Long-Term Engraftment (16 Years) of Myoblasts in a Human Infarcted Heart.

We report the case of a patient who had undergone injections of myoblasts in an infarct area 16 years before being referred for heart transplantation. The pathological examination of the explanted heart found persisting myotubes embedded in fibrosis. This finding supports the ability of myoblasts to survive in harsh environments, which can make them appealing candidates for transplantation in diseases requiring supply of new myogenic cells.

Transplantation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiovascular Progenitors for Severe Ischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction.

Background: In addition to scalability, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the unique advantage of allowing their directed differentiation toward lineage-specific cells.

Objectives: This study tested the feasibility of leveraging the properties of hESCs to generate clinical-grade cardiovascular progenitor cells and assessed their safety in patients with severe ischemic left ventricular dysfunction.

Methods: Six patients (median age 66.

[Therapeutic education for patients with heart failure, a performance factor].

Heart failure is a little-known disease which is both frequent and serious. It is particularly concerned by therapeutic education as it is linked to a high level of avoidable hospitalisations and requires daily monitoring of simple clinical parameters. It also imposes a change of lifestyle on the patient.

Awareness of Individual Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Self-Perception of Cardiovascular Risk in Women.

Background: Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) self-perception by women may be inaccurate.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire was completed anonymously Online by women who self-reported their personal CVRF levels including age, weight, contraceptive use, menopausal status, smoking, diet and physical activities. Self-perceived risk was matched to actual cardiovascular risk according to the Framingham score.

High prevalence of arrhythmic and myocardial complications in patients with cardiac glycogenosis due to PRKAG2 mutations.

Aims: Mutations in PRKAG2, the gene encoding for the γ2 subunit of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), are responsible for an autosomal dominant glycogenosis with a cardiac presentation, associating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), ventricular pre-excitation (VPE), and progressive heart block. The aim of this study was to perform a retrospective time-to-event study of the clinical manifestations associated with PRKAG2 mutations.

Methods And Results: A cohort of 34 patients from 9 families was recruited between 2001 and 2010.

Survival from sports-related sudden cardiac arrest: In sports facilities versus outside of sports facilities.

Background: We sought to evaluate frequency, characteristics, and outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports activities according to the location of occurrence (in sports facilities vs those occurring outside of sports facilities).

Methods And Results: This is an observational 5-year prospective national French survey of subjects 10 to 75 years old presenting with SCA during sports (2005-2010), in 60 French administrative regions (covering a population of 35 million people). Of the 820 SCA during sports, 426 SCAs (52%) occurred in sports facilities.

Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors for severe heart failure treatment: first clinical case report.

Aims: Comparative studies suggest that stem cells committed to a cardiac lineage are more effective for improving heart function than those featuring an extra-cardiac phenotype. We have therefore developed a population of human embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived cardiac progenitor cells.

Methods And Results: Undifferentiated human ESCs (I6 line) were amplified and cardiac-committed by exposure to bone morphogenetic protein-2 and a fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitor.

Population movement and sudden cardiac arrest location.

Background: Although the benefits of automatic external defibrillators are undeniable, their effectiveness could be dramatically improved. One of the key issues is the disparity between the locations of automatic external defibrillators and sudden cardiac arrests (SCAs).

Methods And Results: From emergency medical services and other Parisian agencies, data on all SCAs occurring in public places in Paris, France, were prospectively collected between 2000 and 2010 and recorded using 2020 grid areas.

Rupture of mitral valve chordae in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: While occasional reports of mitral valve chordal rupture have been described in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the exact prevalence and characteristics of this event in a large medical cohort have not been reported.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of mitral valve chordal rupture in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the clinical, echocardiographic, surgical and histological profiles of those patients.

Methods: We searched for patients with mitral valve chordal rupture diagnosed by echocardiography among all electronic files of patients admitted to our centre for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy between 2000 and 2010.

Towards a clinical use of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors: a translational experience.

Aim: There is now compelling evidence that cells committed to a cardiac lineage are most effective for improving the function of infarcted hearts. This has been confirmed by our pre-clinical studies entailing transplantation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived cardiac progenitors in rat and non-human primate models of myocardial infarction. These data have paved the way for a translational programme aimed at a phase I clinical trial.

Therapeutic patient education in heart failure: do studies provide sufficient information about the educational programme?

