Proinflammatory Cytokines Are Soluble Mediators Linked with Ventricular Arrhythmias and Contractile Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Metabolic Syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) increases cardiovascular risk and is associated with cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmias, although the precise mechanisms are still under study. Chronic inflammation in MS has emerged as a possible cause of adverse cardiac events. Male Wistar rats fed with 30% sucrose in drinking water and standard chow for 25-27 weeks were compared to a control group.

Real-time color-flow CMR in adults with congenital heart disease.

CMR is valuable in the evaluation of congenital heart disease (CHD). Traditional flow imaging sequences involve cardiac and respiratory gating, increasing scan time and susceptibility to arrhythmias. We studied a real-time color-flow CMR system for the detection of flow abnormalities in 13 adults with CHD.

A visual approach for the accurate determination of echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction by medical students.

Background: Previously published reports show that there is significant intraobserver, interobserver, and interinstitutional variability in the determination of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) by echocardiography. With the increased deployment of echocardiography (eg, handheld devices), there exists a need for developing a simple, intuitive approach for evaluating LVEF that allows a wider range of physicians to accurately and rapidly determine LVEF.

Objective: We sought to create a system for assessing LVEF that relies on recognition and matching of patterns, rather than on mathematic calculations and geometric assumptions.