BACKGROUND Dysfunctional and normally perfused remote regions show equal myolysis and glycogen accumulation in pig hibernating myocardium. We tested the hypothesis that these arose secondary to elevations in preload rather than ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Expression of structural protein (desmin, desmoplakin, titin, cardiotin, alpha-smooth muscle actin, lamin-A/C, and lamin-B2) in viable dy...

The characterization and localization of endothelin A (ETA) and endothelin B (ETB) receptors have been determined in tissue sections of the human atrioventricular conducting system, surrounding regions of atrial and ventricular myocardium, and the left ventricular free wall by use of radioligand binding, polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridization. Selective ETA (BQ123) and ETB (BQ3020...

A four month old infant with isolated left ventricular non-compaction was treated with carvedilol. Haemodynamic studies and various types of imaging—including echocardiography, radiographic angiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and single photon emission computed tomography with Tl, I-â-methyliodophenylpentadecanoic acid (BMIPP), and I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG)— were performed before an...

Background The uptake of F-18 deoxyglucose into dysfunctional segments after myocardial infarction identifies metabolically active (FDG+) or inactive (FDG-) myocardium. Although patients with FDG+ segments have been found to be at risk for adverse events, the prognostic significance of viable myocardium in relation to other influences on postinfarction prognosis, including revascularization, re...

AIMS The aim of the present study was to investigate whether agents which enhance force of contraction via increasing intracellular Na+, i.e. cAMP-independently, remain effective in failing human myocardium. METHODS Cumulative concentration-response curves with (+/-)BDF 9148 (0.01-10 mumol l-1), a Na(+)-channel activator, and ouabain (0.01-0.1 mumol l-1), a Na+/K(+)-ATPase inhibitor, were per...

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a myocardium disease characterized by phenotypic features of myocardial scarring due to fibrofatty replacement often associated with global or regional ventricular dysfunction. For years after arrhythmogenic right (ARVC) was first described, the left ventricle (LV) generally considered normal minimally involved. In recent years, however, LV involvement has...

RATIONALE During reperfusion of ischemic myocardium, a burst of hydroxyl radicals (OH) induces contractile dysfunction ("myocardial stunning"), and OH in the plasma of patients after myocardial infarction predict the development of heart failure. The effects of OH on myocardial function in patients with heart failure; however, have never been assessed. Furthermore, although ATP-dependent K+ cha...

BACKGROUND Patients with acute coronary artery thrombosis often develop primary malignant ventricular arrhythmias (MVA) early after coronary occlusion. In contrast, acute ischemia induced by nonthrombotic balloon occlusion during routine coronary angioplasty rarely elicits such arrhythmias. This study was designed to assess the role of intracoronary thrombosis in arrhythmogenesis during acute i...

BACKGROUND The contribution of the sarcomere's thin filament to the contractile dysfunction of human cardiomyopathy is not well understood. METHODS AND RESULTS We have developed techniques to isolate and functionally characterize intact (native) thin filaments obtained from failing and nonfailing human ventricular tissue. By use of in vitro motility and force assays, native thin filaments fro...

Aim of the study was to evaluate whether late enhancement (LE) in contrast-enhanced MRI can be used to characterize fibrofatty myocardial replacement in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia (ARVC). Fifteen patients with suspected ARVC underwent CE-MRI using a 1.5 T scanner. Long and short axis SSFP cine images and T1-weighted fast spin echo images were collect...