Asymptomatic rupture of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm is rare. A fistula following rupture of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm may cause infective endocarditis. Here, we report a case of infective endocarditis of an aorto-right atrial fistula caused by asymptomatic rupture of a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm. A 45-year-old male, who was first diagnosed with a heart murmur at the age of 37 years, present...

The objective of this study was to investigate cardiovascular autonomic function in patients with parkin disease. Ten patients with a genetically confirmed diagnosis were compared to 11 healthy controls. Symptoms related to autonomic dysfunction were collected by structured interviews. Cardiovascular autonomic reflex function was evaluated using a standard battery of eight tests. Autonomic test...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the presence and extent of autonomic dysfunction in HIV infected individuals of one ethnic group. DESIGN Prospective, age-sex matched study. METHODS 25 patients (seven asymptomatic (HIV), eight AIDS related complex (ARC), 10 AIDS) and 25 controls were recruited from patients and staff at the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi. Autonomic function was assessed by measurement of ...

In 21 patients with multiple sclerosis and 20 healthy controls, the following tests of autonomic function were examined: (1) variation in heart rate during deep breathing, (2) the variations in heart rate and systolic blood pressure during a standardised Valsalva manoeuvre, (3) the changes in heart rate and systolic blood pressure during arm ergometry starting at 30 W with increments of 20 W ev...

Junqueira LF Jr. Teaching cardiac autonomic function dynamics employing the Valsalva (Valsalva-Weber) maneuver. Adv Physiol Educ 32: 100–106, 2008; doi:10.1152/advan.00057.2007.—In this report, a brief history of the Valsalva (Valsalva-Weber) maneuver is outlined, followed by an explanation on the use of this approach for the evaluation of cardiac autonomic function based on underlying heart ra...

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most prevalent form of sleep disordered breathing and could become an important public health issue in India. Patients with OSA have high levels of sympathetic nerve activity during sleep. The autonomic alterations persist during wakefulness and are considered to contribute to the cardiovascular disorders associated with OSA. Aims & Objective: Th...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Transient global amnesia (TGA) has been associated with an increased prevalence of internal jugular valve insufficiency and many patients report Valsalva-associated maneuvers before TGA onset. These findings have led to the assumption of hemodynamic alterations in intracranial veins inducing focal hippocampal ischemia. We investigated this hypothesis in patients with TGA ...

The Valsalva maneuver is frequently used to test autonomic function. Previous work demonstrated that the blood pressure decrease during the Valsalva maneuver relates to thoracic hypovolemia, which may preclude pressure recovery during phase II, even with normal resting peripheral vasoconstriction. We hypothesized that increased regional blood volume, specifically splanchnic hypervolemia, accoun...

Objectives: Wilson's disease is reported to have autonomic dysfunction, but comprehensive evaluation of autonomic function is lacking. Additionally, little is known about the change of autonomic function of Wilson's disease during continuous therapy. We assumed that patients with Wilson's disease had both sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic impairments, and the autonomic dysfunction might...

background during the four steps of the valsalva maneuver (vm), opposite changes can be observed in some physiologic parameters. manifestations of the vm in the electrocardiogram (ecg) have been studied in detail, but there have been few reports comparing vm-related biochemical and hemodynamic changes with a focus on the strain phase of the vm. objectives we studied strain-related ecg changes d...