Thoracic Sympathectomy for Severe Refractory Multivessel Coronary Artery Spasm.

Coronary artery spasm is a rare but potentially fatal disease. Herein, we report a case of recurrent ST-segment myocardial infarctions and ventricular fibrillation complicating severe multivessel coronary artery spasm successfully treated with bilateral thoracic surgical sympathectomy.

Effects of interleukin-1 blockade with anakinra on aerobic exercise capacity in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (from the D-HART pilot study).

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a clinical syndrome of exercise intolerance due to impaired myocardial relaxation and/or increased stiffness. Patients with HFpEF often show signs of chronic systemic inflammation, and experimental studies have shown that interleukin-1 (IL-1), a key proinflammatory cytokine, impairs myocardial relaxation. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of IL-1 blockade with anakinra on aerobic exercise capacity in patients with HFpEF and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) >2 mg/L (reflecting increased IL-1 activity).

Recombinant human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist provides cardioprotection during myocardial ischemia reperfusion in the mouse.

Purpose: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) drives an intense inflammatory response that contributes to infarct healing and cardiac remodeling. Recently, different studies have identified a role of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the development of adverse cardiac remodeling. However, in animal models of AMI IL-1 has been shown to be cardioprotective in preconditioning, raising the question of clinical safety of therapeutic IL-1 blockade for autoinflammatory diseases or for the prevention or the treatment of AMI.