Cardiovascular Diseases Commons^™

The Physiological Stress Response Caused By Hypoxia And Reperfusion Injury In Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) And Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus), Amanda C. Reynolds

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Approximately five million people in the United States are affected by cardiovascular related diseases yearly contributing to 300,000 annual deaths, making CVD the leading cause of mortality worldwide. It has been suggested that apoptosis (programmed cell death) contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. When blood flow is reduced or cut off from the heart, usually by a thrombus, this results in oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) to the cardiomyocytes (heart cells). In response to this hypoxic stress, cardiomyocytes will undergo apoptosis. Since many species of fish can survive levels of hypoxia that would be fatal to mammals, fish are an ideal …

The Effect Of Statin Therapy On Heart Failure Events: A Collaborative Meta-Analysis Of Unpublished Data From Major Randomized Trials, David Preiss, Ross T. Campbell, Heather M. Murray, Ian Ford, Chris J. Packard, Naveed Sattar, Michael B. Clearfield

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Osteopathic Medicine

Aims: The effect of statins on risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization and HF death remains uncertain. We aimed to establish whether statins reduce major HF events.

Methods and results: We searched Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for randomized controlled endpoint statin trials from 1994 to 2014. Collaborating trialists provided unpublished data from adverse event reports. We included primary- and secondary-prevention statin trials with >1000 participants followed for >1 year. Outcomes consisted of first non-fatal HF hospitalization, HF death and a composite of first non-fatal HF hospitalization or HF death. HF events occurring(MI) were excluded. …

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors In Structural Firefighters, Nicholas W. Trubee

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

This dissertation is composed of two manuscripts assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in structural firefighters. Study 1 compared traditional CVD risk factors and health-related behaviors between professional and volunteer firefighters. Online questionnaires were sent to approximately 4000 firefighters in the state of Kentucky. The results indicated that 90% of volunteer and 58% of professional firefighters were classified as moderate-to-high CVD risk. Volunteer firefighters were significantly (p < 0.001) older and more likely (p = 0.026) to be current cigarette smokers. The mean body mass index among all firefighters in the sample was 30.8 kg·m^-2. Nearly 60% of volunteer firefighters were obese. Obese firefighters were more likely (p < 0.05) to have been diagnosed as diabetic or pre-diabetes compared to overweight and normal weight firefighters. These results indicate that volunteer firefighters may be at a greater CVD risk compared to professional firefighters.

Study 2 investigated the association of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body fat with arterial stiffness in professional firefighters. Forty-six …

Dopaminergic Signaling Within The Primary Cilia In The Renovascular System, Kimberly F. Atkinson, Samred H. Kathem, Xingjian Jin, Brian S. Muntean, Wissam A. Aboualaiwi, Andromeda M. Nauli, Surya M. Nauli

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Activation of dopamine receptor type-5 (DR5) has been known to reduce systemic blood pressure, most likely by increasing renal vasodilation and enhancing natriuresis in the kidney. However, the mechanism of DR5 in natriuresis and vasodilation was not clearly known. We have previously shown that DR5 is localized to primary cilia of proximal renal epithelial and vascular endothelial cells. We here show that selective activation of DR5 specifically induces calcium influx only in the primary cilia, whereas non-selective activation of dopamine receptor induces calcium fluxes in both cilioplasm and cytoplasm. Cilia-independent signaling induced by thrombin only shows calcium signaling within cytoplasm. …

Comparing The 2013 Acc/Aha & 2014 Nla Dyslipidemia Guidelines And Their Impact On Clinical Decision Making, Alexander Forbes, Kevin Grimes, Jocelyn York, Laura Tsu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

This home-study CPE activity has been developed to educate pharmacists on the similarities and differences between the 2014 NLA Recommendations for Dyslipidemia Management and the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines for Treatment of Blood Cholesterol.

Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity Of Oncological Agents: Monitoring Parameters, Prevention, And Future Chemotherapy, Sarah Nguyen, Mary Nguyen, Laura Tsu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The goal of this article is to educate pharmacists of the impact of cardiotoxicity on chemotherapy regimens including key cancer agents, monitoring parameters, prevention, and the future of chemotherapy.

A Pharmacist’S Role In The Prevention And Management Of Perioperative Atrial Fibrillation And Flutter, Amanda Harmon, Bethany Smith, Laura Tsu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

This home-study CPE has been developed to educate pharmacists about recently published guidelines for perioperative atrial fibrillation and flutter management and prevention, and discuss the role a pharmacist can have in the care of these patients.

