A 69-year-old man, with a history of moderate aortic regurgitation, was admitted to our hospital with symptoms of congestive heart failure. He had undergone implantation of a permanent DDD-pacemaker 2…
A 38-year-old man was admitted to the cardiology emergency department for palpitations. He had been diagnosed 3 years earlier with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was receiving chronic treatment with beta-blockers and…
A 53-year-old man was admitted with progressive exercise intolerance and presyncope. He had no history of congenital heart disease, but had reported these symptoms since childhood. Cardiovascular examination revealed completely…
Summary Quadrangular resection is the gold standard in the treatment of posterior leaflet prolapse. Anterior leaflet prolapse has been considered a more challenging problem; several techniques are available to treat…
Summary Background The minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO 2 ) slope and peak circulatory power, like peak oxygen consumption (VO 2 ), possess strong prognostic values in heart failure but…
Summary Background Routine management of hypertensive adults is based on assessment of risk factors for coronary artery disease; risk factors for heart failure (HF) remain poorly investigated despite the key…
Summary Background Conventional coronary angiography (CA) is still recommended before valvular surgery. Preliminary studies suggest that multislice spiral computed tomography coronary angiography (MSCT-CA) can be used to rule out coronary…
Summary Background The mechanism underlying statin-induced event reduction in patients with acute coronary syndrome remains unclear. Aims To assess the efficacy of rosuvastatin 20 mg versus atorvastatin 80 mg in…
Summary Background Two-dimensional echocardiography images obtained at end-diastole and end-systole and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images obtained at end-diastole represent the three imaging methodologies validated for diagnosis of left ventricular…
Summary Background Uncontrolled hypertension is a major primary healthcare problem. Aim To investigate whether blood pressure (BP) control in primary care could be improved by nurses taking responsibility for managing…
