American heart journal
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American heart journal · Sep 2008
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging to identify left-sided chronic heart failure in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Although cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is well established, its diagnostic accuracy in identifying chronic heart failure (CHF) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not yet been quantified. ⋯ Easily assessable morphologic and volume-based CMR measurements have excellent capacities to identify previously unknown left-sided chronic heart failure in mild to moderate COPD patients. There seems to be an adaptive tendency to concentric right ventricular hypertrophy in COPD patients with left-sided CHF.
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American heart journal · Sep 2008
Treatment of chronic systolic heart failure secondary to Chagas heart disease in the current era of heart failure therapy.
The treatment of chronic heart failure secondary to Chagas disease has been based on extrapolation of data achieved in the treatment of non-Chagas disease heart failure. Because beta-blockers decrease the incidence of sudden cardiac death in non-Chagas disease heart failure and sudden cardiac death occurs preferentially in patients with mild Chagas disease heart failure, beta-blockers may be administered first to class I/II patients with Chagas disease heart failure. ⋯ Primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death may be accomplished with implantable cardioverter defibrillators because of the high recurrence of life-threatening arrhythmias despite amiodarone administration. In refractory heart failure, heart transplantation is the treatment of choice.