Syndecan 4 Is Required For Endothelial Alignment In Flow And Atheroprotective Signaling, Nicolas Baeyens, Mary Jo Mulligan-Kehoe, Federico Corti, David D. Simon, Tyler D. Ross, John M. Rhodes, Thomas Z. Wang

Dartmouth Scholarship

Atherosclerotic plaque localization correlates with regions of disturbed flow in which endothelial cells (ECs) align poorly, whereas sustained laminar flow correlates with cell alignment in the direction of flow and resistance to atherosclerosis. We now report that in hypercholesterolemic mice, deletion of syndecan 4 (S4−/−) drastically increased atherosclerotic plaque burden with the appearance of plaque in normally resistant locations. Strikingly, ECs from the thoracic aortas of S4−/− mice were poorly aligned in the direction of the flow. Depletion of S4 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using shRNA also inhibited flow-induced alignment in vitro, which was rescued by re-expression …

Brachiocephalic Artery Cannulation In Proximal Aortic Surgery That Requires Circulatory Arrest, Mehmet Unal, Oguz Yilmaz, Ilker Akar, Ilker Ince, Cemal Aslan, Fatih Koc, Haluk Kafali

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

The brachiocephalic artery is an alternative cannulation site in the repair of ascending aortic lesions that require circulatory arrest. We evaluate the effectiveness and safety of this technique.

Proximal aortic surgery was performed in 32 patients from 2006 through 2012 via brachiocephalic artery cannulation and circulatory arrest. Twenty-four (75%) of the patients were men. The mean age was 48.69 ± 9.43 years (range, 30–68 yr). Twelve had type I dissection, 2 had type II dissection, and 18 had true aneurysms of the ascending aorta. All operations were performed through a median sternotomy. The arterial cannula was inserted through an 8-mm …

Anticoagulation With Bivalirudin During Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest In A Patient With Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia, Agamemnon Pericleous, Mostafa Sadek, Mary Fitzmaurice, Constance Caldwell, Kris Natividad, Konstadinos A Plestis

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is a well-recognized complication of anticoagulation with heparin. We present the case of a patient with recent heparin-induced thrombocytopenia who subsequently needed surgery on an emergency basis for acute type A aortic dissection. This article reports the successful use of bivalirudin, a direct thrombin inhibitor, as an alternative to heparin throughout cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. We contend that bivalirudin is a safe alternative to heparin when performing surgery for aortic dissection and should be considered as an option for use in patients who present with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Group Iv Cytosolic Phospholipase A2Α Is Critical For The Development Of Angiotensin Ii-Induced Hypertension And Associated Pathogenesis, Nayaab Shehbaz Khan

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Angiotensin II (Ang II) activates cytosolic phospholipase A2α and releases arachidonic acid (AA) from tissue phospholipids. AA metabolites mediate or modulate one or more renocardiovascular effects of this peptide and have been implicated in hypertension. Since AA release is the rate limiting step in eicosanoid production, it is possible that cPLA2α might play a central role in the development of Ang II-induced hypertension. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of Ang II infusion for 13 days by micro-osmotic pumps (700 ng/kg/min), on systolic blood pressure and associated pathophysiological changes in wild type (cPLA2α+/+) and cPLA2α-/- mice. Ang II …

The Role Of Mcl-1 In The Heart: Gateway From Life To Death, Xi Wang

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

MCL-1 is an essential BCL-2 family member that promotes the survival of multiple cellular lineages, but its role in cardiac muscle has remained unclear. Here, we have demonstrated that cardiac-specific ablation of Mcl-1 results in a rapidly fatal, dilated cardiomyopathy preceded by loss of myofibrils and cardiac contractility, abnormal mitochondria ultrastructure, defective mitochondrial respiration, and impaired autophagy. Genetic ablation of both pro-apoptotic effectors (Bax and Bak) could largely rescue the lethality and impaired cardiac function induced by Mcl-1 deletion. However, Mcl-1-, Bax-, and Bak-deficient hearts still revealed mitochondrial ultrastructural abnormalities and displayed deficient mitochondrial respiration, and are hypersensitive to chronic …

Regulation Of C-Reactive Protein Gene Expression And Function, Avinash N. Thirumalai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human C-reactive protein (CRP) is the prototypic acute phase protein whose serum concentration increases rapidly during inflammation. CRP is also associated with atherosclerosis; it is deposited at lesion sites where it may interact with modified lipoproteins. There are 2 major questions regarding CRP: 1. How is the serum concentration of CRP regulated? 2. What are the functions of CRP in atherosclerosis?

