Background We aimed to investigate the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on electrocardiography (ECG), premature ventricular contraction load on 24-hour Holter recordings, and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) shocks in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and heart failure. Methods Patients with heart failure and ICD and patients with...

Objectives: Although neurohormones have a well-established prognostic value in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), little is known about this in CHF patients untreated with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitors, angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and beta-blockers. Methods: Baseline N-terminal pro atrial natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-ANP), N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic pepti...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Respiratory symptoms are often observed in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) during the acute phase. The association of respiratory viruses in children with KD was investigated using multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and tissue Doppler echocardiography. SUBJECTS AND METHODS 138 KD patients were included from January 2010 to June 201...

BACKGROUND N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is secreted by cardiac ventricular myocytes upon pressure and volume overload and is a prognostic marker to monitor the severity of precapillary pulmonary hypertension and the extent of right heart failure. OBJECTIVES The impact of physical exercise on NT-proBNP levels in patients with left heart disease was demonstrated previous...

BACKGROUND We sought to determine N-terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NTproBNP) levels among a population of individuals with type 2 diabetes, and to correlate these levels with diabetes medications and patient demographics. METHODS We analyzed data from 506 patients with type 2 diabetes. We compared NT-proBNP levels of these patients with those from the general population. We also soug...

word count 208) Objectives Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of MR-proANP in patients post acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Background Multimarker strategies may assist risk stratification post-AMI. Midregional Pro-Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (MR-proANP) is a newly described stable fragment of N-terminal Pro-Atrial Natriuretic Peptide. We compared the prognostic value of MR-proANP and...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of enzymes important for the resorption of extracellular matrices, control of vascular remodeling and repair. Increased activity of MMP2 has been demonstrated in heart failure, and in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) a decrease in circulating MMPs has been demonstrated along with successful treatment. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to ...

AIMS In heart failure, various biomarkers are established for diagnosis and risk stratification; however, little is known about the relevance of serial measurements during an episode worsening heart failure (WHF). This study sought to investigate the trajectory of natriuretic peptides and multiple novel biomarkers during hospitalization for WHF and to determine the best time point to predict ou...

We aimed to evaluate levels of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptid (NT-proBNP) in prediction of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in heart failure patients. Prospective study on 60 consecutive patients with symptoms and signs of heart failure was performed. Blood samples for NT-proBNP analysis was taken from all test subjects and echocardiography was also done in all of them. Ac...

OBJECTIVE Increased levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Inflammation may also affect levels of NT-proBNP. We investigated the relationship of NT-proBNP with inflammation, disease activity, disease severity, and progression of Takayasu arteritis (TA). METHODS Plasma levels of NT-proBNP were determined in 68 ...