Effect of supplementation on trimethylamine-N-oxide levels in 30 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a metabolite produced by intestinal microbiota. It is well recognized as an independent risk marker for cardiovascular and renal diseases and mortality.

Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of patients with atrial cardiomyopathy and their impact on prognosis.

Patients with diverse demographic and clinical characteristics and comorbidities are included in the category of atrial cardiomyopathy (ACM).

CPAP Treatment at Home after Acute Decompensated Heart Failure in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a condition with a high frequency of hospitalizations and mortality, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common comorbidity. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy at home can be a good adjunctive non-drug therapy for these patients. : We conducted a single-center, prospective cohort study from 150 consecutive patients hospitalized for heart failure exacerbation in the cardiology department.

Association of the trimethylamine N-oxide with cardiovascular risk and vascular alterations in middle-aged patients with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

Background: Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is synthesized by the intestinal microbiota and is an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated TMAO levels across different CVD-risk patient groups, and evaluated associations between TMAO and vascular alterations (e.

Hiatal Hernia: The Great Masquerade in the Emergency Department.

Unlabelled: Chest pain and dyspnoea are among the most common complaints seen in the emergency room and each symptom calls for a broad differential diagnosis. Large hiatal hernias are infrequent, but they can lead to atypical symptoms mimicking different cardiovascular, pulmonary and neoplastic diseases. We present two cases of older patients with an apparent left atrial mass on transthoracic echocardiography, which was subsequently identified as hiatal hernia by other imaging modalities.

Sleep apnea in patients with exacerbated heart failure and overweight.

Sleep disorders are a common concomitant comorbidity in patients with heart failure. The aims of our study are to determine the incidence and phenotypic characteristics of sleep apnea in overweight patients with exacerbated heart failure and to assess the degree of involvement of systolic and diastolic function impairment in the individual group. From 100 screened patients with heart failure in our department from 2015 to 2017, 61 met the inclusion criteria and participated in the study.

Global longitudinal strain as a marker for systolic function in patients with pheochromocytomas.

Cardiomyopathy is a frequent complication of pheochromocytoma, and echocardiography is the most accessible method for its evaluation. The objective of this study was to assess the clinical significance of classical and novel echocardiographic parameters of cardiac function in 24 patients with pheochromocytomas (PPGL) compared to 24 subjects with essential hypertension (EH). Fourteen PPGL patients were reassessed after successful surgery.

Left Ventricular Strain and Rotation in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Severe Systolic Dysfunction.

Introduction: In dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) left ventricular (LV) strain and twist are significantly decreased. However, the rate of attenuation has not been investigated well in patients with varying degrees of systolic dysfunction.

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between LV deformational and rotational mechanics and conventional and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) parameters, and to search for a constellation of findings distinguishing patients with severe systolic dysfunction (SSD) in DCM.

Torsion Mechanics as an Indicator of More Advanced Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Secondary Mitral Regurgitation in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A 2D Speckle-Tracking Analysis.

Unlabelled: Left ventricular (LV) twist serves as a compensatory mechanism in systolic dysfunction and its degree of reduction may reflect a more advanced stage of disease.

Aim: The aim was to investigate twist alterations depending on the degree of functional mitral regurgitation (MR) by speckle-tracking echocardiography.

Methods: Sixty-three patients with symptomatic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) were included.

Right atrial thrombus from inferior vena cava after acute cardiotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil.

We reported a case of large right atrial thrombus which migrated from the inferior vena cava after acute left ventricular dysfunction due to 5-Fluorouracil cardiotoxicity. The patient had recurrent episodes of chest pain and dyspnea suggestive of pulmonary thromboembolism and several days later control echocardiography showed that the right atrial thrombus had disappeared. The patient was discharged with oral anticoagulant therapy with no further clinical sequelae during an 11 month period but died because of progression of metastatic processes.