BACKGROUND A previous study associated CD34(+) levels with NYHA functional class in heart failure patients. The aim of this study was to correlate CD34(+) levels to exercise capacity, functional class, quality of life and norepinephrine in heart failure patients. METHODS Twenty three sedentary patients (52 +/- 7 years, 78% male) answered the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire a...

OBJECTIVE To determine which physiological variables conduce to walking intolerance in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). DESIGN The physiological response to a graded treadmill exercise test (GTT) in patients with PAD was characterised. SETTING Patients were recruited from the Department of Vascular Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. SUBJECTS Thirty-one patients di...

BACKGROUND A newly developed program, named cardioGRAF, enabled the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic temporal parameters for the estimation of heart failure using ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (GMPS). OBJECTIVE The feasibility of those global (g-) and regional (r-) parameters was validated to compare with gated equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA) and s...

BACKGROUND Ejection intraventricular pressure gradients are caused by the systolic force developed by the left ventricle (LV). By postprocessing color Doppler M-mode (CDMM) images, we can measure noninvasively the ejection intraventricular pressure difference (EIVPD) between the LV apex and the outflow tract. This study was designed to assess the value of Doppler-derived EIVPDs as noninvasive i...

AIMS In heart failure, a reduced exercise capacity is the prevailing symptom and an important prognostic marker of future outcome. The purpose of the study was to assess the relation of coronary flow reserve (CFR) to diastolic and systolic function in heart failure and to determine which are the limiting factors for exercise capacity. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-seven patients with left ventric...

AIMS To determine the breath alcohol elimination rate (AER) and Widmark factor derived from the maximum breath alcohol concentration (r(peak BrAC)) in Chinese and Indians in Singapore, and to evaluate the contribution of genetic and non-genetic factors to variability of AER and r(peak BrAC). METHODS A total of 180 subjects ingested a vodka-orange juice mixture, together with a standardized me...

BACKGROUND Evidence contends lower levels of physical exertion reduce blood pressure (BP) as effectively as more rigorous levels. We compared the effects of low (40% peak oxygen consumption, Vo(2)peak), moderate (60% Vo(2)peak), and vigorous (100% Vo(2)peak) exercise intensity on the BP response immediately following aerobic exercise. We also examined clinical correlates of the BP response. M...

Residue management in cropping systems is useful to improve soil quality. However, the studies on the effects of residue management on the enzyme activities and microbial community of soils in South China are few. Therefore, the effects of incorporating winter cover crop residue with a double-cropping rice (Oryza sativa L.) system on soil enzyme activities and microbial community in Southern Ch...

A new type of displacement transducer for recording the calibrated left apexcardiogram (QLAC) has been evaluated in 69 normal subjects and 99 cardiac patients. Total displacement of QLAC (TD), its peak first derviative (peak dD/dt (t-peak dD/dt). A strong corretation exists between peak dD/dt and TD in normal subjects (r=0.95) and the deviation from the normal relationship allows a separation b...

Thrombin generation was studied in paediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing cardiac surgery using the calibrated automated thrombography (CAT) in terms of the lag time until the onset of thrombin formation, time to thrombin peak maximum (TTP), endogenous thrombin potential (ETP), and thrombin peak height. The suitability to determine the coagulation status of these pat...