Background: Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is a common postoperative complication after coronary artery bypass grafting. There is contradictory evidence as to whether pre-operative statin use lowers the incidence of postoperative AF. This study aimed to assess whether pre operative statin therapy prevents the post-operative AF. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study we used a propensity score-ma...

this lateralization may result in a change in anisotropy, which was supported by our rat model. In that model a higher degree of lateralization was seen than observed in human chronic AF. However, it is difficult to extrapolate from the rat experiments to the human immunostaining results, for we cannot know how much of the protein positively staining for connexins resembles functional channels....

Contractile dysfunction in stunned myocardium could result from a decrease in the intracellular free [Ca2+] transient during each beat, a decrease in maximal Ca2+-activated force, or a shift in myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity. We measured developed pressure (DP) at several [Ca]0 (0.5-7.5 mM) in isovolumic Langendorff-perfused ferret hearts at 37 degrees C after 15 min of global ischemia (stunned g...

Myocardial blood flow is spatially heterogeneous, reflecting nonuniform oxygen supply. Also, myocardial oxidative metabolism is spatially heterogeneous. The effects of acute ischemia and reperfusion on the relationship between local myocardial blood flow (LMF) and oxidative metabolism are still unknown. LMF was measured in isolated, blood-perfused rabbit hearts using colored microspheres and ox...

“Preconditioning with ischemia” (PC) is the phenomenon whereby one or more episodes of brief ischemia paradoxically renders the myocardium resistant to a later, more sustained ischemic insult (1–3). The cardioprotection afforded by brief, transient ischemia is biphasic; a “first window” of protection is manifest within the initial 5 min to approximately 3 h of the PC stimulus, the hallmark of w...

Proteins are no longer just ingredients for biologists: Proteinaceous materials are gradually stepping into the spotlight as highly functional next generation materials, despite the fact that “material science” has previously mainly been explored by chemists. In the September 16th issue of Journal of American Chemical Society, Tezcan and co-workers report an interesting methodology to prepare a...

myocardial free wall rupture is a catastrophic complication of acute myocardial infarction, and prognosis will depend on the prompt diagnosis by echocardiography, extension of infarct size, and prompt surgical treatment. free wall rupture concomitant with ventricular septal defect (vsd) may be more complicated for management. a case of a 69-year-old man with myocardial free wall rupture and vsd...