Efficacy and Safety of Udenafil for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: a Placebo-controlled, Double-blind, Phase IIb Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Udenafil is an oral phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. In a multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized Phase IIa study, the reduction of pulmonary vascular resistance index was greater with a 50-mg baseline dose of udenafil than with the 100-mg dose, the cardiac index did not decrease at most points, and the safety was excellent, suggesting that 50-mg udenafil could be used in a Phase IIb trial.

Methods: In this 16-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 63 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension were randomized to receive 50-mg udenafil or a placebo BID.

Clinical features of idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy: A retrospective multicenter cohort study over 2 decades.

Idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCMP) has not been fully understood because this disease is difficult to diagnose. The present study aimed to assess the clinical profile and outcome of idiopathic RCMP from a multicenter cohort.This investigation is a retrospective study of consecutive patients with idiopathic RCMP at 10 centers in Korea between 1990 and 2010.

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging pericardial late gadolinium enhancement and elevated inflammatory markers can predict the reversibility of constrictive pericarditis after antiinflammatory medical therapy: a pilot study.

Background: Constrictive pericarditis (CP) is a disabling disease, and usually requires pericardiectomy to relieve heart failure. Reversible CP has been described, but there is no known method to predict the reversibility. Pericardial inflammation may be a marker for reversibility.

Mitral and tricuspid annular velocities before and after pericardiectomy in patients with constrictive pericarditis.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that mitral annulus early diastolic (e') velocity is increased in constrictive pericarditis (CP) and reduced in restrictive cardiomyopathy. However, those studies did not comprehensively evaluate mitral and tricuspid annular velocities before and after pericardiectomy.

Methods And Results: We performed comprehensive echocardiography before and after pericardiectomy in 99 patients with CP, 52 with primary (idiopathic or postpericarditis etiology) and 47 with secondary CP (due to surgery or radiation).

Comparison of ventricular dyssynchrony according to the position of right ventricular pacing electrode: a multi-center prospective echocardiographic study.

Background: Conventional pacemaker implantation induces left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony, which might affect the LV function. We sought to evaluate the impact of different right ventricular (RV) pacing sites on the LV dyssynchrony and performance.

Methods: Comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation including the atrio-ventricular, inter- and intra-ventricular dyssynchrony based on M-mode, conventional Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) was done before and immediately after (< 7 days) pacemaker implantation.

Disseminated intravascular coagulation as a complication of radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Since Haissaguerre and his colleagues demonstrated the importance of the pulmonary veins in the generation of atrial fibrillation (AF) in 1998, a variety of different ablative interventions have been performed to eliminate AF. Various complications related to catheterization, ablation itself including pulmonary vein stenosis, pericardial effusion, stroke, and atrioesophageal fistula have been reported. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a systemic syndrome characterized by enhanced activation of coagulation with some intravascular fibrin formation and deposition.