Heart and vessels
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with the progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in the middle-aged population. However, the clinical importance of OSA as a risk for CVD in the elderly population remains controversial. Moreover, evidence for the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for the secondary prevention of CVD in elderly patients is lacking. ⋯ The Kaplan-Meier curves indicated that event-free survival was significantly lower in the untreated OSA group than in the CPAP group (P < 0.005). A multivariate analysis showed that the risk was significantly increased in the untreated OSA group (hazard ratio 5.13; 95 % confidence interval 1.01-42.0; P < 0.05). Moderate to severe OSA not treated with CPAP was an independent risk factor for relapse of a CVD event, and adequate CPAP treatment improved cardiovascular outcomes in elderly patients.
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This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that noninvasive echocardiographic indexes obtained using early diastolic mitral annular and inflow velocities reflect diastolic function in children. We included in this study 61 consecutive pediatric patients (age 0.4–13 years) who underwent cardiac catheterization for various heart diseases with biventricular circulation. Left ventricular (LV) pressure was measured using a high-fidelity manometer to obtain the time constant of relaxation (τ) and LV chamber stiffness (K). ⋯ The e′, DT, and E/e′ values in our study reflect the diastolic function in our pediatric population. However, the weak correlations between these indexes and invasive measures of diastolic function suggest that these indexes are useful in detecting diastolic dysfunction but not in determining the absolute values of diastolic dysfunction. Therefore, a future study is warranted to develop an efficient algorithm for systematic noninvasive evaluation of LV diastolic function in children.
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There are limited data on the optimal antithrombotic therapy for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who undergoing coronary stenting. We reviewed 203 patients (62.6 % men, mean age 68.3 ± 10.1 years) between 2003 and 2012, and recorded clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients. Clinical follow-up included major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and stroke), stent thrombosis, and bleeding. ⋯ In multivariate analysis, no warfarin therapy (odds ratio 7.8, 95 % confidence interval 1.02-59.35; P = 0.048) was an independent predictor of MACCE. By Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, warfarin therapy was associated with a lower risk of MACCE (P = 0.024). In patients with AF undergoing coronary artery stenting, MACCE were reduced by warfarin therapy without increased bleeding, which might be related to tighter control with a lower INR value.
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Observational Study
Novel use of the ultra-short-acting intravenous β1-selective blocker landiolol for supraventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with congestive heart failure.
The purpose of this study was to find a safe dosing regimen for landiolol, an ultra-short-acting β-adrenergic blocking agent, to rapidly control supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVTs) in patients with heart failure (HF). Landiolol is reported to have good effects in the treatment of SVTs after cardiac surgery. We evaluated 52 patients with SVT and symptoms of HF (NYHA class III/IV, 10/42; EF 32 ± 12 %) on admission because of ischaemic disease (n = 10), non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (n = 32), or valvular disease (n = 10). ⋯ Within 60 min after initiation of therapy, all patients had achieved a 20 % reduction in HR at the maintenance dose. Transient asymptomatic hypotension requiring cessation of landiolol therapy occurred in three patients. Intravenous administration of landiolol was both effective in rapidly controlling HR for up to 24 h and useful as bridging treatment to additional therapy of oral β blockade, pulmonary vein catheter ablation, or cardiac resynchronisation therapy in patients with HF.
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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by a progressive increase in pulmonary arterial pressure and vascular resistance. Despite advances in therapy for PAH, its treatment and prognosis remain poor. We aimed to investigate whether the transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) overexpressing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), alone or in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), attenuates the development of experimental monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH. ⋯ The TGF-β and ET-1 concentrations in the plasma of pulmonary hypertensive rats were markedly lower in the HGF and HGF+G-CSF groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, HGF induced the expression of VCAM-1, and HGF treatment together with G-CSF synergistically stimulated MMP-9 expression. Transplanted HGF-MSCs combined with G-CSF potentially offer synergistic therapeutic benefit for the treatment of PAH.