SR following persistent/permanent AF ablation is associated with a dramatic decrease in natriuretic peptides. At 3 months, despite relatively extensive atrial ablation, endocrine and mechanical cardiac functions are significantly improved.

No abstract

The occurring variation in BNP levels after the operation is an increase whatever the corrective surgery, underlying the relative lack of specificity of BNP with regard to the cardiac pathology. Besides iatrogenic cardioplegia one can supposes that cardiac surgery involves other major stimuli such as anesthesia, sternotomia, hemodynamics, post-operative that could influence in a non specific way BNP levels.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between gastritis and leptin and ghrelin in elderly patients. Patients older than 75 years undergoing an endoscopy were included. We reported data on nutritional status and Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosis (serology, 13C-urea breath test, culture, histology, and polymerase chain reaction on gastric biopsies). Gastric messenger RNA expression of leptin and ghrelin were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Sixty-two patients were included (84.7 +/- 5.2 years). H. pylori infection was associated with decreased gastric expression of leptin (p = .021), ghrelin (p =.002), and plasma ghrelin levels (p = .018). Atrophy was associated with decreased gastric leptin (p = .007) and ghrelin (p = .02). H. pylori infection correlated negatively with patient energy intake (r = -0.36; p = .001) and body mass index (r = -0.34; p = .018). The negative association between ghrelin and H. pylori infection may be related to a higher prevalence of atrophy and raises the possibility that H. pylori may be contributing to undernutrition in some older people.