L-arginine and Its Derivatives Correlate with Exercise Capacity in Patients with Advanced Heart Failure.

Methylated arginine metabolites interrupt nitric oxide synthesis, which can result in endothelium dysfunction and inadequate vasodilation. Since little is known about the dynamics of arginine derivatives in patients with heart failure (HF) during physical exercise, we aimed to determine this as well as its impact on the patient outcomes. Fifty-one patients with HF (left ventricle ejection fraction-LVEF ≤ 35%, mean 21.

Heart Transplantation and Risk of Cardiac Vasculopathy Development: What Factors Are Important?

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to find the main risk factors for development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), especially factors identified before the surgical procedure and factors related to the recipient profile and the medical history of the donor. MATERIAL AND METHODS There were 147 patients who had heart transplantation (HT) included in this study: mean age was 45.8±15.

Lack of Impact of Presence of Positive C4d Staining in Capillaries in Myocardial Biopsies on Long-term Survival of Heart Transplant Patients.

Background: The long-term survival of 209 consecutive patients (mean age, 46 ± 15 years) from a single center with ≥1 diagnostic myocardial biopsy after heart transplantation was analyzed.

Methods: Patients were considered as C4d positive if a capillary staining (immunohistochemistry in paraffin samples) was observed in ≥1 myocardial biopsy. Data were analyzed according to pathologic consensus of antibody mediated rejection definition of C4d+ positivity: 2004 definition in group A and the 2013 definition in group B and compared with their respective controls, composed of patients who do not meet those criteria.