OBJECTIVES Right ventricular (RV) exercise contractile reserve (RVECR), its phenotypes, and its functional correlates are among the unresolved issues with regard to the role of the right ventricle in heart failure (HF) syndrome, and understanding these issues constitutes the objective of this study. BACKGROUND Although the role of the right ventricle in HF syndrome might be fundamental, the p...

myocardial dysfunction is a major complication in cardiac surgery that needs inotropic support. this study evaluates the effect of milrinone on patients with low ventricular ejection fraction undergoing off- pump coronary artery bypass graft (opcab). the present study is designed to evaluate the effect of milrinone on myocardial dysfunction. eighty patients with low ventricular ejection fractio...

Little information is available on the length of the systolic time intervals in adult patients with isolated ventricular septal defects (VSD). In the present study the external carotid pulse and the phono- and electrocardiogram were recorded in 17 patients, mean age 29 years, with angiographically proved VSD. They had unidirectional left-to-right shunts with ratios of pulmonary-to-systemic bloo...

OBJECTIVE To compare in vivo and in vitro haemodynamic performance in two models of experimental cardiac failure. To validate echocardiography as a means of non-invasive assessment of left ventricular dysfunction in rabbits. METHODS Cardiac failure was induced by doxorubicin injection (1-1.25 mg.kg-1 twice weekly for 8 weeks (n = 16)) or coronary ligation (n = 12), with 12 controls. Left vent...

The prognostic significance of left ventricular ejection fraction measurements obtained at the bedside was assessed in 171 patients as soon as possible after acute myocardial infarction. Ejection fraction was measured with a radionuclide first pass portable probe method within a mean of 24 hours of the onset of major symptoms. The results were related prospectively to the subsequent incidence o...

BACKGROUND The p.Gln554X mutation in desmocollin-2 (DSC2) is prevalent in ≈10% of the Hutterite population. While the homozygous mutation causes severe biventricular arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, the phenotypic features and prognosis of heterozygotes remain incompletely understood. METHODS AND RESULTS Eleven homozygotes (mean age 32±8 years, 45% female), 28 heterozygotes (m...

Background Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has become a cornerstone in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloid infiltration, not only due to the presence of typical post-contrast delayed enhancement but also because of accurate morphological characteritization. The aim of this study is to describe morphological features of cardiac amyloidosis by CMR and to establish their diagnostic accuracy. Methods...

The Coanda effect (the tendency of a jet stream to adhere to a boundary wall), and the relevant anatomy, may explain the location of ductal jets within the main pulmonary artery. With the usual insertion of the duct close to the left pulmonary artery, during right ventricular ejection, the ductal jet adheres to the left wall of the main pulmonary artery. When right ventricular ejection is absen...