British heart journal
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British heart journal · Aug 1995
Squatting revisited: comparison of haemodynamic responses in normal individuals and heart transplantation recipients.
Squatting produces a prompt increase in cardiac output and arterial blood pressure which is accompanied by an immediate decrease in heart rate and forearm vascular resistance. The rise in cardiac output and blood pressure has been attributed to augmented venous return from compression of leg veins, while the decreases in heart rate and forearm vascular resistance are probably due to activation of cardiopulmonary and arterial baroreflexes. Haemodynamic patterns in nine normal men and six heart transplant recipients during 2 min of squatting were examined to determine the role of cardiac innervation in the mediation of these responses. ⋯ The major haemodynamic responses to squatting (increased cardiac output and blood pressure) are similar in normal individuals and heart transplant recipients. These responses are primarily due to augmented venous return and are not altered by cardiac denervation. Both groups also exhibited a transient decline in peripheral vascular resistance which is most likely mediated by arterial baroreflexes activated by the acute rise in arterial blood pressure. The absence of a significant decrease in forearm vascular resistance in heart transplant recipients suggests that this response is partially mediated by cardiopulmonary or ventricular baroreflexes or that local forearm flow mediated vasodilatation remains impaired after heart transplantation.
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British heart journal · Aug 1995
Case ReportsLeft ventricular thrombi in a patient with the antiphospholipid syndrome.
A 41 year old woman with the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome presented with a cerebral embolus. This was caused by a mobile left ventricular thrombus that later resolved. There was an additional old left ventricular thrombus. Left ventricular thrombi such as these have not been previously described in this syndrome, and may have been under diagnosed.