies with echocardiographic assessment of he...

M mode echocardiography was used in 10 normal subjects to study left ventricular dimension and function variables at identical heart rates during tachycardia induced by supine bicycle exercise or atrial pacing. Echocardiographic data were analysed independently by two observers. The maximum heart rate reached during atrial pacing was lower (mean (1SD) 148 (17) beats/min) than that reached durin...

Downregulation of β(1)- adrenergic receptors (β(1)-ARs) and increased expression/function of G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) have been observed in human heart failure, but changes in expression of other ARs and GRKs have not been established. Another unresolved question is the incidence of these compensatory mechanisms depending on heart failure etiology and treatment. To analyze the...

Picture 1. (A) A chest X-ray showing enlargement of the right atrium (RA) (arrow), (B) An echocardiogram showing dilatation of the coronary sinus (CS) (arrow), (C) A multislice computed tomogram showing enlargement of the RA, (D) A multislice computed tomogram showing persistent left superior vena cava (SVC) (arrow) which drained into the RA through the CS. LAD: left atrial dimension, LVDd: lef...