Cardiology Commons^™

Stab Wound Of The Heart With Unusual Sequelae, Peter I Praeger, Jonathan Praeger, Ahmed M Abdel-Razek, Elie M Elmann

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

A 31-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department with a stab wound to the heart. She was initially stable but rapidly developed hypotension. While the operating room and staff were in preparation, she underwent pericardiocentesis. She was then rushed to the operating room by the general surgical trauma team, who performed a bilateral anterior thoracotomy to control the bleeding. In the recovery room, the patient was still hypotensive, so cardiothoracic surgery was consulted.

An echocardiogram revealed severe hypokinesis of both ventricles. The cardiothoracic surgeons returned her to the operating room and discovered that the anterior pericardium had been completely …

Induction Of Early Biomarkers In A Thrombus-Induced Sheep Model Of Ischemic Heart Failure, Aluganti N Chandrakala, Pawel Kwiatkowski, Chittoor B Sai-Sudhakar, Benjamin Sun, Angela Phillips, Sampath Parthasarathy

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

The levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) are known to be increased in the sera of subjects with heart failure. Existing models do not account for the biomass of thrombus that occurs in patients undergoing myocardial infarction. In this study, we compared the expressions of sheep-derived genes for BNP, MCP-1, and atrial natriuretic peptide in a new large-animal model of thrombus-induced heart failure. Thrombus of autologous platelets was injected directly into the left circumflex coronary arteries of sheep. Cardiac ischemic injury was evaluated by troponin I levels, and heart failure progression was monitored with the …

Cardiac G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 2 Ablation Induces A Novel Ca2+ Handling Phenotype Resistant To Adverse Alterations And Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction., Philip W Raake, Xiaoying Zhang, Leif E Vinge, Henriette Brinks, Erhe Gao, Naser Jaleel, Yingxin Li, Mingxin Tang, Patrick Most, Gerald W Dorn, Steven R Houser, Hugo A Katus, Xiongwen Chen, Walter J Koch

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) is a primary regulator of β-adrenergic signaling in the heart. G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 ablation impedes heart failure development, but elucidation of the cellular mechanisms has not been achieved, and such elucidation is the aim of this study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Myocyte contractility, Ca(2+) handling and excitation-contraction coupling were studied in isolated cardiomyocytes from wild-type and GRK2 knockout (GRK2KO) mice without (sham) or with myocardial infarction (MI). In cardiac myocytes isolated from unstressed wild-type and GRK2KO hearts, myocyte contractions and Ca(2+) transients were similar, but GRK2KO myocytes had lower sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+) content …

Hyperphosphorylation Of The Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor At Serine 2808 Is Not Involved In Cardiac Dysfunction After Myocardial Infarction., Hongyu Zhang, Catherine A Makarewich, Hajime Kubo, Wei Wang, Jason M Duran, Ying Li, Remus M Berretta, Walter J Koch, Xiongwen Chen, Erhe Gao, Héctor H Valdivia, Steven R Houser

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

RATIONALE: Abnormal behavior of the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) has been linked to cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure (HF) after myocardial infarction (MI). It has been proposed that protein kinase A (PKA) hyperphosphorylation of the RyR2 at a single residue, Ser-2808, is a critical mediator of RyR dysfunction, depressed cardiac performance, and HF after MI.

OBJECTIVE: We used a mouse model (RyRS2808A) in which PKA hyperphosphorylation of the RyR2 at Ser-2808 is prevented to determine whether loss of PKA phosphorylation at this site averts post MI cardiac pump dysfunction.

