[Circadian rhythm of the heart rate and autonomic nervous system stimulation tests in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

We studied 19 women (mean age 35 +/- 13 years) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in order to evaluate whether or not alterations in the circadian rhythm of heart rate (HR) occur in patients with pathologic responses to stimulation tests of the autonomic nervous system (ST-ANS). The duration of SLE was 5.3 +/- 5 years.

Reproducibility in circadian rhythm of ventricular premature complexes.

To evaluate the existence and reproducibility of a circadian rhythm of ventricular premature complexes (VPCs), 38 patients (mean age 57 +/- 17 years) with greater than or equal to VPCs/hour were studied with 24-hour electrocardiogram Holter monitoring. Nineteen patients had coronary artery disease and 19 had structurally normal hearts. A second Holter electrocardiogram was recorded in all patients from 2 to 47 days (mean 11) after the first.

Accuracy in clinical arrhythmia detection of a real-time Holter system (Oxford Medilog 4500).

The accuracy of a real-time analysis Holter system (Oxford Medilog 4500) in detecting ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias was evaluated. Hand-counted data from randomly selected hours of 152 ECG monitorings of 152 patients were used as the control standard. Accuracy of the system was evaluated on 606 hours for premature ventricular complexes (PVC), PVC couplets and supraventricular extrasystoles (SVE), and on 1,789 hours for ventricular tachycardia (VT), accelerated idioventricular rhythm (AIVR), and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).

[Cardiovascular aspects of Martin-Bell syndrome].

Cardiovascular anomalies have been studied in 13 subjects (8 males and 5 females, average age 15 +/- 7 years) affected from fragile X syndrome. This group has been examined by standard-ECG, Holter-ECG, echocardiography (M-mode, B-mode, Doppler and color-Doppler). The results have been compared with a control group of 39 subjects (20 males and 19 females, average age 15 +/- 5 years), with non genetic mental retardation.

Opposite effects of propafenone and flecainide in a patient with reciprocating supraventricular tachycardia.

A 46 year-old woman with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (postero-septal accessory pathway), symptomatic for recurrent episodes of nonsustained paroxismal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), was empirically treated with propafenone (600 mg/day). After a week of therapy the patient returned to the hospital after an episode of syncope. She referred a significant increase in duration and frequency of "palpitations".

Coenzyme Q10 in dilated cardiomyopathy.

The authors have tried to study the therapeutic efficacy of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). In fact, CoQ10 has been shown to be deficient in myocardial tissue biopsies taken from DCM hearts, compared to normal hearts. Thirty patients with histological diagnosis of DCM were orally treated with CoQ10 (100 mg/die) for 2 months.

Persisting hypereosinophilia and myocardial activity in the fibrotic stage of endomyocardial disease.

An unusual case of endomyocardial fibrosis is reported complicating an idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome. Persisting hypereosinophilia, degranulated eosinophils in the blood, and myocardial activity have been found accompanying the fibrotic phase of endomyocardial disease. This occurrence supports the unitarian theory on tropical and temperate endomyocardial disease and suggests in such a condition the use of steroids or cytotoxic drugs in addition to surgery.

Rhythm of carnitine levels in serum and urine of normal subjects.

A study of the diurnal serum and urine levels of L-carnitine and acetylcarnitine was carried out in eleven healthy volunteers. No significant difference was found between the levels in the morning and in the afternoon, although a higher carnitinaemia was shown in the waking hours when the energy demands were higher.

[Prevalence of pulmonary valve insufficiency in healthy children: a Doppler color study].

One hundred patients, institutionalized for mental retardation, aged between 3 and 14 years (mean age 12.2 +/- 3) and free from cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, were studied using Doppler technique (pulsed wave-continuous wave and color-coded Doppler), to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary regurgitation. The authors, utilizing a triple method (diastolic turbulence above pulmonary valve detected by pulsed wave Doppler or diastolic flow detected by continuous wave Doppler, presence of regurgitant pulmonary color-jet, from short axis view, toward the right ventricular outflow tract, and presence of the same feature in the color m-multigate) to detect the presence or absence of pulmonary regurgitation found 73% positivity.

Circadian variation of ventricular tachycardia in acute myocardial infarction.

Circadian rhythms have been described both for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and sudden death. In this study the diurnal distribution of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients with AMI was analyzed. Ninety-four AMI patients with greater than or equal to 1 VT on Holter electrocardiographic monitoring who were not taking antiarrhythmic drugs were studied.

A comparison of the assessment of mitral valve area by continuous wave Doppler and by cross sectional echocardiography.

Transmitral pressure half time (PHT) was assessed by continuous wave Doppler in 44 patients with rheumatic mitral valve stenosis (14, pure mitral valve stenosis; 15, combined mitral stenosis and regurgitation; and 15 with associated aortic valve regurgitation). The mitral valve area, derived from transmitral pressure half time by the formula 220/pressure half time, was compared with that estimated by cross sectional echocardiography. The transmitral pressure half time correlated well with the mitral valve area estimated by cross sectional echocardiography.

Circadian rhythm of ventricular tachycardia.

A 24-hr electrocardiographic monitoring was performed in 406 patients (297 with ischemic heart disease). Forty-one episodes of ventricular tachycardia were detected in 32 subjects (7.88%).

Ventricular parasystole: a chronobiologic study.

Previous works have reported circadian rhythms for several cardiovascular parameters. A chronobiologic rhythm is characterized by: mesor (a rhythm-determined average), amplitude (half difference between the highest and lowest values), and acrophase (timing of high point in degrees and/or in hours) along with 95% confidence limits. We performed 24-hour ECG Holter monitoring in seven patients (mean age, 50.

Pulsed Doppler echocardiographic analysis of mitral regurgitation after myocardial infarction.

In 72 patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI), mitral regurgitation (MR) was assessed by pulsed-wave Doppler echocardiography and compared with physical and 2-dimensional echocardiographic findings. MR was found by Doppler in 29 of 42 patients (62%) with anterior MI, 11 of 30 (37%) with inferior MI (p less than 0.01) and in none of 20 normal control subjects.