Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neoangiogenesis, congestive heart failure and prevention of reoclusion after PCI represent the main targets of gene therapy (GT) in cardiology. Therapeutic angiogenesis can be used in advanced myocardial ischemia and in angina pectoris not suitable for the revascularization by cardiosurgery or by catheterization techniques. Heart failure is another indication of GT in cardiology. Modulation of calcium homeostasis, beta-adrenergic receptors and resistance of myocytes against apoptosis belongs to main forms of GT in this indication. Prevention of restenosis after PCI (with or without stent implantation) represents the third possible indication of GT. Conversion of ventricular myocytes into pacemaker cells using the gene potassium channel was described. Some benefit of GT can be expected in systemic and pulmonary hypertension. An optimal vector should be defined, as well as the optimal access (probably transmyocardial supplemented with intravenous application) and doses. GT seems to be safe and well tolerated by patients. Randomized, placebo control studies should be initiated for the final clinical assessment of this method.
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PMID:[Gene therapy in cardiovascular diseases]. 1460 40

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) without persistent ST-segment elevation are the main cause of hospitalization, morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to compare clinical and angiographic parameters as well as in-hospital results of treating 307 consecutive patients with ACS without persistent ST-segment elevation with either PCI or CABG. Inclusion criteria were: rest angina within the last 24 hours, ST-segment depression (> 0.5 mm), T-wave inversion (> 1 mm) in at least two leads, positive serum cardiac markers. PCI was performed in 75.9% of patients and 24.1% of patients underwent CABG. Both groups did not differ as to age, sex, history of diabetes, arterial hypertension, heart failure, smoking and ejection fraction. Positive troponin was significantly more frequent in the PCI group. 51% of PCI patients and 80% of CABG patients had complete revascularization (p = 0.00001). Independent predictors of in-hospital death in the CABG group were: inability to determine culprit vessel during coronary angiography due to lesions' severity (OR 13.65; 95% CI 9.40-15.20; p = 0.007) and heart failure (OR 15.58; 95% CI 12.29-18.01; p = 0.003). In the PCI group these independent predictors were: Braunwald's IIIC unstable angina (OR 5.48; 95% CI 3.10-7.17; p = 0.04) and diabetes (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.07-3.90; p = 0.003). In-hospital mortality rate was significantly higher in the CABG group (8.1% vs 1.7% p < 0.01). Patients with multivessel coronary artery disease and ACS without ST-segment elevation treated with PCI have better in-hospital outcome than patients assigned to CABG, but the rate of complete revascularization is lower.
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PMID:[In hospital observation of patients with acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation and multivessels coronary artery disease treated with early invasive strategy. Comparison of results of percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery by-pass grafting]. 1567 65

Heart failure and atrial fibrillation are the main problems in general cardiology. Our therapeutic reflections summarize new ideas in the treatment of theses pathologies but we will not forget importance of PCI. All these therapies have proven now the clinical benefit but also reduction in more morbidity and mortality. Cardiac resynchronisation therapy has shown promising results. The art of medicine to develop will be to better identify the patients benefiting from this therapy. Interventional cardiology is focusing on the acute coronary syndrome. Not only rapid intervention but also the stent technology allow significant modification of endothelial tissue reaction and therefore improve the general benefit for the patient.
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PMID:[Cardiology]. 1649 66

A case of a 72-year-old male with coronary artery disease, history of two myocardial infarctions, ejection fraction of 30% and CABG performed in 1990, is described. In 2001 he underwent PCI of two grafts. The procedure was complicated by ischaemic stroke. In 2003 the patient underwent another PCI of the occluded venous graft which was complicated by no-reflow phenomenon and acute myocardial infarction. A few months later cardiac resynchronization pacing system was implanted. The patient improved, however, one year later died due to progressive heart failure. Diagnosis and treatment of the no reflow phenomenon are discussed.
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PMID:[No-reflow phenomenon following PCI of venous graft -- a case report]. 1669 89

