INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Multislice computed tomography is an excellent technique for the detection of significant coronary artery lesions. Our purpose was to assess whether computed tomography could replace routine invasive coronariography before valvular surgery. METHODS We studied 106 consecutive patients (mean age: 67 [10]): 76% aortic valvular disease (62% stenosis, 14% regurgitation)...

Cardiac involvement is common in acromegaly, but the prevalence of valvular abnormalities in patients with acromegaly has not been documented and is the topic of this study. In a prospective study design, 40 consecutive patients with acromegaly and 120 control subjects (matched for age, sex, hypertension, and left ventricular systolic function) were studied. All patients and controls were evalu...

Valvular heart disease, particularly aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation, accounts for a large proportion of cardiology practice, and their prevalence is predicted to increase. Management of the asymptomatic patient remains controversial. Biomarkers have been shown to have utility in the management of cardiovascular disease such as heart failure and acute coronary syndromes. In this state-...

BACKGROUND Mammalian platelets contain small, cationic, staphylocidal peptides, termed thrombin-induced platelet-microbicidal proteins (tPMPs). Evidence suggests that tPMPs play a key role in host defense against endovascular infections, such as infective endocarditis (IE). In the present study, we evaluated the influence of differences in staphylococcal tPMP-susceptibility profiles in vitro on...

OBJECTIVE To identify the factors that predict death and combined events, (death, new mitral balloon valvotomy, or mitral valve surgery) in long-term follow-up of patients undergoing percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy. METHODS Follow-up was 49.0+/-31.0 (1 to 122) months. Techniques used were the single-balloon (84.4%), Inoue-balloon (13.8%), and double-balloon techniques (1.7%). RESULTS ...

Documented cardiac tophi are rare and have not previously been reported to cause clinically manifest valvular disease. A 31-year-old male with complex cyanotic congenital heart disease (Taussig-Bing anomaly) and secondary tophaceous gouty arthritis is described. Terminally, he presented with clinical evidence of a brain abscess and a new semilunar regurgitant murmur. Two-dimensional echocardiog...

Vr. H., a 20ear-old Negro housewife, was apparently norimnal at birth except for small supernumeraryl digits on eaich of her 4 extremities. As a child she was able to keel) up with other children until her early teens when she noted easy fatigabilitv on moderate exertion and inability to run because of dvspnea and marked dizziness. At 15 years of age she had pleurisy an(l shortness of l)reathi ...

Continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) are miniaturized supporting the failing ventricle and alter blood in cardiovascular system which may cause severe health complications. Regurgitation stenosis mitral aortic valves further aggravate complications limit efficiency of CF-LVAD support. Within this context, real-time monitoring support will allow early detection valve proble...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) continues to be a major public health problem in developing countries like Pakistan. Objective of this cross sectional-analytical study was to analyze the severity of valvular lesions on echocardiography in patients pre-diagnosed with RHD. METHODS The transthoracic echocardiographic records of RHD patients from 2004 to 2008 were retrospectively reviewe...

BACKGROUND Echocardiography combining Doppler and two-dimensional data is recommended for quantitative assessments of valvular regurgitation. We applied a new method to calculate the mitral annulus (MA) area in combination with multiple sample sites. Individuals without regurgitation in whom the valvular and left ventricular stroke volumes (SV) should be identical were investigated in order to ...