The authors report a case of acute myocarditis, presenting with signs of isolated right heart failure which was progressive and fatal. This is a very rare observation which poses diagnostic problems. A review of the literature showed only 4 previous reports, all diagnosed at autopsy, in which the diagnosis was not suspected in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to assess the value of analysis of pulmonary venous flow in the evaluation of the haemodynamic status of patients with chronic renal failure with normal left ventricular function, treated by haemodialysis. Pulmonary venous flow was recorded immediately before and after haemodialysis in 27 patients with chronic renal failure and a mean age of 44 years. Three groups of patients were defined according to the change in mitral E/A ratio: Group I (E/A < 1 before and after dialysis), Group II (E/A > 1 before and < 1 after dialysis) and Group III (E/A > 1 before and after dialysis).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiabetes mellitus is a complex disease characterised by chronic hyperglycaemia responsible for complications affecting the kidneys, eyes, peripheral nerves and micro- and macrovascular systems. Von Willebrand factor (vWf), a multimeric glycoprotein mainly synthesised by endothelial cells, is involved in platelet adhesion and aggregation and acts as the carrier of coagulation factor VIII in plasma. Increased levels of vWf, reflecting activation of or damage to endothelial cells, have been described in association with atherosclerosis and diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: After successful coronary interventions, minor elevations of creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) identified a population with a worse long-term prognosis than that in patients without enzyme elevations. In that setting, cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I), a highly specific marker for myocardial injury, was considered for a small study; the results did not support the view that significant myocardial damage occurred during successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).
Hypothesis: The present study was designed to assess the rate of elevated values of cTn-I after successful PTCA and to determine its prognostic value.
Objectives: This study sought to compare the efficacy of 2-h regimens of alteplase and streptokinase in acute massive pulmonary embolism. The primary end point was immediate hemodynamic improvement, and secondary end points included early clinical efficacy and safety, as well as 1-year clinical outcome.
Background: Several thrombolytic regimens have been compared for the past 10 years in randomized studies, showing that 2-h infusion regimens of alteplase or urokinase lead to faster hemodynamic improvement than former 12- to 24-h administration protocols in acute massive pulmonary embolism.
Objectives: This study sought to determine whether pravastatin affects clinical or angiographic restenosis after coronary balloon angioplasty.
Background: Experimental data and preliminary clinical studies suggest that lipid-lowering drugs might have a beneficial effect on restenosis after coronary angioplasty.
Methods: In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial, 695 patients were randomized to receive pravastatin (40 mg/day) or placebo for 6 months after successful balloon angioplasty.
In this study, two patterns of regional contract on of the left ventricle have been studied: endocardial motion and wall thickening, in order to check which of these was the most affected after myocardial infarction. The clinical relevance of this comparison was to assess which parameter of the regional contraction abnormality would best depict the severity of the infarction. Long axis cine-magnetic resonance slices were used to assess segmental systolic left ventricular endocardial motion and segmental systolic wall thickening in 39 normal subjects and in 30 patients at the chronic stage of an anterior myocardial infarction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In acute myocardial infarction (AMI), early noninvasive identification of patients with occluded infarct-related arteries (IRAs) after thrombolysis has important prognostic and therapeutic implications. The aims of this study were to evaluate biochemical methods for the early diagnosis of patency after thrombolysis prospectively and to establish the optimal diagnostic criteria retrospectively.
Methods And Results: In 97 patients with AMI treated with thrombolytic agents < or = 6 hours after the onset of symptoms, myoglobin, troponin T, creatine kinase, the MB isoenzyme and MM isoforms of creatine kinase were measured just before thrombolysis began and 90 minutes later.