This article provides information and a commentary on trials presented at the American Heart Association meeting held in November 2006, relevant to the pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of heart failure. All reports should be considered as preliminary data, as analyses may change in the final publication. The OAT study failed to show a benefit of PCI over optimal medical therapy in patients with persistent total occlusion of the infarct related artery following a myocardial infarction. In SALT 1 and 2, tolvaptan was found to correct hyponatraemia of various aetiologies; however, whether this has an impact on heart failure prognosis requires further evaluation. A placebo controlled study of myocardial implantation of skeletal myoblasts in patients with moderate to severe LVSD (MAGIC) showed equivocal/uncertain effects, long term follow-up data are awaited. The ABCD study which compared the ability of an invasive and a non-invasive test to identify patients at risk of arrhythmic events prior to ICD implantation, suggested that the two strategies were comparable, although the practical value of either test remains uncertain and the study had many major flaws. The PABA-CHF study hinted that pulmonary vein antrum isolation might be more effective than AV node ablation with bi-ventricular pacing for the treatment of patients with heart failure in atrial fibrillation. In IMPROVE-CHF, an NT-pro BNP guided treatment strategy was found to reduce the cost of managing patients with acute breathlessness.
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PMID:Clinical trials update from the American Heart Association 2006: OAT, SALT 1 and 2, MAGIC, ABCD, PABA-CHF, IMPROVE-CHF, and percutaneous mitral annuloplasty. 1718 69

Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains the leading cause of death in industrialized countries. For many patients, a myocardial infarction is the first presentation of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. This often results in delays in obtaining medical attention and subsequently poorer outcome, certainly because symptoms are often misinterpreted. Furthermore, a large proportion of STEMI patients die from lethal arrhythmias even before reaching medical facilities. Numerous studies during the past decades have firmly established the paradigm of achieving early, complete and sustained infarct-related artery patency. Because of a more aggressive therapy and rapid revascularization using either fibrinolysis or primary PCI, many patients do remarkably well after STEMI. Unfortunately, adherence to treatment guidelines is often suboptimal, leading to less favourable outcome. Also, more efficient care for patients with myocardial infarction has led to a rapidly growing population of patients with chronic heart failure.
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PMID:Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. 1724 Jul 44

This article provides information and a commentary on trials relevant to the pathophysiology, prevention and treatment of heart failure, presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in March 2007. Unpublished reports should be considered as preliminary data, as analyses may change in the final publication. The ALPHA study suggested that patients with heart failure (HF) due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy who have a negative T-wave alternans test have a good prognosis and are unlikely to benefit from ICD therapy. EVEREST provides some evidence of short-term symptom benefit of tolvaptan in patients with acute decompensated HF but no clinically important long-term benefit. FUSION II failed to show a benefit of nesiritide in patients with chronic decompensated HF. Reducing blood pressure in hypertensive patients improved diastolic dysfunction in VALIDD. Eplerenone did not improve left ventricular remodelling in mild to moderate chronic HF. Selecting HF patients for revascularisation using FDG-PET imaging did not significantly improve outcome. Crataegus extract added to standard HF therapy did not reduce morbidity or mortality in SPICE. The COURAGE study, conducted in patients without HF or major cardiac dysfunction, showed that PCI did not reduce cardiac morbidity or mortality and can be safely deferred in patients with stable coronary disease on optimal medical therapy. The COACH study failed to show that HF nurse-intervention could reduce hospitalisations but did show trends to lower mortality, especially amongst patients with reduced ejection fraction; however, the smaller REMADHE study suggested striking benefits on morbidity and mortality. A large study of BNP provided additional information on its ability to distinguish cardiac and pulmonary breathlessness. The importance of dietary intervention in post-MI patients was highlighted by the findings of THIS-diet study.
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PMID:Clinical trials update from the American College of Cardiology 2007: ALPHA, EVEREST, FUSION II, VALIDD, PARR-2, REMODEL, SPICE, COURAGE, COACH, REMADHE, pro-BNP for the evaluation of dyspnoea and THIS-diet. 1748 46