Our first aim was to determine the role of the constitutively expressed transcription factor Oct-1 in regulating CRP gene expression. We found that Oct-1 overexpression inhibited (IL-6+IL-1β)- induced CRP gene expression; maximal inhibition required the binding of Oct-1 to …

Percutaneous Repair Of Post-Myocardial Infarction Ventricular Septal Defect: Current Approaches And Future Perspectives, Maria D Baldasare, Mark Polyakov, Glenn W Laub, Joseph T Costic, Daniel J Mccormick, Sheldon Goldberg

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Post-myocardial infarction ventricular septal defect is a devastating complication of ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Although surgical intervention is considered the gold standard for treatment, it carries high morbidity and mortality rates. We present 2 cases that illustrate the application of percutaneous closure of a post-myocardial infarction ventricular septal defect: the first in a patient who had undergone prior surgical closure and then developed a new shunt, and the second as a bridge to definitive surgery in a critically ill patient.

Aortic Valve Reconstruction With Use Of Pericardial Leaflets In Adults With Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease: Early And Midterm Outcomes, Meong Gun Song, Hyun Suk Yang, Jong Bum Choi, Je Kyoun Shin, Hyun Keun Chee, Jun Seok Kim

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of adults with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease who underwent aortic valve reconstructive surgery (AVRS), consisting of replacement of the diseased BAV with 2 or 3 pericardial leaflets plus fixation of the sinotubular junction for accurate and constant leaflet coaptation. From December 2007 through April 2013, 135 consecutive patients (mean age, 49.2 ± 13.1 yr; 73.3% men) with symptomatic BAV disease underwent AVRS. Raphe was observed in 84 patients (62.2%), and the remaining 51 patients had pure BAV without raphe. A total of 122 patients (90.4%) underwent 3-leaflet reconstruction, and 13 (9.6%) …

Repeated Transradial Catheterization: Feasibility, Efficacy, And Safety, Marinos A Charalambous, Savvas S Constantinides, Michael A Talias, Elpidoforos S Soteriades, Christos P Christou

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Transradial access is an alternative to the transfemoral approach in coronary interventions. It results in less access-site bleeding, shorter hospital stays, lower costs, and less pain for the patient. However, some authors have suggested that the transradial approach might lead to radial artery occlusion, which precludes repeated same-artery catheterizations. Using data from our center, we evaluated the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of repeated transradial catheterization.

We reviewed the 3,006 transradial catheterizations performed at our center from 2006 through 2009. Patients who had undergone at least one repeated transradial catheterization were identified, their cases monitored through 2012, and their baseline characteristics …

Is Postpartum Depression A Disease Of Modern Civilization?, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Martie Haselton

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Access to calorie-dense foods, medicine, and other comforts has made modern humans healthier than our prehistoric ancestors in many respects. However, the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease suggest that there are also drawbacks to modern living. Here, we address the question of whether the dramatic cultural changes that have occurred over the past century have inflated rates of postpartum depression, adding postpartum depression to the list of diseases of modern civilization. We review evidence from cross-cultural, epidemiological, and experimental studies documenting associations between postpartum depression and modern patterns of early weaning, diets deficient in essential fatty acids, low …

Assessment Of American Heart Association’S Ideal Cardiovascular Health Metrics Among Employees Of Large Health Care Organization: The Baptist Health South Florida Employee Study, Khurram Nasir, Emir Veledar, Ehimen Aneni, Sankalp Das, Maribeth Rouseff, Thinh Tran, Don Parris, Leah Holzwarth, Henry Guzman, Theodore Feldman, Michael Ozner, Jonathan Fialkow, Bernie Fernandez, Arthur Agatston

All Publications

No abstract provided.

Heart Of The Matter, Children's Mercy Hospital

Our Story Continues

The Ward Family Heart Center at Children’s Mercy has received approval to begin performing pediatric heart transplants, making it the first healthcare facility in the Kansas City region to offer the life-saving procedure to pediatric patients.

Leading the Children’s Mercy heart transplant team are two nationally recognized experts:

James D. St. Louis, MD, is a board-certified thoracic and cardiac surgeon with more than 15 years of pediatric experience. Dr. St. Louis previously was the Director of Pediatric Cardiac Transplantation at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital.

Aliessa P. Barnes, MD, is a board-certified pediatric cardiologist specializing in pediatric heart …

Discordant Documentation Of Obesity Body Mass Index And Obesity Diagnosis In Electronic Medical Records, Jennifer T. Fink, George L. Morris Iii, Maharaj Singh, David A. Nelson, Renee E. Walker, Ron A. Cisler

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: This study examined concordance between presence of obesity body mass index (BMI), defined as BMI ≥ 30, in the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) and a documented diagnosis of obesity.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of the EMR in a large health care system for a 1-year period (2012). A total of 397,313 patients met the study criteria of having at least one physician visit, being at least 18 years of age, and not being pregnant. Of those, 158,327 (40%) had a recorded BMI ≥ 30. We examined the EMR of these obese patients to determine whether a …