The Role of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

This review emphasizes the importance of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In contrast to standard exercise testing and stress echoes, which are limited due to the ECG changes and wall motion abnormalities that characterize this condition, CPET allows for the assessment of the complex pathophysiology and severity of the disease, its mechanisms of functional limitation, and its risk stratification. It is useful tool to evaluate the risk for sudden cardiac death and select patients for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), cardiac transplantation, or mechanical circulatory support, especially when symptomatology and functional status are uncertain.

Predictive value of heart failure with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction for outcome in pulmonary embolism.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate whether the risk of short-term mortality is different in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients who have heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as compared with those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Methods And Results: Predictive value of HFrEF or HFpEF for 7-day (intrahospital) and 30-day all-cause mortality was determined in the cohort of 1055 out of 1201 consecutive acute PE patients from the Serbian multicentre PE registry. Patients were classified into either HFrEF or HFpEF group, according to guideline-proposed criteria.

Sex-related difference in the prognostic value of syncope for 30-day mortality among hospitalized pulmonary embolism patients.

Introduction: Recent studies report that syncope is not a significant predictor of 30-day mortality in pulmonary embolism (PE) patients, yet some data suggest sex-related differences may be relevant.

Objectives: To evaluate sex-specific prediction significance of syncope for 30-day mortality in PE patients.

Methods: A multicentric, retrospective, observational, registry-based study on consecutive PE patients was undertaken.

Renal dysfunction as intrahospital prognostic indicator in acute pulmonary embolism.

Background: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE), due to hemodynamic disturbances, may lead to multi-organ damage, including acute renal dysfunction. The aim of our study was to investigate the predictive role of renal dysfunction at admission regarding the short-term mortality and bleeding risk in hospitalized PE patients.

Methods: The retrospective cohort study included 1330 consecutive patients with PE.

CDKN2B gene expression is affected by 9p21.3 rs10757278 in CAD patients, six months after the MI.

Background: Chromosomal region 9p21.3 is most robustly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in western European populations. However, heterogeneity in CAD phenotypes leads to uncertainty whether 9p21.

Prognostic value of health-related quality of life in elderly patients hospitalized with heart failure.

Previous research has shown that poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is associated with adverse long-term prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF); however, there have been inconsistencies among studies and not all of them confirmed the prognostic value of HRQOL. In addition, few studies involved elderly patients and most focused on all-cause mortality and HF-related hospitalization as outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine whether HRQOL is a predictor and an independent predictor of long-term cardiac mortality, all-cause mortality, and HF-related rehospitalization in elderly patients hospitalized with HF.

Biomarkers for the prediction of early pulmonary embolism related mortality in spontaneous and provoked thrombotic disease.

Factors associated with provoked PE may influence a biomarker's predictive value for the primary outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of BNP, cTnI, CRP and D-Dimer measurements taken soon after hospital admission for the prediction of 30-day PE-caused death in patients with spontaneous versus provoked PE.Data were extracted from a pool of 726 consecutive PE patients enrolled in the multicenter Serbian PE registry.

Left ventricular remodeling after the first myocardial infarction in association with LGALS-3 neighbouring variants rs2274273 and rs17128183 and its relative mRNA expression: a prospective study.

Post-infarct left ventricular remodeling (LVR) process increases the risk of heart failure (HF). Circulating galectin-3 has been associated with fibrosis, inflammation and cardiac dysfunction during the remodeling process after myocardial infarction (MI). The aims of this prospective case study were to investigate the association of potentially functional variants in the vicinity of LGALS-3 locus, rs2274273 and rs17128183 with maladaptive LVR and whether these variants could affect LGALS-3 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients 6 months after the first MI.

Procalcitonin in heart failure: hic et nunc.

Although procalcitonin (PCT) was evaluated for the first time in the setting of heart failure (HF) in 1999, its utility in HF patients is still under examination. Patients with HF have significantly higher plasma PCT concentrations than healthy subjects and PCT levels are associated with severity of HF. It has been confirmed that higher levels of PCT are associated with worse outcomes, such as increased mortality and higher rate of rehospitalization, in HF patients with no evidence of infection.

Androgen status in non-diabetic elderly men with heart failure.

Purpose: We aimed at evaluating androgen status (serum testosterone [TT] and estimated free testosterone [eFT]) and its determinants in non-diabetic elderly men with heart failure (HF). Additionally, we investigated its associations with body composition and long-term survival.

Methods: Seventy three non-diabetic men with HF and 20 healthy men aged over 55 years were studied.

Left ventricular diastolic performance at rest is essential for exercise capacity in patients with non-complicated myocardial infarction.

Introduction: In patients with recent myocardial infarction (MI) limited exercise capacity during physical activity is an important symptom and the base for future treatment. The myocardial injury after MI leads to both systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the relevance of systolic and diastolic LV function for cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in patients with prior MI.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and its relation to oxidative stress in patients with hypertension.

An increase in reactive oxygen species has been implicated in the pathologies of hypertension. This study was designed to evaluate antioxidant activity in hypertensive patients and to assess the relationship between oxidative stress and exercise tolerance in hypertensive patients with mild left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). A total of 42 patients, aged 51±9 years, with a long history of hypertension and mild LVDD (mitral flow velocities-E/A <1, deceleration time of E >220 ms, and preserved ejection fraction-EF >50%), and 30 controls without cardiovascular disease, aged 50±7 years, underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).