Current therapies for congestive heart failure are limited in efficacy or in applicability. Cardiac cell transplantation offers a novel therapeutic approach to improve heart function. Although significant progress has been made over the past decade in the development of cell transplantation, only recently have investigators studied the changes in ventricular function following cell transplantat...

OBJECTIVES To examine the feasibility of using milrinone to test pulmonary vascular reactivity in patients before heart transplantation, we tested the hypothesis that milrinone would lower pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in patients with severe heart failure. BACKGROUND Fixed pulmonary hypertension is a risk factor for right heart failure and death after orthotopic heart transplantation. ...

4. Hunt SA, AbrahamWT, Chin MH, et al; American College of Cardiology; American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines; American College of Chest Physicians; International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation; Heart Rhythm Society. ACC/AHA 2005 Guideline Update for the Diagnosis andManagement of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult: a report of the American College of Cardiolog...

OBJECTIVE We sought to evaluate the neurohormonal activity in heart transplant recipients and compare it with that in heart failure patients and healthy subjects during rest and just after a 6-minute walking test. INTRODUCTION Despite the improvements in quality of life and survival provided by heart transplantation, the neurohormonal profile is poorly described. METHODS Twenty heart transp...

BACKGROUND Relatives take on great responsibilities during patients' heart or lung transplant process and an understanding for their situation is required. OBJECTIVE To describe relative's experiences before and during the patient's hospital stay as well as during the first 6 months after a heart or lung transplantation. METHODS Using qualitative content analysis, 15 relatives (eight women ...

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The needs for support among children with a seriously ill parent, who is waiting for heart transplantation, are unknown today. The aim was to describe now adult children's experiences of social support in relation to a parent's heart transplant during childhood. Nine females and four males were interviewed. The median age for the children was 18 at the transplantation and their parents had been...