A 16-year-old girl was admitted for breathlessness. Her only medical history was asthma treated with a bronchodilator and steroids. Examination revealed hepatomegaly, lower limb oedema and a soft systolic murmur…
Summary Despite the progress achieved in conventional treatment modalities, heart failure remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity. The identification of novel signaling pathways has provided a solid scientific…
Summary Despite considerable advances in pharmacological, surgical and technology-based cardiovascular therapy, left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure are increasingly prevalent health problems. Recent studies suggest that angiogenic gene therapy can…
Summary Background Compliance with guidelines for the management of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) may be difficult in hard-to-access areas. Aims To analyse the characteristics, management and outcome of STEMIs…
Summary Telomeres are structures composed of deoxyribonucleic acid repeats that protect the end of chromosomes, but shorten with each cell division. They have been the subject of many studies, particularly…
Summary Background Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy is a clinical entity mimicking acute coronary syndrome. Assessment of left ventricular function may be difficult using conventional echocardiography. Aims To characterize left ventricular systolic function…
Summary Background The CONNECT study compared clinician adherence to guideline-recommended secondary prevention therapies prescribed at discharge for patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in those managed initially with percutaneous…
Summary Background Vagal hyperreactivity (VHR) is a frequent etiology of infant fainting spells; but it is sometimes difficult to diagnose. A biochemical test would therefore be useful, especially as the…
Recently, a great ‘buzz’ has surrounded dronedarone – the new benzofuran antiarrhythmic drug developed for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The development of dronedarone has been protracted and complex. The…
We thank Drs Stöllberger and Finsterer for their comments, and take this opportunity to respond to and clarify important issues they have raised. Some works suggest that current echocardiographic diagnostic…