METHODS AND RESULTS: MI was induced in wild-type (WT) and S2808A …

Ectopic And Atretic Ostium Of Left Main Coronary Artery: From Interleaflet Triangle Between Left And Noncoronary Cusps, Ta-Chung Shen, Hsin-Hua Chou, Kuei-Ton Tsai

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Left main coronary artery atresia is an extremely rare coronary anomaly in which there is no left coronary ostium and the left main trunk ends blindly. Ectopic origin of the left coronary artery from the left ventricle is an even rarer condition. Herein, we describe the case of a 37-year-old woman whose left main coronary artery atresia was not corrected during previous surgical correction of patent ductus arteriosus and aortic insufficiency. Five years after that first operation, the patient developed severe angina and heart failure. She underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with greater saphenous vein directly to the left main …

After Avandia: The Use Of Antidiabetic Drugs In Patients With Heart Failure, Khaled I Khalaf, Heinrich Taegtmeyer

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Managing diabetes mellitus is an ongoing concern, especially in the presence of heart failure. Recent reports have drawn attention to adverse cardiovascular events associated with the use of thiazolidinediones, including rosiglitazone (Avandia). In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration implemented a stringent “restricted access program” for the prescription of Avandia. Other studies, which have revealed increased mortality rates in association with tight glycemic control, raise serious concerns about managing diabetes in heart-failure patients.

Herein, we provide a perspective on the management of noninsulin-dependent diabetes in patients with heart failure. We point out that thiazolidinediones exert their major effects through …

Constrictive Pericarditis Treated By Surgery, Alireza A Ghavidel, Maziar Gholampour, Majid Kyavar, Yalda Mirmesdagh, Mohammad-Bagher Tabatabaie

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

We reviewed the records of 45 patients (mean age, 46.6 ± 14.9 yr; range, 21–84 yr) with a diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis who had undergone pericardiectomy from 1994 through 2006. Preoperatively, 2 of the patients (4.4%) were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I, 20 (44.4%) in class II, 22 (48.9%) in class III, and 1 (2.2%) in class IV. Pericardial calcification was detected in 20% of plain chest radiographs. Constrictive pericarditis was caused by tuberculosis in 22.2%, chronic renal failure in 8.9%, a history of sternotomy in 4.4%, and malignancy in 4.4%. The cause was idiopathic in …

Potential Role Of Plasma Myeloperoxidase Level In Predicting Long-Term Outcome Of Acute Myocardial Infarction, Mehmet Gungor Kaya, Ridvan Yalcin, Kaan Okyay, Fatih Poyraz, Nilufer Bayraktar, Hatice Pasaoglu, Bulent Boyaci, Atiye Cengel

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

We investigated the prognostic importance of plasma myeloperoxidase levels in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at long-term follow-up, and we analyzed the correlations between plasma myeloperoxidase levels and other biochemical values.

We evaluated 73 consecutive patients (56 men; mean age, 56 ±11 yr) diagnosed with acute STEMI and 46 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the median myeloperoxidase level (Group 1: plasma myeloperoxidase ≤68 ng/mL; and Group 2: plasma myeloperoxidase >68 ng/mL). Patients were monitored for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), which were defined as cardiac death; reinfarction; …

Transcatheter Retrieval And Repositioning Of Embolized Stent From The Right Ventricle In An Infant, Daisuke Kobayashi, Harinder R Singh, Daniel R Turner, Thomas J Forbes, Srinath T Gowda

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Intracardiac stent embolization is a challenging complication in a small infant. A Palmaz stent was placed across the atrial septum in a 3-month-old boy to relieve symptoms of right-side heart failure. On routine chest radiography one week later, the stent was found to have embolized into the right ventricle. The stent was retrieved and repositioned by means of transcatheter technique, without subsequent complications. We found this method to be a viable alternative to surgery in a high-risk infant. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful transcatheter retrieval and repositioning of an expandable intravascular stent from an …

Usefulness Of The Echocardiographic Multi-Parameter Score (Emps) In Evaluating Left Ventricular Global Heart Function, Bingyuan Zhou, Junhua Yang, Xiangjun Yang, Yongming He, Caiming Zhao, Sudan Xu, Huifeng Wang

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

In this study, we established a new index by combining several echocardiographic parameters to quantify heart failure. We selected 233 consecutive patients who underwent both echocardiographic and plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) tests within 24 hours after referral for suspected heart failure. The echocardiographic parameters included systolic function, diastolic function, left ventricular chamber remodeling, valvular lesions, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure, and regional wall-motion abnormality. Each factor was scored from 1 to 3 points according to its severity. The total point from these 6 factors is the echocardiographic multi-parameter score (EMPS).

