Dear Colleagues,   As Editor-In-Chief of Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Medicine (JCTM), it is my pleasure to introduce this official quarterly publication of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, which is an international, peer-reviewed, and English language journal. Our aim is to publish high quality integrating clinical and experimental research in the following fields: Respiratory medici...

Background: Heart valve diseases are considered a common disease in human and animals, and valve replacement is an option for treatment of valvular diseases. Objectives: In this study efficacy of a tissue engineered valve in thoracic aorta was evaluated with transthoracic echocardiography. Methods: This study was undertaken on 6 male sheep. Echocardiography was performed on all sheep 24 hours b...

Patients who have valvular heart disease coming for surgery present many challenges to the anesthesiologist. Over the past 3 decades there has been a persistent improvement in our understanding of the pathophysiology of valvular heart disease and in the surgical techniques for correcting it. With the development of efficient and safe noninvasive monitoring of cardiac function, new surgical tech...

This study has been conducted in an effort to establish metabolic and inflammatory responses of the myocardium during aortic valve surgery on the beating heart with CPB and continuous coronary sinus perfusion with normothermic blood. Twenty patients, divided into two groups, participated in this study. Conventional aortic valvular operations were performed on first 10 patients, while the second...

BACKGROUND Valvular heart disease, including rheumatic heart disease (RHD), is an important cause of heart disease globally. Management of advanced disease can include surgery and other interventions to repair or replace affected valves. This article summarises the methodology of a study that will incorporate enhanced data collection systems to provide additional insights into treatment choice ...

An appreciation of the natural history of acquired valvular heart disease is a prerequisite to an understanding of how surgical intervention has altered the natural outlook. The prognosis for a patient with valvular heart disease treated medically is dependent on the stage of the disease at which he is first seen. Therefore, assessment for surgery requires evaluation of the pathophysiologic con...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Underlying cardiac pathology and atrial fibrillation (AF) affect the molecular remodeling of ion channels in the atria. Changes in the expression of these molecules have not been demonstrated in Korean patients with mitral valvular heart disease. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze ion channel expression in patients with chronic AF and mitral valvular heart disease. ...