Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process, and inflammatory biomarkers have been identified as useful predictors of clinical outcomes. The prognostic value of leukocyte count in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions…
I read the report “Demographic and Co-Morbid Predictors of Stress (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy.” The investigators stated that 24,701 cases of stress cardiomyopathy were identified from the 2008 and 2009 Nationwide Inpatient…
The interventions aimed at patients with unprotected left main coronary disease are supported by a vast amount of data, the interpretation of which is increasingly difficult. For this purpose, studies…
I would like to call your attention to the article by Jiang et al, “Meta-analysis of Effectiveness of First-generation Drug-eluting Stents Versus Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting for Unprotected Left Main Coronary…
We are deluged by reports of the “rare” takotsubo syndrome (TTS) (as of November 15, 2012, there were 1,478 entries in PubMed using the search term “takotsubo” ), and while…
In adults with congenital heart disease and a systemic right ventricle, subaortic ventricular systolic dysfunction is common. Echocardiographic assessment of systolic right ventricular (RV) function in these patients is important…
Patients with myocardial infarction (MI) generally present with chest pain or pressure at rest or minimal exertion and have associated electrocardiographic changes and/or elevation of the biomarkers of myocardial necrosis….
Myocardial damage in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has lethal outcomes, making early detection of myocardial changes in patients with DMD vital, because early treatment can help prevent the development of…
The risk factors for aortic and mitral valve diseases that require surgical repair such as congenital bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and mitral valve prolapse include acquired clinical factors and genetic…
The original European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) has been recently updated as EuroSCORE II to optimize its efficacy in cardiac surgery, but its performance has been poorly…
