Circulating microRNA changes in heart failure patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy: responders vs. non-responders.

Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of structural alterations of the failing heart through their ability to regulate negatively the expression levels of genes that govern the process of adaptive and maladaptive cardiac remodelling. We studied whether LV reverse remodelling after CRT was associated with changes of circulating miRNAs in patients with heart failure (HF) and dyssynchrony.

Methods And Results: A prospective, non-randomized self-control trial was performed in 81 patients with HF eligible for CRT.

Tight glycemic control reduces heart inflammation and remodeling during acute myocardial infarction in hyperglycemic patients.

Objectives: We analyzed the molecular mechanisms evoked by tight glycemic control during post-infarction remodeling in human hearts.

Background: The molecular mechanisms by which tight glycemic control improves heart remodeling during acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are still largely unknown.

Methods: Eighty-eight patients with first AMI undergoing coronary bypass surgery were studied: 38 normoglycemic patients served as the control group; hyperglycemic patients (glucose >or=140 mg/dl) were randomized to intensive glycemic control (IGC) (n = 25; glucose 80 to 140 mg/dl) or conventional glycemic control (CGC) (n = 25; glucose 180 to 200 mg/dl) for almost 3 days before surgery, with insulin infusion followed by subcutaneous insulin treatment.

Overdrive versus conventional or closed-loop rate modulation pacing in the prevention of atrial tachyarrhythmias in Brady-Tachy syndrome: on behalf of the Burden II Study Group.

Background: Optimizing dual-chamber pacing to prevent recurrences of atrial tachyarrhythmias (AT) in sinus node dysfunction is still debated. Despite the large number of studies, efficacy of sophisticated preventive algorithms has never been proven. It is not clear whether this is due to imperfect study designs or to a substantial inefficacy of pacing therapies.