Myocardial contractile dysfunction associated with increased 3-month and 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction.

Background: There is a clinical need for a contractility index that reflects myocardial contractile dysfunction even when ejection fraction (EF) is preserved. We used novel relative load-independent global and regional contractility indices to compare left ventricular (LV) contractile function in three groups: heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF), HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) and normal subjects. Also, we determined the associations of these parameters with 3-month and 1-year mortality in HFPEF patients.

Bromocriptine use and the risk of valvular heart disease.

It has been reported that patients on pergolide and carbergoline have an increased risk of developing valvular heart disease. It is uncertain if bromocriptine, an ergot-derived dopamine agonist (DA) with partial 5-HT(2B) activity, is associated with a similar risk. We assessed the frequency of valvular heart disease in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients on bromocriptine compared to pergolide and a control group of PD patients who had not been treated on any DA.

Cardiac tamponade associated with an elevated arterial blood pressure.

A 30-year-old male presented with acute pericarditis and a moderate pericardial effusion. His condition deteriorated suddenly with a marked elevation in blood pressure. The hypertension was erroneously correlated with a low probability of cardiac tamponade, leading to a delay in performing an echocardiogram.