MicroRNAs (miRNA) are short noncoding doublestranded RNAs that were found in several life forms, such as viruses, plants, animals, and humans. Their main function is to regulate gene translation by post-transcriptional binding of the RNA and prevent ribosomal translation (RNA silencing). miRNAs are important for the regulation of many biological processes in our body, including organ developmen...

The role of cardiac computed tomography (CT) for evaluating the mitral valve (MV) has been limited since echocardiography is the main method of evaluation. However, recent advances in cardiac CT have enable detailed evaluation of the anatomy and geometry of the MV. We describe assessments of the anatomy and coaptation geometric parameters of normal MVs, and also review repair of diseased/damage...

INTRODUCTION Multiple cardiac ruptures after radiofrequency catheter ablation that requires surgical repair are uncommon. METHODS AND RESULTS We describe a 64-year old male patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation who had a cardiac tamponade following radiofrequency ablation. Surgical exploration demonstrated two ruptures in the left atrium, one in the right atrium, and one hematoma in the...

Objective(s): Existing studies have demonstrated that intravenous and intramyocardial-administrated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) lead to tissue repair after cardiac disorders. We compared the efficiency of both administration methods.Materials and Methods: A rat model of isoproterenol-induced heart failure (ISO-HF) was established to co...

An explosion of interest in new therapies for heart repair has occurred recently. Most notably, clinical trials of cell-based cardiovascular therapy have garnered much attention, and preliminary results are encouraging. However, the mechanism of action of cell-based therapies remains unclear, and many details with regard to characterization, quality control, and delivery of cells remain to be w...

Despite remarkable progress in contemporary cardiovascular therapy, treatment of heart failure still remains a therapeutic challenge. Pharmacological treatment using -blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin-II receptor blockers, as well as surgical revascularization together with left ventricular reshaping procedures, has improved the quality of life for heart failur...

BACKGROUND Cardiac arrest is a lethal complication of Nuss repair of pectus excavatum which is strongly related to heart or big vessels injury. A rare case developed cardiac arrest without direct cardiac injury during Nuss procedure is presented in this article. CASE PRESENTATION In July 2015, a previously healthy 18-year-old man undergoing Nuss repair for pectus excavatum developed cardiac a...

InDrosophila, the Hippo-signaling pathway is awell-known orchestrator of organismal size. Probing whether these mechanisms also mould organogenesis in mammals, James Martin and colleagues disrupted multiple Hippo pathway components in the developing mouse heart. These targets for conditional knockout include the MST kinases (the mammalian Hippo homologues), Salvador (a scaffold protein that bin...