BACKGROUND Cell-based therapies are a promising option in patients with acute myocardial infarction or chronic heart failure (CHF). However, administration of cells requires intracoronary or intracardiac instrumentation, which is potentially associated with periprocedural risks. Therefore, we analyzed periprocedural complications and 30-day outcome in 775 consecutive procedures of intracoronary...

OBJECTIVES The study objectives were to identify predictors of outcome in patients with inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMi). METHODS From 2004 to 2008, 55 patients with biopsy-proven DCMi were identified and followed up for 58.2±19.8 months. Predictors of outcome were identified in a multivariable analysis with a Cox proportional hazards analysis. The primary endpoint was a composite o...

BACKGROUND Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) improves symptoms and prognosis in patients with heart failure and cardiac dyssynchrony. Guidelines from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom recommend CRT for patients with recent or persistent moderate or severe symptoms of heart failure. This analysis investigated whether the severity of symptoms was...

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of viability/ischemia before revascularization on improvement in systolic performance, reverse remodeling, symptoms and long-term prognosis post-revascularization. Methods: Fifty patients underwent thallium-201 imaging before revascularization to assess stress-induced ischemia and viability (‘jeopardized myocardium’). Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (E...

Although cardiovascular complications are the major determinant of the prognosis of Cushing's syndrome (CS), factors contributing to the cardiovascular lesions are still unclear. We investigated clinical factors determining cardiac function in patients with adrenal CS. Fifty patients with adrenal CS were studied. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on their NYHA classification and electro...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate early effects of bone marrow cell transplantation to the myocardium of patients with heart failure (CHF) due to Chagas disease. METHODS We studied 28 patients (mean age 52.2 +/- 9.9), of whom 24 were male. Despite optimized treatment, 25 patients were in NYHA class III and three patients, in NYHA class IV. The procedure consisted of aspiration of 50 mL of bone marrow, se...

Objective: To assess prospectively the effect of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) on New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, cardiac function, cardiopulmonary exercise performance, and neurohormonal activation during 24 months’ follow up. Design: Controlled study. Patients and Results: 124 patients with severe congestive heart failure (ejection fraction, 35%, NYHA III– IV) an...

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to address, in patients with severe ischemic left ventricular dysfunction, whether dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) can predict improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), functional status and long-term prognosis after revascularization. BACKGROUND Dobutamine stress echocardiography can predict improvement of wall motion after revascul...

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the relation of left atrial (LA) volume and LA volume index with left ventricular function and to determine the association of duration of symptoms and left atrial volume index in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Materials and Methods: This was an observational, single centre study conducted in India. A total of 50 patients who were admitt...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. Epidemiological data are scarce, particularly in the paediatric population. A registry was recently developed in order to collect epidemiological data on patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in Switzerland. This is the first description of the paediatric data. METHODS Paediatric patients aged 0-...