Assessment of the left atrial volume index and plasma NT-proANP level in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction is associated with ventricular dysfunction due to ischemia-induced progressive myocardial damage. The decrease in ventricular compliance causes left atrial dilatation and stretching of the atrial myocardium, which are the main stimuli for the secretion of atrial natriuretic peptide. The aim of this study was to evaluate left atrial dimensions and atrial natriuretic peptide levels in patients early after their first acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction and assess the probable interaction between coronary lesions and these measurements.

The influence of aldosterone on the development of left ventricular geometry and hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension.

The identification of risk factors for the initiation of left ventricle hypertrophy (LVH), which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in hypertensive patients, is very important. The objective of the present study was to identify the relationship of aldosterone with LVH and different geometrical patterns of left ventricle that develop in patients with essential hypertension. A total of 83 patients with essential hypertension (44 females, mean age, 51 +/- 8 years, 39 males, mean age, 57 +/- 10 years) were included in this study.

The clinical and surgical features of right-sided intracardiac masses due to echinococcosis.

Right-sided cardiac echinococcosis shows special clinical and surgical features beyond the rareness of echinococcosis in this position, leading to serious and life-threatening complications. We examined our cardiac hydatid cyst patients, retrospectively, and report our experience of the surgical treatment of right-sided cardiac hydatid cysts. Between 1985 and 2000, seven patients were transferred to our department from the cardiology department with a diagnosis of cystic cardiac masses which were highly suspected of being hydatid cysts.

[Left ventricular hypertrophy increases the frequency of ventricular arrhythmia in hypertensive patients].

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and geometrical structure of the left ventricle with the risk of arrhythmia and QT dispersion (QTd) in hypertensive patients.

Methods: Eighty patients were included (mean age 53 +/- 11 years, 45 women) in the study. Among them, concentric LVH was present in 30, concentric remodelling in 15 and normal left ventricular geometry in 35 patients.