Fluorescence-guided photoimmunotherapy using targeted nanotechnology and ML7710 to manage peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Fluorescence-guided intervention can bolster standard therapies by detecting and treating microscopic tumors before lethal recurrence. Tremendous progress in photoimmunotherapy and nanotechnology has been made to treat metastasis. However, many are lost in translation due to heterogeneous treatment effects.

Two founder mutations in the alpha-tropomyosin and the cardiac myosin-binding protein C genes are common causes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the Finnish population.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is predominantly caused by a large number of various mutations in the genes encoding sarcomeric proteins. However, two prevalent founder mutations for HCM in the alpha-tropomyosin (TPM1-D175N) and myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC3-Q1061X) genes have previously been identified in eastern Finland.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of these founder mutations in a large population of patients with HCM from all over Finland.

Natriuretic peptides and collagen biomarkers in patients with medical treatment for hypertension.

Objective: The Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT-BPLA) showed that an amlodipine-based regimen prevented more cardiovascular events than an atenolol-based regimen in patients at high risk of hypertension.The basis of this difference is partly unknown and may be due to their divergent effects on the remodelling process of hypertensive heart disease.

Methods And Results: We measured plasma levels of aminoterminal propeptide of atrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP) and aminoterminal propeptide of B-type natriuretic peptide and serum levels of the aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP), aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen and type I collagen telopeptide in 93 patients randomized in the ASCOT study at baseline and after two and four years and compared them with echocardiographic parameters and blood pressure.

Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in patients with therapeutic oral anticoagulation treatment.

Aims: Current guidelines recommend discontinuation of oral anticoagulation treatment (OAT) and switch to heparin 2-5 days before catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, increasing evidence leans against the 'bridge therapy' and support continuation of OAT during the procedure.

Methods And Results: We evaluated the safety of AF ablation among patients with therapeutic OAT.

Left atrial tachycardia in a patient with calcified coronary aneurysms due to Kawasaki disease.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis involving all blood vessels with frequent cardiovascular complications. We describe a 28-year-old patient with childhood KD having coronary complications at the age of 17 now presenting with sustained atrial tachycardia. Electrophysiological study and catheter ablation were performed.

[The utility of remote monitoring in the follow-up of patients with cardiac rhythm management devices].

The launch of Internet-based remote monitoring is an important milestone in the management of patients with cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices. A remote monitoring system consists of a portable patient monitor, a central database in a secure server, and a password-protected website, where clinicians can view and analyse patient's device data. The latest CRM devices support automatic wireless data transmission from the device to the patient monitor, making the system even more user-friendly.

Electrocardiographic abnormalities and ventricular tachyarrhythmias after myocardial infarction.

Aims: To assess the association of electrocardiographic repolarization and depolarization patterns to vulnerability to ventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Methods: In the present case-control study, a 12-lead ECG, signal-averaged ECG (SAECG), T-wave and QRS morphology, and T-wave alternans (TWA) were analyzed in post-MI patients with and without documented sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) or fibrillation (VF) (VT/VF group, n=40, Non-VT/VF group, n=37, respectively) and healthy subjects (n=41).

Results: The QRS complex duration, measured from standard ECG (128 +/- 32 ms vs.

Remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter defibrillator patients: a safe, time-saving, and cost-effective means for follow-up.

Aims: The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate whether internet-based remote monitoring offers a safe, practical, and cost-effective alternative to the in-office follow-up visits of patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Methods And Results: Forty-one patients (62 +/- 10 years, range 41-76, 83% male) with previously implanted ICD were followed for 9 months. One-hundred and nineteen scheduled and 18 unscheduled data transmissions were performed.

Adaptive or maladaptive response to adenoviral adrenomedullin gene transfer is context-dependent in the heart.

Background: Adrenomedullin (AM) is a potent vasodilator and natriuretic peptide produced in the heart, but controversy persists regarding its cardiac effects. We explored the potential role of AM on cardiac function and remodeling by direct recombinant adenoviral AM gene delivery into the anterior wall of the left ventricle (LV).

Methods: AM was overexpressed in healthy rat hearts and in hearts during the remodeling process in response to pressure overload and myocardial infarction.

Ventricular tachyarrhythmia as a primary presentation of sarcoidosis.

Aims: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem, granulomatous disease with occasional cardiac manifestations. The clinical course of patients with ventricular tachyarrhythmias as a primary presentation of sarcoidosis is mostly unknown.

Methods And Results: We describe nine patients (four males and five females) in whom sarcoidosis manifested as ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Cardiac arrest and left ventricular fibrosis in a Finnish family with the lamin A/C mutation.