Therapeutic patient education programmes on heart failure have been widely proposed for many years for heart failure patients, but their efficiency remains questionable, partly because most articles lack a precise programme description, which makes comparative analysis of the studies difficult. To analyse the degree of precision in describing therapeutic patient education programmes in recent randomized controlled trials. Three major recent recommendations on therapeutic patient education in heart failure inspired us to compile a list of 23 relevant items that an 'ideal' description of a therapeutic patient education programme should contain.

[Stem cell therapy and heart failure: hopes and disappointments].

Despite therapeutic advances, heart failure remains a common and serious event characterized by initial and progressive loss of cardiac myocytes, a loss that is currently untreatable. Cell therapy has emerged as a promising new approach to the treatment of heart failure, with very encouraging experimental results. Since 2000, when human stem cell therapy was first attempted in France, clinical trials with adult stem cells (myoblasts, bone-marrow derived cells, mesenchymal stem cells) have given variable results.

Characteristics and outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest during sports in women.

Background: No specific data are available on characteristics and outcome of sudden cardiac death (SCD) during sport activities among women in the general population.

Methods And Results: From a prospective 5-year national survey, involving 820 subjects 10 to 75 years old who presented with SCD (resuscitated or not) during competitive or recreational sport activities, 43 (5.2%) such events occurred in women, principally during jogging, cycling, and swimming.

Galectin-3: a new biomarker for the diagnosis, analysis and prognosis of acute and chronic heart failure.

Heart failure constitutes an important medical, social and economic problem. The prevalence of heart failure is estimated as 2-3% of the adult population and increases with age, despite the scientific progress of the past decade, especially the emergence of natriuretic peptides, which have been widely used as reliable markers for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation. Identification of new reliable markers for diagnosis, analysis, prognosis of mortality and prevention of hospitalization is still necessary.

Major regional disparities in outcomes after sudden cardiac arrest during sports.

Aims: Characteristics of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports offers a novel (and unexplored) setting to assess factors associated with disparities in outcomes across regions.

Methods And Results: From a prospective 5-year community-based French registry concerning SCA during sports in 10-75 year-olds, we evaluated whether outcomes differed significantly between geographic regions. We then determined the extent to which variations in community-related early interventions were associated with regional variations in survival.

[Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: current aspects and new developments].

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a myocardial disorder characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy with no apparent cause (such as severe hypertension, aortic valve stenosis, etc.). The clinical diagnosis is based on cardiac imaging, commonly using 2D echocardiography and increasingly CMR.

Comprehensive annular and subvalvular repair of chronic ischemic mitral regurgitation improves long-term results with the least ventricular remodeling.

Background: Undersized ring annuloplasty for ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with variable results and >30% MR recurrence. We tested whether subvalvular repair by severing second-order mitral chordae can improve annuloplasty by reducing papillary muscle tethering.

Methods And Results: Posterolateral myocardial infarction known to produce chronic remodeling and MR was created in 28 sheep.

The mitral valve in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: old versus new concepts.

Elongation and pathological thickening of the mitral valve (MV) is commonly seen in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and its pathogenic basis is poorly understood. Associated features include mal-positioning of the papillary muscles and MV, as well as systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the MV leaflets, which can worsen the turbulence and dynamic left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient. Coaptation of the MV leaflets depends on both anterior and posterior leaflet length and position, and failure of either to optimally adapt in this setting can result in mitral regurgitation or worsened LVOT obstruction.

Immune response to human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors and adipose-derived stromal cells.

Transplantation of allogeneic human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors triggers an immune response. We assessed whether this response could be modulated by the concomitant use of adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSC). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 40 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and nine healthy controls.

Heart rate and risk of cancer death in healthy men.

Background: Data from several previous studies examining heart-rate and cardiovascular risk have hinted at a possible relationship between heart-rate and non-cardiac mortality. We thus systematically examined the predictive value of heart-rate variables on the subsequent risk of death from cancer.

Methods: In the Paris Prospective Study I, 6101 asymptomatic French working men aged 42 to 53 years, free of clinically detectable cardiovascular disease and cancer, underwent a standardized graded exercise test between 1967 and 1972.

Sports-related sudden death in the general population.

Background: Although such data are available for young competitive athletes, the prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of sports-related sudden death have not been assessed previously in the general population.

Methods And Results: A prospective and comprehensive national survey was performed throughout France from 2005 to 2010, involving subjects 10 to 75 years of age. Case detection for sports-related sudden death, including resuscitated cardiac arrest, was undertaken via national ambulance service reporting and Web-based screening of media releases.