Erectile dysfunction in the cardiology practice-a patients' perspective.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events sharing mutual risk factors with coronary artery disease. Several guidelines for the management of ED in cardiovascular disease have been proposed, recommending cardiologists to routinely inquire about erectile function. However, males' specific needs and wishes regarding sexual health care in cardiology are unknown.

A wandering defibrillator lead.

A 53-year-old woman was admitted because of sudden onset of severe chest pain and palpitations. Her medical history revealed an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to ventricular tachycardia caused by arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy for which an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was implanted with epicardial patches. On 2D echocardiography, a mobile piece of lead was seen in the right atrium and right ventricle, loosely attached to the free wall of the right ventricule; 3D reconstruction confirmed this suggestion.

Familial occurrence of isolated non-compaction cardiomyopathy.

Background And Aims: Isolated left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) may have an autosomal dominant or X-linked recessive inheritance. We focus on the familial occurrence of LVNC after misdiagnosing this disorder in symptomatic patients in two families. After identification of the index patient we studied the families more intensively in order to unmask affected family members.

Rapid intake of alcohol (binge drinking) inhibits platelet adhesion to fibrinogen under flow.

Background: Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with decreased mortality from cardiovascular disease. Drinking large amounts in a short period (binge drinking) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity. We tested whether rapid consumption of a large dose of alcohol affects platelet aggregation and adhesion.