Introduction: We screened the candidate genes from a Finnish family in which the mother was resuscitated from ventricular fibrillation and the daughter died suddenly without any prior cardiac symptoms.

Methods And Results: In addition to screening of potential structural gene mutations, phenotyping of the proband and medico-legal autopsy of the victim of the sudden death, including histopathological examinations, were performed. Genetic screening revealed an R541C mutation in the lamin A/C gene both in the proband and her daughter.

Aortic valve insufficiency in patients with chronic rheumatic diseases.

Aortic valve lesions are often found in patients with rheumatic diseases, but their clinical significance has not been properly evaluated. In the present study, the echocardiographic files of the cardiology unit of the Oulu University Hospital were screened for a diagnosis of aortic insufficiency (AI). The aetiology of the valve disease and specific details of the rheumatic disease were evaluated in 160 patients.

Long-term outcome after mitral valve repair.

Background: Several studies reported excellent long-term results after mitral valve repair for regurgitation, however a number of patients still experience recurrent mitral valve regurgitation which requires reoperation. We have evaluated the long-term outcome of a consecutive series of patients who underwent mitral valve repair for regurgitation in an attempt to identify the risk factors associated with late failures.

Patients And Methods: One-hundred and sixty-four patients underwent mitral valve repair for ischemic and degenerative mitral valve regurgitation.

Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide reflects left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic function in hypertension.

Background: Hypertension is associated with changes in concentrations of vasoactive peptides and procollagen propeptides, but their relationships with left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiac function are unclear.

Methods: We measured plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), its amino terminal propeptide (NT-proANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), endothelin-1 (ET-1), and serum levels of the aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PINP) and the aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) and echocardiographic parameters in 97 patients with hypertension in the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial.

Results: Median values (reference values) of the peptides were: ANP 11.

Atrial natriuretic peptide, B-type natriuretic peptide, and serum collagen markers after acute myocardial infarction.

Experimental data suggest that atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) act locally as antifibrotic factors in heart. We investigated the interrelationships of natriuretic peptides and collagen markers in 93 patients receiving thrombolytic treatment for their first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Collagen formation following AMI, evaluated as serum levels of amino terminal propeptide of type III procollagen, correlated with NH(2)-terminal proANP (r = 0.

Serum myoglobin/carbonic anhydrase III ratio as a marker of reperfusion after myocardial infarction.

Background: Coronary patency is important for short- and long-term outcome after myocardial infarction. Serum myoglobin concentration is a sensitive marker of myocardial damage and its specificity can be improved by simultaneous measurement of carbonic anhydrase III, a skeletal muscle marker. In the present study we evaluated the role of myoglobin/carbonic anhydrase III ratio as a non-invasive marker of reperfusion.

Interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in relation to myocardial infarct size and collagen formation.

Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels increase after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in humans. Experimental data suggest that these cytokines regulate the initiation of scar formation after AMI. We investigated the interrelationships of IL-6 and TNF-alpha, tissue injury, infarct size, cardiac function, and collagen formation in humans.

Candidate locus analysis of familial ascending aortic aneurysms and dissections confirms the linkage to the chromosome 5q13-14 in Finnish families.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to carry out a candidate gene analysis in families with familial thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections.

Methods: The study material consisted of 11 Finnish families (with 115 members genotyped) who underwent echocardiographic examination for measurement of the aortic root diameter. Selected candidate genes included the loci for Marfan and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, the genes of matrix metalloproteinases 3 and 9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 as well two loci on the chromosomes 5q13-14 and 11q23.

Posttranscriptional control of BNP gene expression in angiotensin II-induced hypertension.

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) plasma concentrations are raised in patients with heart failure. In several experimental models of cardiac overload, however, BNP mRNA and plasma BNP peptide levels are normal, despite the persistent increase in blood pressure and ventricular hypertrophy. In this study, the role of transcriptional mechanisms in the regulation of BNP gene expression were studied in angiotensin (Ang) II-induced hypertension by injecting DNA constructs containing the BNP promoter (-2200 to 75 bp of the transcriptional start site) linked to luciferase reporter into rat myocardium.

Serum lipoprotein(a) level in relation to severity of coronary artery disease and coronary artery patency in acute myocardial infarction.

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-like particle that may accelerate atherogenesis and promote thrombosis. In the present study, relationships between serum Lp(a) levels and the severity of coronary artery disease and infarct artery patency were studied in 14 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Lp(a) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the timing of reperfusion was evaluated using the creatine kinase myosin-brain fraction and myoglobin release curves.