Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Apr 2008
Aging mouse hearts are refractory to infarct size reduction with post-conditioning.
Our aim was to establish whether the efficacy of post-conditioning is maintained in aging hearts. ⋯ Old mouse hearts are refractory to infarct size reduction with post-conditioning, possibly because of an age-associated increase in MKP-1 and resultant deficit in ERK phosphorylation.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Apr 2008
Morphologic and functional predictors of eventual circulation in the fetus with pulmonary atresia or critical pulmonary stenosis with intact septum.
The purpose of this study was to determine the morphologic and physiological predictors of post-natal surgical pathway in a longitudinal series of fetuses with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PAIVS) and/or critical pulmonary stenosis with reversal of ductal flow (CPS) using statistical modeling. ⋯ The best predictive scores for post-natal outcome in fetal PAIVS/CPS are a combination of morphologic and physiological variables, which predict a BV circulation with a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 100% before 26 weeks.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Mar 2008
Atrial fibrillation in patients with Brugada syndrome relationships of gene mutation, electrophysiology, and clinical backgrounds.
The goal of our work was to examine the relationships of atrial fibrillation (AF) with genetic, clinical, and electrophysiological backgrounds in Brugada syndrome (BrS). ⋯ Spontaneous AF and VF are closely linked clinically and electrophysiologically in BrS patients. Patients with spontaneous AF have more severe clinical backgrounds in BrS. SCN5A mutation is associated with electrical abnormality but not disease severity.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Mar 2008
N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide assessment provides incremental prognostic information in patients with acute coronary syndromes and normal troponin T values upon admission.
The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value of N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in two independent samples of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and normal troponin T (TnT) values. ⋯ Among patients with suspected ACS considered to be at low risk because of normal troponin values, NT-proBNP above 474 pg/ml is able to discriminate individuals at higher risk. Because of its incremental prognostic value, NT-proBNP assessment should be considered in clinical routine for risk stratification of patients with normal troponin.