Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is revealed with the left ventricular dilatation and systolic dysfunction. This study was performed to determine the level of Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide (CGRP) and Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) in children with dilated cardiomyopathy and controls and comparison of these two biomarkers in patients. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of myocarditis and cardiotropic viral infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated cardiomyopathy is unknown in Africa. METHODS Between April 2002 and December 2007, we compared the prevalence of myocarditis and cardiotropic viral genomes in HIV-associated cardiomyopathy cases with HIV-negative idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy patients (i.e. negative c...

Expression of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+)-ATPase was shown to be reduced in failing human myocardium. The functional relevance of this finding, however, is not known. We investigated the relation between myocardial function and protein levels of SR Ca(2+)-ATPase in nonfailing human myocardium (8 muscle strips from 4 hearts) and in myocardium from end-stage failing hearts with dilated (10...

Background. Downregulation of myocardial 3-adrenergic receptor density does not occur in a spatially uniform distribution in patients with congestive heart failure. Rather, it results primarily from loss of receptors in the subendocardium. In patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, &-receptors have been found to be downregulated selectively. These observations suggest that considerable transmural...

The Syrian cardiomyopathic hamster (SCH) is an established animal model for genetic cardiomyopathy. The disease in the hamster develops through similar stages to those observed in humans with this condition. The pathophysiological basis for this condition in the hamster resides in an inherited mutation in the gene encoding for delta-sarcoglycan, a component of the dystrophin complex. Two basic ...

Recently, we reported that homozygous deletion of alternative exon 33 of CaV1.2 calcium channel in the mouse resulted in ventricular arrhythmias arising from increased CaV1.2Δ33 ICaL current density in the cardiomyocytes. We wondered whether heterozygous deletion of exon 33 might produce cardiac phenotype in a dose-dependent manner, and whether the expression levels of RNA splicing factors know...

Dilated cardiomyopathy can be broadly defined as heart failure with an enlarged left ventricular chamber, but with no evidence of ischemic heart disease or myocardial infarction. Recent studies from patients and animal models show that dilated cardiomyopathy results in a decrease in myocardial content of adenosine-50-triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine and a decrease in the capacity for mito...

Cardiac interstitial fibrosis may contribute to ventricular dysfunction and the prognosis of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. The objective of the present study was to determine if total myocardial collagen content and collagen type III/I (III/I ratio) mRNAs differ in hypertensive, alcoholic, and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy subjects. Echocardiography and exercise cardiopulmonary test...

OBJECTIVE Restoration of left ventricle size and shape is an effective surgical procedure in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. This report defines early and intermediate results following the reshaping of the left ventricle from spherical to ellipsoid configuration in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, employing a technique for LV restoration (LVR) that uses form rather than disease as ...

BACKGROUND Heart transplant is a treatment option for selected patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the prevalence, clinical profile, and outcome of this subgroup of HCM patients are uncertain. Therefore, we sought to determine the occurrence, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of HCM patients who underwent cardiac transplantation in the United States during a 15-year ...