Coronary flow reserve in sickle cell anemia.

Background: Patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) frequently present with episodes of chest pain, alterations in the resting electrocardiogram, and changes in cardiac structure and functions.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of recurrent episodes of vaso-occlusion on the coronary microcirculation.

Methods: Coronary flow velocity and coronary flow reserve (CFR) of stable patients with SCA (n=10, 5 females, 24.

Relationship between outflow obstruction and left ventricular functional impairment in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a Doppler echocardiographic study.

Left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction is predictive of a worse outcome in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In a detailed Doppler echocardiographic study of 178 selected HCM patients, the group of patients (n = 73) with the obstructive form (resting peak gradient > or = 30 mmHg) presented more hypertrophy and poorer systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) functions than the HCM group (n = 105) without obstruction. LVOT peak gradient was positively correlated with hypertrophy (P < 0.

[NT pro-BNP levels in pericardial diseases and how they are used as complementary evaluation method of diastolic restriction. Initial experience: 25 cases].

Objective: To determine whether NT pro-BNP levels are high in patients reporting pericardial diseases, as well as to investigate how they relate to diastolic dysfunction echocardiographic measures.

Methods: Twenty-five patients were split into two groups: 1) pericardial effusion (PE): 15 patients; 2) constrictive pericarditis (CP): 10 patients. A control group was made up with 30 individuals reporting no heart disease.

Effect of Losartan on left ventricular diastolic function in patients with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC), diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle is a prominent feature caused by myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis. Angiotensin II has trophic and profibrotic effects on the heart, and the blockade of angiotensin II receptors reverses hypertrophy and fibrosis in human cardiac diseases and in animal HC. This study investigated the short-term (6 months) effects of losartan 100 mg/day in 20 patients with nonobstructive HC, with an emphasis on left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, compared with 10 patients with HC who were not treated.

Relationships among exercise capacity, hypertrophy, and left ventricular diastolic function in nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships among exercise capacity (EC), hypertrophy, and diastolic function in nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (NOHCM).

Methods And Results: Twenty-seven patients with NOHCM were studied. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was determined by appropriate echocardiographic indexes.