Unlabelled: Various parameters have been found useful for establishing the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure, in particular haemodynamic parameters measured at rest. However, few studies deal with the prognostic value of invasive exercise haemodynamic parameters in such patients. Our aim was to test the value of such parameters to assess the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure in functional class II or III of the New York Heart Association.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Mal Coeur Vaiss
July 1995
Heart failure with normal systolic function has been recognised in 30-40% of patients investigated for congestive heart failure. The authors undertook a retrospective study of global and cardiovascular mortality at 4 years in two groups of patients with a history of congestive heart failure documented by equilibrium angioscintigraphy: group I (n = 109) with poor left ventricular systolic function (EF = 26 +/- 9%) and group II (n = 40) with normal systolic function (EF = 58 +/- 8%). The 4 year cardiovascular mortality was less in group II (21.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBlood Coagul Fibrinolysis
December 1994
The prognostic value of exercise peak VO2 is still controversial. We therefore prospectively studied 75 patients in New York Heart Association functional class II or III with chronic heart failure stabilized by drug treatment. The patients (mean age of 58 +/- 10 years) were submitted to a clinical examination, a radionuclide determination of left ventricular ejection fraction, and a haemodynamic study at rest (right side catheterization); their plasma sodium, plasma creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were measured in addition to exercise peak VO2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo investigate whether von Willebrand's Factor (vWF) changes as a result of the reperfusion strategy during acute myocardial infarction (AMI), vWF was measured on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 15 in 34 patients with AMI. Thrombolysis was initiated in 22 patients and followed by a coronary angiogram 90 min later. In 13 patients the infarct-related artery was then patent (THR group).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe value of studying factors of haemostasis and thrombosis in patients with coronary artery disease is established. The endothelial lesion and evolution of the thrombus play key roles in acute coronary syndromes and coronary angioplasty. The von Willebrand factor (VWF) is known for its participation in primary haemostasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Cardiol Angeiol (Paris)
October 1993
Left ventricular function indices were measured by pulsed Doppler-echocardiography in 17 young patients (mean age: 25 +/- 5) with insulin-dependent diabetes and 17 controls (identical mean age: 25 +/- 5) free of heart disease. All subjects had normal left ventricular systolic function. Twenty three per cent of diabetics showed a left ventricular filling anomaly on the basis of at least two abnormal indices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Cardiol Angeiol (Paris)
February 1993
Twenty consecutive patients aged over 70, admitted for acute myocardial infarction, underwent coronary arteriography within less than 6 hours after the onset of pain to confirm the diagnosis and determine the indications for other than thrombolytic reperfusion treatment, the risk of thrombolysis seeming theoretically prohibitive. In all cases, the artery responsible was found to be obstructed and, based upon this criterion, primary reperfusion angioplasty was performed. The criterion for success of angioplasty was the reappearance of distal flow (grade > 1 of the TIMI classification--Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Cardiol Angeiol (Paris)
February 1993
The authors report the principles, experimental evaluation and clinical approach of a method for dynamic imaging of flow patterns by NMRI, based upon the phase modulation technique. The imaging method is based upon gradient echo, functioning in "cine" and "flow compensated" mode. Modifications in this sequence enable attribution to the moving spins phase of a value which is considered to be proportional to the flow rate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn order to compare variability in M-mode echography and MRI in the assessment of left ventricular mass, 20 echogenic patients without evidence of coronary artery disease were investigated. Two MR and two M-echo examinations were performed within 4 days by different trained operators, each unaware of the other's results. M-mode echo was carried out according to Devereux's method, using the 'Penn-Cube' formula.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyocardial infarction is responsible for 25,000 deaths per year in France and is a real problem of public health. The management of patients victims of this condition is an important feature of medical practice. Thrombolytic therapy has resulted in significant improvements in the reduction of the size of the infarct, in the conservation of left ventricular function and in the reduction of mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Biol Clin (Paris)
December 1992
In order to determine a marker of prethrombotic states, reliable and easy to measure, we studied 200 patients under 60 years of age admitted to hospital for a precordial chest pain. Four groups were established: transmural myocardial infarction, acute infarction without Q wave, unstable angina and atypical chest pain. Fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were measured as well as the white cell and platelet counts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFST segment depression in leads V2 to V4 in a clinical and biochemical context of myocardial infarction is usually interpreted as a sign of non-Q wave anterior walls infarction. In order to determine if this clinical electric entity could indicate transmural posterior or posterolateral infarction, as recently suggested, we undertook a prospective study of 328 primary myocardial infarctions. Isolated ST depression in leads V2 to V4 was observed in 28 patients (8.
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