OBJECTIVE To evaluate the short- and mid-term effects of percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) on right ventricular functions in mitral stenosis. METHODS A prospective study was conducted in 61 patients who had mitral stenosis in normal sinus rhythm (68% female, age: 42±11-16 years). Right ventricular functions were measured before, immediately after, and at 3 months and 1 year aft...

In 15 patients with chronic left ventricular failure caused by ischaemic heart disease, cardiac output and right heart pressures were measured before and after the oral angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril, which was administered in increasing doses. In 12 of 15 patients, coronary blood flow, and in 11 patients myocardial oxygen extraction and consumption and lactate extraction we...

introduction anabolic-androgenic steroids (aas), a synthetic derivate of testosterone, have become a popular drug among athletes and bodybuilders to enhance muscle mass and improve the athletic performance. many pathological effects such as hepatic and endocrine dysfunction, behavioural changes and cardiovascular complications have been reported. case report within these ast ones, we find an in...

Recent studies indicate that right ventricular performance is impaired even in uncomplicated systemic hypertension. Because of widespread use of beta-blockade in essentially hypertension, it is possible that such treatment often further depresses right ventricular contractility. To test this premise, and to evaluate the changes induced by different beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents on the contr...

The myocardial performance index represents an easy and reproducible parameter of both systolic and diastolic left ventricular function for the risk stratification of patients following acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a severe and progressive disease. Its early diagnosis is the greatest clinical challenge. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the presence and extension of the delayed myocardial contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance, as well as to verify if the percentage of the myocardial fibrosis mass is a severity predictor. METHODS Cross-sectional study wit...

BACKGROUND Heart disease is the main cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with beta thalassemia, rendering its early diagnosis vital. We studied and compared echocardiographic findings in patients with beta thalassemia major, patients with beta thalassemia intermedia, and a control group. METHODS Eighty asymptomatic patients with thalassemia major and 22 asymptomatic cases with thalas...

Introduction: The correlation between right and left ventricular ejection fractions (RVEF and LVEF, respectively) has been studied in only a small number of patients with a marked decrease in RVEF and LVEF. The aim of the present study was to compare LVEF and RVEF in patients with ischemic heart disease. RVEF and LVEF were measured by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) imaging. Materials a...

BACKGROUND Corrected transposition of great arteries often evolves with right ventricular dysfunction. The ventricular preparation for anatomic correction in adult patients has produced disappointing results. OBJECTIVE To assess right ventricular hypertrophy (RV) induced by conventional and intermittent pulmonary banding (PB) in adult animals. METHODS Nineteen adult goats were divided into ...

Beta-blockers are used to treat acquired heart failure in adults, though their role in early muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy is unclear. We treated 2 different dystrophic mouse models which have an associated cardiomyopathy (mdx: model for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Sgcd-/-: model for limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2F) and wild type controls (C57 Bl10) with the beta blocker metopro...