No abstract

NLR was correlated with important prognostic markers in PAH such as NYHA FC, BNP and TAPSE. This simple marker may be useful in the assessment of disease severity in patients with PAH.

No abstract

The results of the study show that in patients with PAH, the presence of severe TR is associated with an overestimated PASP measurement on echocardiography.

We found characteristic patterns of plaque distribution at coronary bifurcations. Proximal segments demonstrated larger plaque volume than distal segments, despite similar percentages of plaque burden. Plaque volume accumulated opposite to the flow divider, especially in distal segments. The side-branch take-off angle in the cross-sectional plane influenced the plaque distribution in bifurcation lesions.

SUMMARYThe aim of this study was investigate the effects of carvedilol therapy on ventricular repolarization characteristics as assessed by QT dispersion (QTd) and heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with heart failure.Thirty-one patients with heart failure (mean age, 63.9 years) were included in the study. Carvedilol was administered in addition to standard therapy for CHF at a dose of 6.25 mg/day and uptitrated to the maximum tolerated dose. Control group consisted of 14 patients with heart failure (mean age, 69.4 years) who could not take carvedilol due to several reasons. All patients were followed-up 6 months. QT dispersion (QTd), and corrected QTd (QTcd) values were calculated at baseline and at the end of follow-up. Time domain and frequency domain heart rate variability analysis were performed with ambulatory Holter ECG.Mean carvedilol dose was 23.9 ± 13.9 mg. Significant reductions were observed in the QTd (P = 0.016) and QTcd (P = 0.001) with carvedilol therapy, whereas QTd (P = 0.47) and QTcd (P = 0.43) did not change significantly in the control group. The QT maximum value did not change significantly but the QT minimum value (P = 0.03) was significantly increased after carvedilol therapy. Although the mean SDANN value was improved (P = 0.039), other HRV parameters such as mean SDNN (P = 0.32), rMSSD (P = 0.74), and the LF/HF ratio (P = 0.35) did not change significantly after carvedilol therapy.This prospective controlled study shows that carvedilol therapy decreased QT dispersion and improved ventricular repolarization characteristics but did not change autonomic dysfunction in patients with heart failure. (Int Heart J 2006; 47: 565-573)

Amaç: Atriyal fibrilasyonda sol atriyal trombüs oluşması açısından koagülasyon parametrelerinin rolü yeterince araştırılmamıştır. Atriyal fibrilasyonlu hastalarda sol atriyal trombüs ile veya onun öncüsü olduğu düşünülen spontan eko-kontrast varlığı (SEK) ile beta fibrinojen gen polimorfizmi ile trombosit glikoprotein IIIa gen polimorfizmi arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmayı amaçladık. Yöntemler: Transözofageal ekokardiyografi yapılan atriyal fibrilasyonlu 47 hasta enine kesitsel gözlemsel çalışmamıza dahil edildi. Hastalar 2 gruba ayrıldı. Sol atriyal trombüsü olanlar Grup 1'i (n=24) ve trombüsü olmayanlar grup 2'yi (n=23) oluşturdu. Beta fibrinojen gene polimorfizm veya glikoprotein IIIa gen polimorfizmlerini saptamak için genetik analizler yapıldı. İstatistiksel analizde Mann Whitney U ve Ki-kare testleri kullanıldı. Bulgular: Demografik ve klinik özellikler bakımından gruplar arasında fark saptanmadı. Beta fibrinojen 455 G/A gen polimorfizm sıklığı grup 1'de (%37.5) grup 2'ye göre (%15) istatistiksel anlamlılığa ulaşmayacak şekilde (p=0.23) daha yüksek saptandı. Çalışma grubuna ciddi SEK'i olan hastalar da eklendiğinde (trombüs ve ciddi SEK n=27) 2 grup arasındaki fark (%44.4-%10) istatistiksel anlamlılığa ulaşmaktaydı (p=0.01). Glikoprotein IIIa Pl A1/A2 polimorfizmi ise gruplar arasında (p=0.73) SEK eklense de (p=0.82) farklı bulunmadı. Grup I'de grup II'ye göre mitral yetmezliği skoru daha düşük olma eğiliminde (p=0.08), SEK skoru ise anlamı olarak daha yüksek idi (p=0.03). ÖZETOb jec ti ve: The role of coagulation parameters left atrial thrombus formation in atrial fibrillation has not been investigated before. We aimed to investigate the association between the beta-fibrinogen gene polymorphism or glycoprotein IIIa gene polymorphism and presence of left atrial (LA) thrombus or spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Forty-seven patients with AF, in whom transesophageal echocardiography was performed, were included to this cross-sectional observational study. Patients were divided in two groups; those with LA thrombus (n=24) were assigned to group 1 and those without thrombusin group 2 (n=23). DNA analysis was conducted to determine gene polymorphism in all patients. Mann-Whitney U test or Chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis Results: There were no significant differences between groups regarding to demographic and clinical characteristics. The frequency of betafibrinogen 455 G/A polymorphism was higher (37.5%) in group 1 as compared to group 2 (15.1%) but it did not reach statistical difference (p=0.23). When we added patients with severe SEC in the study group (patients with severe SEC and/or thrombus n=27) the difference (44.40%-10%) reached the statistical difference (p=0.01). Glycoprotein IIIa Pl A1/A2 polymorphism was not different between groups with (p=0.82) or without SEC (p=0.73). Conclusion: In patients with atrial fibrillation, beta-fibrinogen 455 G/A gene polymorphism is associated with the presence of left atrial thrombus and severe SEC...

