Journal of the American College of Cardiology
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2003
Multicenter StudyDepressive symptoms are the strongest predictors of short-term declines in health status in patients with heart failure.
The purpose of this study was to assess whether depressive symptoms are independently associated with changes in heart failure (HF)-specific health status. ⋯ Depressive symptoms are a strong predictor of short-term worsening of HF-specific health status. The recognition and treatment of depression may be an important component of HF care.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2003
Heart rate variability and cardiac troponin I are incremental and independent predictors of one-year all-cause mortality after major noncardiac surgery in patients at risk of coronary artery disease.
The aim of this study was to determine whether perioperative measurements of heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) add additional prognostic information to established risk scores for first-year mortality in patients at risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing major noncardiac surgery. ⋯ Depressed HRV before induction of anesthesia and elevated cTnI postoperatively are independent and powerful predictors of one-year mortality for patients at risk of CAD undergoing major noncardiac surgery and add incremental prognostic information to established risk scores that only consider preoperative information.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialPlasma amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and accuracy of heart-failure diagnosis in primary care: a randomized, controlled trial.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (N-BNP) on the diagnostic accuracy of heart failure (HF) in primary care. ⋯ This study demonstrates that N-BNP measurement significantly improves the diagnostic accuracy of HF by GPs over and above customary clinical review.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2003
Involvement of reactive oxygen species in angiotensin II-induced endothelin-1 gene expression in rat cardiac fibroblasts.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of angiotensin II (Ang II) on fibroblast proliferation and endothelin-1 (ET-1) gene induction, focusing especially on reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated signaling in cardiac fibroblasts. ⋯ Our data suggest that ROS are involved in Ang II-induced proliferation and ET-1 gene expression. Our findings imply that the combination of AT(I) and ET(A) receptor antagonists plus antioxidants may be beneficial in preventing the formation of excessive cardiac fibrosis.
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J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. · Nov 2003
Association of cardiac troponin, CK-MB, and postoperative myocardial ischemia with long-term survival after major vascular surgery.
The aim of this study was to determine the long-term prognosis with postoperative markers of myocardial ischemia and infarction. ⋯ Postoperative CK-MB and troponin, even at low cutoff levels, are independent and complementary predictors of long-term mortality after major vascular surgery.