Combining blood flow and tissue Doppler imaging with N-terminal pro-type B natriuretic peptide for risk stratification of clinically stable patients with systolic heart failure.

Aims: This study was designed to ascertain whether the combination of Doppler assessment of the ratio of mitral blood flow to myocardial early diastolic velocities (E/E(m) ratio) and plasma N-terminal pro-type B natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing is useful to better stratify patients with stable systolic heart failure (HF).

Methods And Results: A total of 362 outpatients with chronic systolic HF (left ventricular ejection fraction View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Independent and incremental prognostic value of Doppler-derived left ventricular total isovolumic time in patients with systolic heart failure.

Background: A prolonged total isovolumic time (T-IVT) has been shown to be associated with worsening survival in patients submitted to coronary artery surgery. However, it is not known whether it has prognostic significance in patients with chronic systolic heart failure (HF).

Aim: To determine the prognostic value of T-IVT in comparison with other clinical, biochemical and echocardiographic variables in patients with chronic systolic HF.

Plasma and platelet ascorbate pools and lipid peroxidation in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Background: As diabetes mellitus represents a situation in which production of peroxides is increased, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma and platelet levels of ascorbic acid (AA)/dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) and those of malonyldialdehyde (MDA), an indirect marker of lipoperoxides, both assayed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), in 59 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) compared with 51 healthy control subjects matched for sex, age, smoking habits, as well as for dietary intake of energy, alcohol and vitamin C.

Results: Mean plasma and platelet MDA were significantly higher in the patients affected with IDDM than in control subjects. Moreover, the diabetic group was characterized by a huge decrease in plasma AA [8.

Raised erythrocyte polyamine levels in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with great vessel disease and albuminuria.

Erythrocyte content of polyamines has been previously found increased in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with microalbuminuria. Since increased urinary albumin excretion (AER) is associated with the presence of vascular diseases in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) the aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that the presence of increased urinary albumin excretion (AER), and of macroangiopathy in NIDDM would be related to a significant modification in polyamine erythrocyte levels. The erythrocyte content of spermine and spermidine was measured by a HPLC method in 39 patients affected with NIDDM and in 24 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects, evaluating the relationship between erythrocyte polyamines of NIDDM patients with the presence of macroangiopathy as well as with retinopathy or increased AER (> or = 20 micrograms/ml).