Cardiology Journal 2010, tom 17, nr 4

We implemented an ECG data-warehousing project to promote cross-fertilization of scientific knowledge, resources and ideas that will advance the understanding of quantitative ECG and cardiac safety. While other open ECG databases are available, our Telemetric and Holter ECG Warehouse (THEW) proposes unique sets of continuous digital ECGs recorded in cardiac patients, healthy individuals and individuals exposed to non-cardiac and cardiac drugs....

Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding due to colonic angiodysplasias can be associated with calcifying aortic stenosis (AS). GI angiodysplasias and AS are defined as chronic degenerative disorders, and the prevalence of both diseases increases with age...

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is a well-established tool for clinical and prognostic assessment of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Recently, a new parameter of this examination — oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) — has been described and proposed as a new prognostic factor in patients with CHF...

At the dawn of the 20th century, when the electrocardiograph (ECG) had just been invented by Willem Einthoven and his colleagues, the mechanism by which four cardiac chambers contract synchronously as a cohesive unit remained unknown.Two theories predominated: the myogenic theory and the neurogenic theory [1–4]. The discovery by Sunao Tawara of the atrioventricular (AV) conduction system, reported in a monograph in German in 1906, not only solved the problem of the mechanism for a synchronous contraction of four cardiac chambers, but also gave Einthoven and other electrocardiographers a powerful theoretical basis for interpreting the electrocardiogram...

Global cerebral hypoperfusion resulting in syncope, and asynchronous discharge of cerebral neurons leading to seizure, are two major mechanisms of transient loss of consciousness. They both have a lot in common in clinical and historical settings, although with a high prevalence of incorrect diagnosis, even by well-trained staff...

The commonest medical conditions following menopause are osteoporosis and atherosclerotic disease. This review considers the safety of pharmacotherapy of osteoporosis in cardiology patients...

The long-term success of coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is dependent on graft patency after the operation. Early occlusion (within the first week) affects the long-term results. Therefore, we sought to determine pre-operative, intraoperative, and perioperative factors associated with early coronary graft patency...

There is limited data regarding the clinical utility of cystatin C in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of cystatin C for the presence and severity of CAD and the association between this protein and other biochemical risk factors for atherosclerosis in patients with suspected CAD...

Our study’s aim was to evaluate the prognostic value of early and intensive lipid-lowering treatment on ventricular premature beat or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) after acute coronary syndrome (STEMI, non-STEMI, and unstable angina pectoris)...

Atrial thrombus formation in patients with atrial flutter raises concerns of stroke risk. We investigated patients with isthmus-dependent atrial flutter for coagulation abnormalities before and after cardioversion to sinus rhythm by catheter ablation, and evaluated the relationship of the abnormalities to the echocardiographic risk markers of stroke...