[CorBene: a new model for collaborative care of patients with congestive heart failure].

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common medical disorders. The prognosis tends to be unfavorable and the quality of care needs further improvement. The aim of the CorBene project is to improve the health-related quality of life and the prognosis in patients in all stages of CHF and to reduce the hospitalization rate.

Cardiac risk stratification for high-risk vascular surgery.

Background: The best strategy for cardiac risk assessment before high-risk vascular surgery remains controversial. A cardiac risk stratification protocol was evaluated in patients undergoing high-risk vascular surgery. Our investigation paralleled the elaboration of the American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Guidelines for Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation for Noncardiac Surgery and is highly comparable to the proposed guidelines.

[Scintigraphic imaging of adrenergic structures of the heart with 123(I)-metaiodobenzylguanidine in cardiomyopathy].

In 14 patients with various kinds of cardiomyopathy (DCM, HCM with and without obstruction, latent cardiomyopathy (= LCM], after confirmation of diagnosis, myocardial imaging with the recently developed substance 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), an analog to guanethidine, was performed. In comparison, four patients in whom cardiac disease had been excluded, were evaluated. Myocardial uptake and washout were evaluated quantitatively.