Heart : official journal of the British Cardiac Society
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To investigate the frequency of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) increases in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) and to assess the correlation between this finding, the clinical presentation, and outcomes. ⋯ In high risk patients with acute PE, cTnI was frequently detected on admission. It was the strongest independent predictor of mortality.
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To delineate predictors of hospital survival in a large series of children with biventricular physiology supported with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after open heart surgery. ⋯ Hospital survival of children with biventricular physiology who require cardiac ECMO is similar to that found in series that include univentricular hearts, suggesting that successful cardiac ECMO is critically dependent on the identification of hearts with reversible ventricular dysfunction. In our experience of postoperative cardiac ECMO, the higher survival of patients cannulated in the operating room than in the cardiac intensive care unit is due to early effective support preventing prolonged hypoperfusion and the avoidance of a catastrophic cardiac arrest.
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Editorial Comment
Ischaemic preconditioning and myocardial adaptation to serial intracoronary balloon inflation: cut from the same cloth?
Elective percutaneous coronary intervention fulfils many of the criteria needed of a clinical model of ischaemic preconditioning. But is this really a reflection of the laboratory phenomenon of ischaemic preconditioning?