Following an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), early coronary artery reperfusion remains the most effective means of limiting the eventual infarct size. The resultant left ventricular systolic function is a critical determinant of the patient's clinical outcome. Despite current myocardial reperfusion strategies and ancillary antithrombotic and antiplatelet therapies, the morbidity and mortality of an AMI remain significant, with the number of patients developing cardiac failure increasing, necessitating the development of novel strategies for cardioprotection which can be applied at the time of myocardial reperfusion to reduce myocardial infarct size. In this regard, the Reperfusion Injury Salvage Kinase (RISK) Pathway, the term given to a group of pro-survival protein kinases (including Akt and Erk1/2), which confer powerful cardioprotection, when activated specifically at the time of myocardial reperfusion, provides an amenable pharmacological target for cardioprotection. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that an increasing number of agents including insulin, erythropoietin, adipocytokines, adenosine, volatile anesthetics natriuretic peptides and 'statins', when administered specifically at the time of myocardial reperfusion, reduce myocardial infarct size through the activation of the RISK pathway. This recruits various survival pathways that include the inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening. Interestingly, the RISK pathway is also recruited by the cardioprotective phenomena of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and postconditioning (IPost), enabling the use of pharmacological agents which target the RISK pathway, to be used at the time of myocardial reperfusion, as pharmacological mimetics of IPC and IPost. This article reviews the origins and evolution of the RISK pathway, as part of a potential common cardioprotective pathway, which can be activated by an ever-expanding list of agents administered at the time of myocardial reperfusion, as well as by IPC and IPost. Preliminary clinical studies have demonstrated myocardial protection with several of these pharmacological activators of the RISK pathway in AMI patients undergoing PCI. Through the use of appropriately designed clinical trials, guided by the wealth of existing preclinical data, the administration of pharmacological agents which are known to activate the RISK pathway, when applied as adjuvant therapy to current myocardial reperfusion strategies for patients presenting with an AMI, should lead to improved clinical outcomes in this patient group.
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PMID:Reperfusion injury salvage kinase signalling: taking a RISK for cardioprotection. 1754 22

The Clinical Trials described in this article were presented at the Hotline and Clinical Trial Update Sessions of the European Society of Cardiology Congress held in September 2007 in Vienna, Austria. The sessions chosen for this article represent the scope of interest of Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy. The presentations should be considered preliminary, as further analyses could alter the final publication of the results of these studies. PROSPECT evaluated echocardiographic criteria for optimal selection of patients with moderate to severe heart failure who may benefit from cardiac resynchronisation therapy, however concluded that no single echocardiographic measure can be recommended. EVEREST found that tolvaptan, a vasopressin V(2) antagonist, resulted in early weight reduction and improvement of dyspnoea in patients with acute heart failure, but lacked long term improvement. In ARISE, the anti-oxidant succinobucal did not affect the primary outcome in high risk cardiovascular patients, but improved the combination of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and stroke, and diabetic control in diabetics. ALOFT showed that the addition of the renin inhibitor aliskiren to an ACE inhibitor or ARB and a beta-blocker leads to favourable effects on neurohormonal actions in heart failure. FINESSE markedly improved coronary patency before PCI with half-dose reteplase/abciximab in STEMI patients, however without significantly improving short-term outcome. The Prague-8 Study evaluated whether routine clopidogrel administered >6 h pre-angiography would be a safe way to achieve therapeutic drug levels in case a follow-up intervention would be considered immediately, but appeared not justified because of bleeding complications. CARESS in MI showed that high risk patients with evolving STEMI who undergo thrombolytic therapy should undergo PCI early after the thrombolysis. Finally, the ACUITY trial found that in moderate or high risk Non ST elevation ACS patients triaged to PCI, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, or medical management, bivalirudin, with or without associated GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor therapy, resulted in a marked reduction of bleeding at 30 days whilst preserving the ischemic and mortality benefit at 1 year follow up.
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PMID:Clinical trials update from the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Vienna, 2007: PROSPECT, EVEREST, ARISE, ALOFT, FINESSE, Prague-8, CARESS in MI and ACUITY. 1799 67

OXBACT-5 was designed to meet the challenges involved in working in the intensive care hospital environment focussed particularly on thoracic imaging of patients with respiratory distress and chronic heart failure (CHF). The FPGA-based wireless LAN linked multi-channel EIT data acquisition system (DAS) providing 16 programmable excitation current channels and 64 voltage measurement channels is presented. It contains function modules of a PCI bus interface, direct digital synthesizers, dual-port memory blocks, digital demodulation and all the command and control logic in the FPGA. The whole EIT data acquisition system is fully programmable and reconfigurable from the host PC. The excitation frequency, excitation patterns, the measuring sequence and the gain of each measurement channel can be set from the host PC before each measurement. The demodulation is implemented in the FPGA chip to reduce the data rate between the DAS and the host PC. In addition, measurement process management is achieved in this FPGA chip. Complemented by analogue devices such as ADCs, DACs, analogue buffers and analogue multiplexers, the new FPGA-based EIT DAS system is implemented in a very compact way for bedside use in intensive care units of hospitals. It is intended for applications such as continuous respiration monitoring with data collection at 25 frames per second. Image reconstruction times depend on the choice of 2D or 3D imaging algorithms and the available processing power.
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PMID:FPGA design and implementation for EIT data acquisition. 1882 13


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