In the last decade, seminal studies from Europe, the USA, and Australasia have defined the epidemiology of heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction in the population. One of those studies, the aptly named Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening study (ECHOES), enrolled over 6000 individuals 40 years, living in the West Midlands region of England. Hobbs and Colleagues provide...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine whether left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) influences the relationship between abnormal myocardial sympathetic innervation imaging by iodine 123 meta-iodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-mIBG) and outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND In systolic HF, both abnormal (123)I-mIBG imaging and reduced LVEF are associated with higher...

Though quantitative ECG-gated blood-pool SPECT (QBS) has become a popular tool in research settings, more verification is necessary for its utilization in clinical medicine. To evaluate the reliability of the measurements of left and right ventricular functions with QBS, we performed QBS, as well as first-pass pool (FPP) and ECG-gated blood-pool (GBP) studies on planar images in 41 patients and...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine whether single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is an effective method of risk stratification for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)>35%. BACKGROUND Most victims of SCD have an LVEF>35%. METHODS The study populat...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine whether identification of contractile reserve with dobutamine would predict recovery of myocardial function during follow-up in patients with recent onset idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC). BACKGROUND The prognosis of patients presenting with new onset IDC is variable and difficult to predict. METHODS Twenty-two patients (17 men, 5...

BACKGROUND Chronic heart failure is associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity and elevated plasma neuropeptide Y levels. The aim of this study was to investigate whether increased neuropeptide Y release altered vascular neuropeptide Y responses in the dorsal hand veins in patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Neuropeptide Y responsiveness was studied in vivo with...

INTRODUCTION Reduced left ventricular function in patients with severe symptomatic valvular aortic stenosis is associated with impaired clinical outcome in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has been shown non-inferior to SAVR in high-risk patients with respect to mortality and may result in faster left ventricular recove...

OBJECTIVE Anthracyclines are potent antineoplastic agents in the treatment of lymphoid malignancies, but their therapeutic benefit is limited by cardiotoxicity. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends routine surveillance, early diagnosis and treatment of anthracycline-based chemotherapy (AC) induced cardiomyopathy (AC-CMP). We aimed to assess the prevalence of AC-CMP in patients with l...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to examine the causes of the death of patients with heart failure (HF) and evaluate the differences in this respect between patients with and without depression of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). METHOD All patients hospitalized with HF between 1995 and 2002 in the cardiology service of a tertiary hospital were assessed. LVEF was evaluated by ech...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the association between heart function, compliance with drug administration, and the mid-term prognosis in Chinese patients with stable premature coronary artery disease (CAD) (male < 55 years and female < 65 years). METHODS The study included 512 patients with stable premature CAD. An estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculated...