Best Practice BioBanking of Human Heart Tissue.

This review provides a guide to researchers who wish to establish a biobank. It also gives practical advice to investigators seeking access to samples of healthy or diseased human hearts. We begin with a brief history of the Sydney Heart Bank (SHB) from when it began in 1989, including the pivotal role played by the late Victor Chang.

Aortic valve replacement in octogenarians.

Background: With improved life expectancy more octogenarians now present with aortic valve disease. Cardiac surgery in this group of patients has previously been considered high risk due to co-morbidities and challenges of rehabilitation. This study seeks to challenge the concept of octogenarian cardiac surgery "unsuitability" by analysing operative outcomes and long term survival following aortic valve replacement.

Permanent pacing for late-onset atrioventricular block in patients with heart transplantation: a single center experience.

Introduction: The incidence, mechanisms, clinical associations, and outcomes in patients with late-onset (>3 months) atrioventricular (AV) block following heart transplantation are not well known. This study will characterize late-onset AV block following cardiac transplantation.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our databases to identify patients who required pacemakers for late-onset AV block postheart and heart-lung transplantation from January 1990 to December 2007.

Mid-term results of Ross procedure: our limited experience.

From February 1995 to February 2005, 30 patients underwent the Ross procedure with the root replacement technique. There were 20 males (66.7%) and 10 females (33.

Left ventricular morphology, global and longitudinal function in normal older individuals: a cardiac magnetic resonance study.

Background: The heart transforms structurally and functionally with age but the nature and magnitude of reported changes appear inconsistent. This study was designed to assess left ventricular (LV) morphology, global and longitudinal function in healthy older men and women using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR).

Methods: Ninety-five healthy subjects (age 62+/-16 years, range 22-91 years) underwent breath-hold cine CMR.

Longitudinal myocardial dysfunction in healthy older subjects as a manifestation of cardiac ageing.

Background: Abnormalities of longitudinal left ventricular (LV) contraction and relaxation may be early markers of cardiac disease. This study was designed to assess the relationship between long-axis LV function and age in healthy subjects.

Methods: 118 healthy individuals aged 57 +/-19 years (range 20-90 years) with no evidence of cardiovascular disease under-went echocardiography with Doppler examination of transmitral flow.

Comparative PRKAR1A genotype-phenotype analyses in humans with Carney complex and prkar1a haploinsufficient mice.

Carney complex (CNC) is a familial multiple neoplasia syndrome characterized by cardiac and extracardiac myxomas in the setting of spotty skin pigmentation and endocrinopathy. We previously identified PRKAR1A (regulatory subunit 1alpha of protein kinase A) mutations in CNC. Mutational analyses of the PRKAR1A gene in 51 unrelated CNC probands now detect mutations in 65%.