INTRODUCTION High thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) causes blockade of sympathetic fibers involved in innervation of the heart (segments T1-T4), which results in changes of cardiac electrophysiology. The anti-arrhythmic effects of TEA on supraventricular arrhythmias, mainly atrial fibrillation, are controversial. THE AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of the study was to assess the influence of epidur...

The human heart is a target organ for the octapeptide hormone, angiotensin II (Ang II). Recent studies suggest that the human heart contains a dual pathway of Ang II formation in which the major Ang II-forming enzymes are angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) and chymase. Human heart chymase has recently been purified and its cDNA and gene cloned. This cardiac serine proteinase is the most effi...

We studied the developmental sequence of transmitter synthesis and neurotransmission by parasympathetic neurons in rat heart. Measurements of atrial and ventricular choline acetyltransferase activity were used as indicators of acetylcholine synthesis, and negative chronotropic effects of neuronal stimulation were used to demonstrate neuroeffector transmission. Activity of the mitochondria! enzy...

In this study, we determined if changes in heart catecholamine content during naloxone-induced withdrawal correlated with modifications in heart rate. In addition, we determined plasma concentrations of corticosterone as an index of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The effects of naloxone on norepinephrine, epinephrine or dopamine content and turnover, plasma concentrations of cort...

Inhibition of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in cardiac postganglionic sympathetic neurons leads to enhanced cardiac sympathetic responsiveness in normal animals, as well as in animal models of cardiovascular diseases. We used isolated atria from mice with selective genetic disruption of nNOS (nNOS(-/-)) and their wild-type littermates (WT) to investigate whether sympathetic heart rate (...

BACKGROUND Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) at the highest stroke risk derive the largest benefit from oral anticoagulation (OAC). Those with the highest stroke risk have been paradoxically less likely to receive OAC. This study assessed the association between stroke and bleeding risk on rates of OAC. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed OAC use among 10,098 patients with AF from 174 commun...

BACKGROUND Normal development of the atria requires left-right differentiation during embryonic development. Reduced expression of Pitx2c (paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2, isoform c), a key regulator of left-right asymmetry, has recently been linked to atrial fibrillation. We therefore systematically studied the molecular composition of left and right atrial tissue in adult murin...

In order to study the pattern of clonal myocyte distribution during mammalian heart development, we have exploited embryo aggregation chimeras using, as cellular markers, an enhanced jellyfish green fluorescent protein (eGFP) transgene and a desmin-promoter-driven, nuclear-localized beta-galactosidase (nlacZ) knock-in. In neonatal, weanling, and adult chimeric atria and ventricles, irregularly ...

One of the generally recognized factors contributing to the initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF) is structural remodeling of the myocardium that affects both atrial cardiomyocytes as well as interstitium. The goal of this study was to characterize morphologically and functionally interstitium of atria in patients with AF or in sinus rhythm (SR) who were indicated to heart surg...

Seventeen cases are described in which both atria connect directly to a chamber with right ventricular characteristics. The atria connected through separate atrioventricular valves in six hearts and a common valve in 11. All hearts had a posterior rudimentary chamber. The septum which separated it from the main chamber was directed to the crux of the heart. Ten hearts were from patients with at...