International journal of cardiology
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Endothelial dysfunction is considered an important prognostic factor in atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to detect the long-term association of peripheral vascular endothelial function and clinical outcome in healthy subjects without apparent coronary artery disease (CAD). ⋯ Brachial artery median FMD independently predicts long-term adverse cardiovascular events in healthy subjects in addition to traditional risk factor assessment.
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Comparative Study
Assessment of biventricular functional reserve and NT-proBNP levels in patients with RV volume overload after repair of tetralogy of Fallot at young age.
To assess biventricular functional reserve (FR), NT-proBNP levels and exercise performance, in relation to right ventricular volume in patients with pulmonary regurgitation (PR) after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) at young age. ⋯ At mid to long term follow-up overall NT-proBNP levels are normal and biventricular functional reserve and exercise tolerance are well preserved in TOF repaired at young age, irrespective of RV volume. This questions the validity of isolated PR or RV volume criteria for pulmonary valve replacement in this group. Low-dose dobutamine stress testing is well tolerated and may be a useful additional tool for clinical decision making.
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Letter
Rescue extracorporeal circulation as bridge to recovery in fulminant cocaine-induced heart failure.
Cocaine is an increasing cause of admission in the emergency room. The widespread abuse of this drug during the last decade in the USA is now widely emerging in Europe. ⋯ Because of the lack of response to intensive medical treatment, we decided to perform a percutaneous extracorporeal circulation membranous oxygenation (ECMO) that allowed survival and rapid left ventricular function recovery. This report highlights cocaine as a rising trigger of acute heart failure in young people and is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report that illustrates ECMO as an effective hemodynamic support in the course of fulminant cocaine-induced cardiomyopathy.
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Increased level of N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is known to be associated with adverse outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome. We evaluated early outcomes of patients with acute ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) according to the level of NT-proBNP as a substudy of Korean Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (KAMIR). ⋯ This study suggests that baseline NT-proBNP level is associated with short term mortality in patients with STEMI underwent primary PCI.