[Thrombosis of a prosthetic mitral valve in the anticardiolipin syndrome].

A 40-year-old woman in whom the mitral valve had to be replaced with a prosthetic one (St. Jude's) had to be reoperated 8 months later because of endocarditis on the second prosthetic valve (Carbo-Medics). Four months later her general condition deteriorated progressively with cough and dyspnoea, requiring hospitalization.

Sulfoconjugated and free plasma catecholamine levels at rest and during exercise in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Plasma levels of sulfoconjugated (sc) catecholamines (CA) have been shown to be increased with activation of the sympathoadrenal system in a number of clinical settings. We evaluated the relation between scCA and clinical or hemodynamic parameters of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) at rest and during incremental exercise testing. Eleven healthy subjects, nine patients in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I (IDC-A group) and 11 in NYHA functional class II and III (IDC-B group) performed a symptom-limited, graded bicycle exercise test.

[Hypertension and hemorheology].

A number of epidemiologic studies have provided evidence for an increased blood viscosity in hypertensive patients. Increased viscosity could result either from hemoconcentration, thus constituting a secondary phenomenon, or, alternatively, result directly from increased intracellular calcium concentrations in erythrocytes. The latter would augment the aggregating potential of these cellular blood compounds.

Long-term outcome and prognostic factors in dilated cardiomyopathy. Preliminary results.

Unlabelled: To investigate long-term follow-up and identify prognostic factors in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) the authors investigated 167 consecutive patients on an outpatient basis. All patients underwent left- and right-heart catheterization; follow-up comprised clinical and echocardiographic investigations.

Results: After a mean follow-up period of ninety-three +/- thirty-six months 82 patients (49%; 71 men, 11 women, mean age fifty-five +/- eleven years) were alive.