Publications by authors named "Cynthia K Wallace"

Cardiac allograft hypertrophy is associated with persistent expression of cardiac tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. We investigated whether TNFalpha antagonism would impact allograft hypertrophy. EFECT (EFfect of Etanercept on Cardiac Transplantation) was a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial evaluating the effect of etanercept versus placebo treatment immediately posttransplant.

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Background: Statins improve patient survival and decrease rejection episodes in heart transplant recipients. We studied the effects of simvastatin treatment on myocardial tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) expression; TNF-alpha is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine associated with hypertrophy and fibrosis in heart transplant recipients.

Methods: We randomized 10 consecutive heart transplant recipients to receive either 20 mg/day simvastatin (n = 5) or placebo (n = 5) for 6 months after cardiac transplantation.

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Purpose Of Review: The authors present a comprehensive analysis of the evidence in support of improvements at the cellular, structural, and hemodynamic levels after left ventricular assist device support.

Recent Findings: The use of left ventricular assist devices as a strategy to bridge patients to cardiac transplantation and, more recently, as a form of destination therapy has provided a great opportunity to study failing myocardium at various time points. Specifically, myocardial samples can be obtained from patients at the time of left ventricular assist device implantation and again at explant, thereby allowing comparisons between paired samples of failing myocardium obtained before and after mechanical unloading.

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