Same features, different diagnosis: A case of ilio-iliac arteriovenous fistula presenting as decompensated heart failure.

In case of high output cardiac failure, an arteriovenous fistula should be considered.

Exercise training in chronic heart failure: effects on pro-inflammatory markers.

Background: Acute bouts of exercise have been shown to induce inflammatory cytokine activation and peripheral hypoxia in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). In this study, we set out to investigate the impact of chronic exercise training on pro-inflammatory cytokines and markers of endothelial damage.

Methods And Results: We measured tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), its soluble TNF-receptors 1 and 2, interleukin 6 (IL-6), soluble e-selectin, soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM) and sCD14 in 18 patients with CHF and 9 age-matched controls in a randomized cross-over study of 8 weeks of exercise training (5 days/week, submaximal bicycle ergometer training, 30 min/day; calisthenics 9 min/day) versus 8 weeks of rest.

Home-based exercise training modulates pro-oxidant substrates in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: In chronic heart failure, oxidative stress is thought to lead to endothelial dysfunction. In this study, we assessed the effect of home-based exercise training on variables of the NO and purine pathways.

Methods And Results: Eighteen patients and nine controls were randomly assigned in cross-over design to 8 weeks of exercise training (5 days/week, submaximal bicycle ergometer training, 30 min/day; calisthenics 9 min/day) and 8 weeks of sedentary lifestyle.

Hypertension in the Elderly.

Hypertension as a risk factor for cardiac and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality poses a major health problem for our increasingly elderly population. Recent trials have shown large reductions in stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery disease when elderly hypertensive patients are treated. These benefits are also seen in elderly patients with isolated systolic hypertension.