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...

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) mutations have been linked to the development of restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) in human patients. We modeled one mutation in human cTnI C-terminus, arginine192-->histidine (R192H) by cardiac specific expression of the mutated protein (cTnI(193His) in mouse sequence) in transgenic mice. Heart tissue sections revealed neither significant hypertrophy nor ventricular di...

BACKGROUND Echocardiographic ramp tests have been widely used to help guide speed adjustments and for identification of potential device malfunctions in patients with axial continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) (Heartmate II LVAD [HMII]). Recently, the use of centrifugal-flow LVADs (Heartware LVAD [HVAD]) has been on the rise. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the util...

Left Ventricular Hypertrophy has a risk of increasing the brevity of the population if left untreated. Quantitative aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy to field experts is very essential to classify the disease and proceed treatment. Endocardium segmentation of left and right ventricles is done through Local Chan Vese Model using Radial Charge Fitting Curve. This ...

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...

Twelve patients with aortic stenosis (gradient 62 (25) mm Hg), and six normal subjects were examined using M mode echocardiography before and during submaximal bicycle exercise. Normal subjects showed a progressive fall in the end systolic minor axis dimension of the left ventricle and a rise in end diastolic dimension, giving an increase in stroke dimension and shortening fraction of 45% and 3...

AIMS This retrospective study evaluates early and midterm results in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction. TECHNIQUE Ninety-seven consecutive patients with coronary artery disease and ejection fraction of left ventricle (LVEF) less or equal to 25 % underwent elective coronary artery bypass graft procedure between September 1998 and December 2001. Mean age at operation was 66 (47-...

OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that angiotensin II type-1 (AT(1)) receptor blocker (AT(1)RB) would prevent adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and LV dysfunction when started at the outset of mitral regurgitation (MR). BACKGROUND Little is known regarding the efficacy of AT(1)RB treatment of MR. METHODS Mitral regurgitation was induced by chordal disruption in adult mongrel dogs. Six norma...

Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is one of the commonest chronic hemolytic anaemias in the Sudan; it is a disease with high mortality and morbidity. This study was conducted aiming to observe the clinical pattern of cardiac abnormalities in children with sickle cell anaemia, and to assess the relationship between the cardiac abnormalities and the severity of the disease. The study was conducted in sic...