The EMPS for 37, 51, 77, and 38 patients from …

Central Venous Pressure And Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure, Tony S Ma, Biykem Bozkurt, David Paniagua, Biswajit Kar, Kumudha Ramasubbu, Carl F Rothe

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Heart-failure phenotypes include pulmonary and systemic venous congestion. Traditional heart-failure classification systems include the Forrester hemodynamic subsets, which use 2 indices: pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and cardiac index. We hypothesized that changes in PCWP and central venous pressure (CVP), and in the phenotypes of heart failure, might be better evaluated by cardiovascular modeling. Therefore, we developed a lumped-parameter cardiovascular model and analyzed forms of heart failure in which the right and left ventricles failed disproportionately (discordant ventricular failure) versus equally (concordant failure). At least 10 modeling analyses were carried out to the equilibrium state. Acute discordant pump failure was …

Ranolazine Is Effective For Acute Or Chronic Ischemic Dysfunction With Heart Failure, Sudip Nanda Md, Facp, Matthew W. Martinez Md, Tanujit Dey Phd

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Distribution Of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction In Angina Patients With Severe Coronary Artery Disease Not Amenable To Revascularization., Shuchita Gupta, Gregg S. Pressman, D Lynn Morris, Vincent M. Figueredo, M.D.

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: As the number of angina patients with severe coronary artery disease not amenable to revascularization increases, new therapies will be developed. How patients with depressed compared to normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) will respond to new therapies may differ.

HYPOTHESIS: We conducted a retrospective chart review to determine the distribution of LVEF in angina patients with severe coronary artery disease (three-vessel disease with >50% stenosis major epicardial vessels or >50% stenosis left main) not amenable to revascularization.

METHODS: Patients underwent cardiac catheterization between 2004 and 2009. LVEF, measured by echocardiography, nuclear-gated imaging or radioventriculography within 6 months of …

Enalapril In Infants With Single Ventricle: Results Of A Multicenter Randomized Trial., Daphne T. Hsu, Victor Zak, Lynn Mahony, Lynn A. Sleeper, Andrew M. Atz, Jami C. Levine, Piers C. Barker, Chitra Ravishankar, Brian W. Mccrindle, Richard V. Williams, Karen Altmann, Nancy S. Ghanayem, Renee Margossian, Wendy K. Chung, William L. Border, Gail D. Pearson, Mario P. Stylianou, Seema Mital, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy improves clinical outcome and ventricular function in adults with heart failure. Infants with single-ventricle physiology have poor growth and are at risk for abnormalities in ventricular systolic and diastolic function. The ability of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy to preserve ventricular function and improve somatic growth and outcomes in these infants is unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The Pediatric Heart Network conducted a double-blind trial involving 230 infants with single-ventricle physiology randomized to receive enalapril (target dose 0.4 mg . kg(-1) . d(-1)) or placebo who were followed up until 14 months of age. The primary end …

A Review Of The Association Between Congestive Heart Failure And Cognitive Impairment., Michael B. Cohen, Paul J. Mather

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

Heart failure is a growing epidemic with an estimated 5 million Americans suffering from this condition. Several clinical trials have demonstrated a high correlation between congestive heart failure (CHF) and cognitive impairment. The severity of cognitive impairment correlates positively with the degree of CHF. The underlying mechanism for cognitive impairment remains unclear but appears to be related to cerebral hypoperfusion and impaired cerebral reactivity with selective impairment of verbal memory and attention domains. Furthermore, cognitive dysfunction represents one aspect of frailty, a novel concept that encompasses a range of clinical conditions that results in functional impairment in patients with heart …

Beta Blocker Specificity: A Building Block Toward Personalized Medicine., Brent R Degeorge, Walter J Koch

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

Drugs known as beta blockers, which antagonize the beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR), are an important component of the treatment regimen for chronic heart failure (HF). However, a significant body of evidence indicates that genetic heterogeneity at the level of the beta(1)-AR may be a factor in explaining the variable responses of HF patients to beta blockade. In this issue of the JCI, Rochais et al. describe how a single amino acid change in beta(1)-AR alters its structural conformation and improves its functional response to carvedilol, a beta blocker currently used in the treatment of HF (see the related article beginning on …