Sigma-1 receptor modulation fine-tunes K1.5 channels and impacts pulmonary vascular function.

K1.5 channels are key players in the regulation of vascular tone and atrial excitability and their impairment is associated with cardiovascular diseases including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and atrial fibrillation (AF). Unfortunately, pharmacological strategies to improve K1.

Hemodynamic performance of the Medtronic Mosaic and Perimount Magna aortic bioprostheses: five-year results of a prospectively randomized study.

Objective: Clinical outcomes of patients undergoing aortic valve replacement may be influenced by the presence of residual gradients and patient-prosthesis mismatch. The aim of this study was to compare hemodynamic performance and clinical outcomes at 5 years after prospectively randomized porcine versus bovine aortic valve replacement. We also aimed to determine the effects of valve hemodynamics on left ventricular (LV) mass regression.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after elective mitral valve replacement.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a syndrome characterized by transient acute left ventricular dysfunction, electrocardiographic changes that can mimic acute myocardial infarction and minimal release of myocardial enzymes in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. Reports of Takotsubo syndrome after cardiac surgery are exceptional. We describe a case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in a 68-year-old woman after elective mitral valve replacement.

[Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: surgical treatment with thromboendarterectomy].

Background And Objectives: Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) is considered the potential curative treatment for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). We analysed the results of the PTE application in our institution.

Patients And Methods: From February 1996 to December 2007, 30 patients with CTEPH underwent video-assisted PTE.