BACKGROUND Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction complicates advanced left ventricular (LV) heart failure (HF) and contributes to a poor prognosis. Levosimendan is a positive inotropic agent improving cardiac contractility without increasing myocardial oxygen consumption in HF. AIM To evaluate the effect of levosimendan therapy on RV systolic function, by using derived tissue Doppler imaging (TD...

The present study was undertaken to explore the possible involvement of alterations in the mitochondrial energy-producing ability in the development of the right ventricular failure in monocrotaline-administered rats. The rats at the 6th week after subcutaneous injection of 60 mg/kg monocrotaline revealed marked myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis, that is, severe cardiac remodeling. The time-c...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to quantify contractile reserve of chronic dysfunctional myocardium, in particular in segments with intermediate transmural extent of infarction (TEI), using low-dose dobutamine cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with a chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO). BACKGROUND Recovery of dysfunctional segments with intermediate TEI after percutaneous coronary ...

AIM The myocardial performance index (MPI), or Tei index, has been shown to be useful in the assessment of global myocardial performance. There are few invasive data however, which examine its load dependence or sensitivity to acute changes in contractile function. The purpose of this study was therefore to study formally the effect of clinically relevant changes in these parameters in an anima...

In children with structural congenital heart disease (CHD), the effects of chronic ventricular pacing on diastolic function are not well known. On the other hand, the beneficial effect of septal pacing over apical pacing is still controversial.The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different right ventricular (RV) pacing site on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in childr...

Background Cathepsin D has been recently implicated in insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between cathepsin D and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Methods Circulating cathepsin D levels and metabolic variables were measured in 98 cases and 98 controls. Myocardial performance index "Tei index" that reflects both left ventricul...

BACKGROUND Sodium channel blockers augment ST-segment elevation in the right precordial leads in patients undergoing Brugada-type electrocardiography (ECG). However, their effect on echocardiographic features is not known. We address this by assessing global and regional ventricular function using conventional Doppler and two- dimensional (2D) speckle tracking techniques. METHODS Thirty-one p...

Abstract The current study examined the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (TEI), academic stress, burnout, and engagement in Japanese undergraduate students learning English as a second language. One hundred eighty-four participants (females = 87, mean age 19.7 years) completed two questionnaires, one administered at beginning of semester (i.e., baseline), end follow-up). Struct...

INTRODUCTION: Doppler echocardiography is used to evaluate global myocardial performance. An index of myocardial performance (Tei Index) can be of great prognostic value in heart failure. This study was performed to assess the correlation between Tei Index (TI) and left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP). METHODS: The study group consisted of 38 patients. Each patient underwent ventricu...

BACKGROUND The results of two European multi-centre trials on xenon anaesthesia led to the hypothesis that a xenon-based anaesthetic would keep left ventricular (LV) and circulatory function more stable than a propofol-based anaesthetic, in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS In a prospective, randomized design, 40 patients of ASA classes III and IV with known CAD were anaest...