Longitudinal systolic dysfunction in hypertensive cardiomyopathy with normal ejection fraction.

Background: The left ventricle (LV) journey in their transition from hypertrophy to heart failure is marked by many subcellular events partially understood yet. The moment in which the structural abnormalities reach the umbral to induce myocardial dysfunction remains elusive.

Aims: To evaluate the anatomic-functional relationship between LV wall thickness and longitudinal systolic dysfunction.

Independent parameters of left atrium function in hypertensive heart disease.

Background: The left atrium reservoir function has an important role in the global cardiac performance and is determined by multiple cardiac and extra-cardiac factors. A new parameter is introduced, the independent strain, which quantifies left atrium reservoir phase deformation during isovolumetric relaxation.

Aims: Is evaluated whether independent strain can identify intrinsic atrial myocardial damage in hypertension.

Immunologic Responses in Biological and Mechanical Valve Prostheses: Inflammation and Functionality Are Not Always Related.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the inflammatory response in patients with aortic and/or mitral prostheses, and to correlate the level of inflammatory markers with prosthesis functionality.

Methods: A total of 48 patients with biological or mechanical prostheses was included in the study, in which levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), interleukin (IL)-1, -4, and -6, interferon-gamma (IFNγ), osteopontin (OPN), intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM), endothelin-1 and C-reactive protein were analyzed. Functionality of the prosthesis was evaluated using transthoracic echocardiography at three years after surgery.

[Diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism].

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an important disease entity in clinical medicine. It consists of obstruction of pulmonary arterial blood flow of a clot embolism from distant sites of the vasculature. Its incidence is variable depending on the source analyzed and most existing data is in hospitalized patients.