Left ventricular dysfunction in COPD without pulmonary hypertension.

Objectives: We aimed to assess prevalence of left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function in stable cohort of COPD patients, where LV disease had been thoroughly excluded in advance.

Methods: 100 COPD outpatients in GOLD II-IV and 34 controls were included. Patients were divided by invasive mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) in COPD-PH (≥25 mmHg) and COPD-non-PH (<25 mmHg), which was subdivided in mPAP ≤20 mmHg and 21-24 mmHg.

Exercise capacity in COPD patients with exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with COPD is associated with reduced exercise capacity. A subgroup of COPD patients has normal mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) at rest, but develops high mPAP relative to cardiac output (CO) during exercise, a condition we refer to as exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension (EIPH). We hypothesized that COPD patients with EIPH could be identified by cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and that these patients have lower exercise capacity and more abnormal CPET parameters compared to COPD patients with normal hemodynamic exercise response.

Cardiopulmonary exercise test and PaO in evaluation of pulmonary hypertension in COPD.

Background: Exercise tolerance decreases as COPD progresses. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is common in COPD and may reduce performance further. COPD patients with and without PH could potentially be identified by cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).

Modeling Repeatedly Flaring δ Sunspots.

Active regions (ARs) appearing on the surface of the Sun are classified into α, β, γ, and δ by the rules of the Mount Wilson Observatory, California on the basis of their topological complexity. Amongst these, the δ sunspots are known to be superactive and produce the most x-ray flares. Here, we present results from a simulation of the Sun by mimicking the upper layers and the corona, but starting at a more primitive stage than any earlier treatment.

Assessment of Right Ventricular Afterload in COPD.

Background: We aimed to study whether pulmonary hypertension (PH) and elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) could be predicted by conventional echo Doppler and novel tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in a population of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) free of LV disease and co-morbidities.

Methods: Echocardiography and right heart catheterization was performed in 100 outpatients with COPD. By echocardiography the time-integral of the TDI index, right ventricular systolic velocity (RVSmVTI) and pulmonary acceleration-time (PAAcT) were measured and adjusted for heart rate.

The role of partial ionization effects in the chromosphere.

The energy for the coronal heating must be provided from the convection zone. However, the amount and the method by which this energy is transferred into the corona depend on the properties of the lower atmosphere and the corona itself. We review: (i) how the energy could be built in the lower solar atmosphere, (ii) how this energy is transferred through the solar atmosphere, and (iii) how the energy is finally dissipated in the chromosphere and/or corona.

Right ventricular dysfunction and remodeling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease without pulmonary hypertension.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to elucidate right ventricular (RV) function and structure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) without pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Background: There is little knowledge of RV function and remodeling in COPD without PH.

Methods: Thirty-four controls and 98 patients with COPD were included.

Pulmonary artery pressure and PaO2 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). This complication may be overlooked in patients with COPD, as symptoms frequently are attributed to ventilatory limitation. Predictors of PH may identify patients with increased risk of morbidity and mortality.

Haemodynamic responses to exercise in patients with COPD.

The present study aimed to explore the prevalence of pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) and characterise haemodynamic vascular responses to physical exercise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outpatients, where left ventricular dysfunction and comorbidities were excluded. 98 patients with COPD underwent right heart catheterisation at rest and during supine exercise. Mean pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (Ppcw) and cardiac output (CO) were measured at rest and during exercise.

Alfvénic waves with sufficient energy to power the quiet solar corona and fast solar wind.

Energy is required to heat the outer solar atmosphere to millions of degrees (refs 1, 2) and to accelerate the solar wind to hundreds of kilometres per second (refs 2-6). Alfvén waves (travelling oscillations of ions and magnetic field) have been invoked as a possible mechanism to transport magneto-convective energy upwards along the Sun's magnetic field lines into the corona. Previous observations of Alfvénic waves in the corona revealed amplitudes far too small (0.

Opioid maintenance patients with QTc prolongation: congenital long QT syndrome mutation may be a contributing risk factor.

Objectives: This study investigates opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) patients found to have corrected QT (QTc) interval above 500 ms, with particular focus on past medical history, genetic testing and cardiac investigations.

Methods: Detailed medical and cardiac history was obtained, with particular focus upon risk factors. Cardiac investigations, including genetic testing for the five most common long QT syndrome (LQTS) mutations, exercise electrocardiography (ECG) and 24-h ECG recordings, were performed.

Prevalence and clinical relevance of corrected QT interval prolongation during methadone and buprenorphine treatment: a mortality assessment study.

Aims: To determine the prevalence of corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation among patients in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) and to investigate mortality potentially attributable to QTc prolongation in the Norwegian OMT programme.

Participants And Setting: Two hundred OMT patients in Oslo were recruited to the QTc assessment study between October 2006 and August 2007. The Norwegian register of all patients receiving OMT in Norway (January 1997-December 2003) and the national death certificate register were used to assess mortality.

[Routine ECG in methadone-assisted rehabilitation is wrong prioritization].

The Norwegian Medicines Agency has recently reported dose-dependent QT prolongation and occurrence of Torsades des pointes in patients treated with methadone; the agency recommends that an ECG is taken before induction to methadone. We have performed a literature search in Medline and Embase. QT prolongation in methadone therapy is dose-dependent and primarily seen with doses higher than those usually used in maintenance therapy and/or in cases with known risk factors.