A Randomized Trial of Pharmacogenetic Warfarin Dosing in Naïve Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation.

Unlabelled: Genotype-guided warfarin dosing have been proposed to improve patient’s management. This study is aimed to determine whether a CYP2C9- VKORC1- CYP4F2-based pharmacogenetic algorithm is superior to a standard, clinically adopted, pharmacodynamic method. Two-hundred naïve patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to trial arms and 180 completed the study.

Contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance in primary and ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: Differentiation between primary dilated cardiomyopathy and ischemic cardiomyopathy has an important clinical significance. Contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance can play a role in this task, identifying myocardial scarring or fibrosis as presence of delayed enhancement. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic potential of contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance in differentiating dilated cardiomyopathy from ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Correlations between clinical presentation, brain natriuretic peptide, big endothelin-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and cardiac troponins in heart failure patients.

Background: The term "biochemical marker" of heart failure is used to define a biochemical substance whose plasma levels correlate with the clinical and hemodynamic status and predict the prognosis of patients with heart failure. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate, in a single population of patients with heart failure, the correlations between the plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), big endothelin-1 (BET-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and T (cTnT), the clinical presentation, and the left ventricular function.

Methods: The study population included a series of 120 patients (97 males, 81%, mean age 56+/-12 years) in NYHA functional class I (49%), II (20%), III (26%), IV (5%) who were admitted to our institution or followed up as outpatients.

Plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha correlate with the six-minute walk test results in patients with mild to moderate heart failure.

Background: The plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, big endothelin-1 and cardiac troponins have been reported to correlate with the severity of heart failure.

Methods: In a single population of 80 outpatients with mild to moderate chronic heart failure the correlation between the patient's functional capacity, as evaluated at a 6-min walk test, the clinical parameters and plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, big endothelin-1 and cardiac troponins was evaluated.

Results: A significant inverse correlation was found with the patient's age (p < 0.