Background: Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) provides a noninvasive index of autonomic nervous system activity. HRV has shown to be reduced in congestive heart failure and in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Beta-blockers improve HRV in adults with congestive heart failure, but this improvement remains to be demonstrated in children.
Material/methods: HRV was analysed in 14 infants with severe heart failure due to CHD who received a 'standard' therapy with digoxin and diuretics ('Digoxin/Diuretics' group) and in 9 of these patients with an additional propranolol therapy ('Propranolol' group) 17 days later on average and compared with HRV of 70 healthy infants ('Healthy Control').
Results: Comparing the 'Digoxin/Diuretics' group versus 'Healthy Control', we found significantly reduced HRV in the time domain and the frequency domain, that could be abolished in the 'Propranolol' group. None of the HRV parameter were significantly related to age or any hemodynamic parameter but inversely related to ejection fractions within the normal range (pNN50: r= -0.58, p=0.004; rMSSD: r= -0.42; p=0.049). HRV measurements (SDNN, r= -0.48) and plasma norepinephrine levels (r=0.7) were significantly related to clinical symptoms of heart failure, measured by the Ross Score.
Conclusions: HRV represents a noninvasive parameter that is reduced in infants with congenital heart disease depending on the severity of heart failure but not on hemodynamic disturbances. Propranolol but not digoxin therapy effectively reduced the supposed autonomic imbalance in infants with severe heart failure due to CHD.
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Expert Opin Ther Targets
January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEV) have attracted extensive attention in cardiovascular disease research in recent years because their cargo is involved in a variety of pathophysiological processes, such as thrombosis, immune response, promotion or inhibition of inflammatory response, promotion of angiogenesis as well as cell proliferation and migration.
Areas Covered: This review explores the role of PEV in various cardiovascular diseases (such as atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and heart failure), with relation to its molecular cargo (nucleic acids, bioactive lipids, proteins) and aims to provide new insights in the pathophysiologic role of PEV, and methods for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases based on PEV.
High Alt Med Biol
January 2025
The Research Center for High Altitude Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining, China.
Ri-Li Ge. Medical problems of chronic hypoxia in highlanders living on the tibetan plateau. 00:00-00, 2024.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Cardiol
January 2025
General Practice, Chengde Central Hospital, Chengde, China.
Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation combined with pressure support ventilation (NPPV-PSV) in the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF) through a meta-analysis.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI and Wanfang databases to find randomized controlled trials and cohort studies on NPPV-PSV treatment for CHF. The period of search was set from inception until 2024.
Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether circulating pyruvate kinase M2 (PK-M2) levels are elevated in the peripheral blood and to assess their association with diagnosis and prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF).
Methods And Results: We conducted a prospective investigation involving 222 patients with HF and 103 control subjects, measuring PK-M2 concentrations using ELISA. The primary outcome, assessed over a median follow-up of 2 years (interquartile range: 776 to 926 days), was the time to the first occurrence of either rehospitalization for worsening HF or cardiovascular death.
J Am Heart Assoc
January 2025
Department of Cardiology, Angiology Haemostaseology and Medical Intensive Care University Medical Centre Mannheim Medical Faculty Mannheim at the University of Heidelberg Mannheim Germany.
Background: The study investigates the prognostic impact of sex and sex-related differences in patients hospitalized with heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF). More data regarding the characterization of patients and their outcomes in the presence of HFmrEF are needed.
Methods And Results: Consecutive patients hospitalized with HFmrEF (ie, left ventricular ejection fraction 41%-49% and signs or symptoms of HF) were retrospectively included at one institution from 2016 to 2022.
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