BACKGROUND Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves functional outcomes in patients with severe systolic heart failure. Whether the effects of CRT on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function and clinical outcomes are influenced by the cause as either ischemic or nonischemic cardiomyopathy (CM) has not been well established. METHODS A total of 57 patients (age 60 +/- 11 years; 25% wome...

he prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic schemic heart disease, and diabetes mellitus is increasing in ost societies, and it is not surprising that in most large linical trials of CHF at least 75% of patients have underying ischemic heart disease while approximately 20% to 5% of patients have diabetes (1,2). There is strong evidence hat the presence of diabetes in patients with ...

Protection of ischemic myocardium has been attempted by a variety of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical methods. When the coronary intervention is not indicated by some reasons in patients with ischemic heart failure, medical treatments are expected to offer cardioprotection against the persistence of stenotic/occlusive lesions of the epicardial coronary artery. The pharmaceuticals such as t...

The insulin-like and vasodilatatory polypeptide relaxin (RLX), formerly known as a pregnancy hormone, has gained interest as a potential humoral mediator in human heart failure. Controversy exists about the relation between plasma levels of RLX and the severity of heart failure. The present study was designed to determine the course of RLX, atrial, and brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP and N...

Heart failure is a progressive and disabling disease. The incidence of heart failure is also on the rise, particularly in the elderly of industrialized societies. This is in part due to an increased ageing population, whom initially benefits from improved, and life-extending cardiovascular therapy, yet ultimately succumb to myocardial failure. A major cause of heart failure is ischemia secondar...

background: selenium (se) is an essential trace element mainly obtained from seafood, meat, and cereals. se deficiency has been identified as a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of certain congestive heart failure (chf) syndromes. since there is controversy over the prevalence of se deficiency among patient with chf, the aim of this study was to assess the serum se concentrations in...

conclusions the hormonal levels were low in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. however, the prognostic significance of different hormonal deficiencies was not clear in our study populations who were receiving standard therapies for heart failure and had a relatively stable clinical condition. results except for testosterone level, the levels of gh, igf-1, t3, and t4 concentrations...

when i first met this nice lady, i was in an evening work shift of ccu. this 69 years-old woman had been referred recently to our ward. she had a pale and puffy face. she suffered from chf. she had a normal breathing, but her ankle was swollen.   we stabilized her condition easily but, it was just the first step in her treatment way. prevention of recurrence of heart attack was our goal. every ...