Publications by authors named "Luiza D Melo"

Background: Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH) is one of the main risk factors for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), in addition to male gender. Differences in coronary artery lesions between hypertensive and normotensive individuals of both genders at the Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) have not been clearly determined.

Objective: To Investigate the calcium score (CS), CAD extent and characteristics of coronary plaques at CCTA in men and women with and without SAH.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Physical stress echocardiography is an established methodology for diagnosis and risk stratification of coronary artery disease in patients with physical capacity. In obese (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2) the usefulness of pharmacological stress echocardiography has been demonstrated; however, has not been reported the use of physical stress echocardiography in this growing population group.

Objective: To assess the frequency of myocardial ischemia in obese and non-obese patients undergoing physical stress echocardiography and compare their clinical and echocardiographic differences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Studies have demonstrated the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic value of physical stress echocardiography in coronary artery disease. However, the prediction of mortality and major cardiac events in patients with exercise test positive for myocardial ischemia is limited. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of physical stress echocardiography in the prediction of mortality and major cardiac events in patients with exercise test positive for myocardial ischemia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effectiveness of stress echocardiography (SE) for predicting all-cause mortality and major cardiac events (MACE) in patients with intermediate risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) who had normal exercise tests (ET).
  • Out of 397 patients analyzed, those with positive SE indicating myocardial ischemia had a significantly higher risk of MACE, making SE a useful tool for identifying higher-risk patients.
  • Key independent predictors for all-cause mortality included being male and over 60 years of age, highlighting the need for targeted monitoring in these groups even with normal ET results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Chronotropic incompetence (CI), defined as failure to achieve less than 80% of age-expected heart rate, is a predictor of mortality and adverse cardiovascular events and may confer a worse prognosis in elderly diabetic individuals.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of chronotropic incompetence (CI) in elderly diabetic patients considering endpoints with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and overall mortality and compare clinical and echocardiographic characteristics between patients with and without CI.

Method: A total of 298 elderly diabetic patients undergoing exercise echocardiography (EE) were studied from January 2001 to December 2010.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Growth hormone (GH) and prolactin share similarities in structure and function. We have previously shown that women with congenital isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) caused by a homozygous mutation in the GHRH receptor gene (GHRHR) (MUT/MUT) have a short reproductive life, with anticipated climacteric. At climacteric, they have lower prolactin levels than normal controls (N/N).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF