Pharmacological therapy of systolic left ventricular dysfunction has evolved over the past 3 decades. Current therapy is focused primarily on the regulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis and sympathetic nervous system. Additional targets of pharmacotherapy include vasoconstriction, impaired nitric oxide metabolism, inflammation and improving myocardial function. As therapies in chro...

Echocardiography is the most commonly used modality for evaluating left ventricular size and function in the context of systolic heart failure. Traditional techniques, though extensively used, have their limitations and more recently several newer technologies have emerged that are more reproducible, provide prognostic information, guide therapies and have an important role in monitoring progre...

we assessed different systolic cardiac indices to detect left and right ventricular systolic dysfunction in cirrhotic patients before liver transplantation. between 2010-2011, 81 consecutive individuals with confirmed hepatic cirrhosis who were a candidate for liver transplantation were enrolled in this study. a total of 32 age and sex matched healthy volunteers were also selected as the contro...

The idea that diastolic dysfunction may give rise to symptoms of cardiac disease independent of any impairment of systolic function is not new, and was appreciated centuries ago.2 Traditional definitions of heart failure have focused on abnormalities of systolic or pump function ofthe heart, emphasizing the failure of cardiac output to meet the metabolic requirements of the body at peak workloa...

objectives in this study, besides studying the rv function in ssc patients, attempts have been made to find a new possible noninvasive echocardiographic test for early diagnosis of systolic failure as a pah complication. methods 30 patients with at least a 2-year history of diffuse ssc confirmed by an expert rheumatologist were enrolled in this study. all the patients underwent transthoracic ec...

Congestive heart failure in the elderly is recognized as a national public health priority; however, clinical diagnosis can be problematic in elderly persons, many of whom have a history of heart failure in the presence of normal or only minimally decreased ejection fraction. Findings of the Cardiovascular Health Study have underscored the common substrate and predictors underlying heart failur...

OBJECTIVES To compare the clinical characteristics and short- and long-term prognosis for chronic heart failure with left ventricular systolic dysfunction or preserved systolic function. PATIENTS AND METHOD Three-hundred twenty-eight consecutive patients with decompensated chronic heart failure were studied prospectively. Depending on ejection fraction, participants were classified as having ...