SummaryLeft ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) develops in the early stages of acromegaly. The purpose of this study was to identify LVDD analyzing by new echocardiograpic criteria as well as to evaluate determinants of the LVDD in acromegaly. This cross-sectional study examined 42 patients with acromegaly; 16 in active disease (AA) and 26 cured/ well controlled (CA), and compared them with 30 healthy controls (CG). Ventricular systolic and diastolic functions were studied by conventional and tissue Doppler imaging based on the E/Em ratio and myocardial performance index (MPI). Other clinical parameters possibly contributing to LVDD in acromegaly were also investigated. The prevalence of LV hypertrophy (33%) and LVDD (35.7%) were increased in acromegaly, however, there were no differences between the AA and CA groups. Acromegalic patients had higher LV volumes and LV mass, and septal E/Em ratio compared to CG, whereas LV ejection fraction and MPI were not different. The presence of acromegaly (r = 0.29, P = 0.013), diabetes mellitus (DM) (r = 0.41, P < 0.001), hypertension (r = 0.35, P = 0.002), and sleep apnea (r = 0.56, P = 0.003) were found to be correlated with LVDD, whereas duration and activity of acromegaly were not. In regression analysis, advanced age (OR: 8.53, P = 0.006) and DM (OR: 25.9, P = 0.007) were found to be independent risk factors for LVDD. The risk of LVDD according to new criteria increases in acromegaly. However, it seems to be related to the presence of DM and advanced age and is independent of disease duration and activity. ( Cardiac involvement is known to be a major determinant of the shortened life expectancy in acromegalic patients. 1,2) Increased GH, directly and via insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), induces myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis in the absence of increased wall stress.3) Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) causes diastolic and more rarely systolic dysfunction and arrhythmias. Echocardiographic studies of acromegalic patients have suggested left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in the early stages of the disease while LV systolic function was preserved. 4) However, previous studies have evaluated diastolic function by old methods including the transmitral E/A ratio. This ratio is not sufficient to evaluate the diastolic function in patients with preserved systolic function. Pulsed-wave (pw) tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) allows quantitative measurements of the myocardial contraction and relaxation velocities of a selected myocardial segment.5) The Em velocity is considered as an index of ventricular relaxation, which is relatively independent from variation of the atrial pressure and its ratio to velocity peak of transmitral flow (E/Em) is related with the LV filling pressure. The E/Em ratio is recommended at the first step for evaluation of LVDD by echocardiography according to a new guideline. 6) Peak systolic mitral annular velocity (Sm) is used to evaluate LV systolic function. Another parameter used in the evaluation of cardiac function is the myo...