Cardiology Journal 2010, tom 17, nr 5

A 44 year-old male with a history of chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CChC) (exclusively dromotropic form), systemic hypertension and centripetal obesity, presented for a routine electrocardiogram (ECG). There was no history of syncope or sudden death and no evidence of heart failure. Laboratory tests were within normal ranges. There was a positive serological test for Chagas’ disease...

This article examines the relationships between allergic rhinitis and hypertension, chronic sinusitis and hypertension, and asthma and hypertension. Previous studies have demonstrated that men reporting seasonal or chronic rhinitis had on average a 3.5 mm Hg higher systolic blood pressure than those without allergic rhinitis...

We read with interest the article by Duszańska et al. [1] entitled ‘Predictors of successful iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm compression dressing repair’ recently published in the journal. The authors suggested that compression dressing repair (CPR) might serve as an alternative method of femoral pseudoaneurysm (FPA) management in patients with low forward and reverse velocities of the flow in pseudoaneurysm neck (25.8% of patients)...

A 25 year-old female was found to have a continuous murmur along the right parasternal border during pre-operative examination for patellar tendon surgery. On two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), an echolucent tunnel measuring 3 mm in width from the noncoronary cusp of the aortic valve to the right atrium was identified (Fig. 1A)...

Whereas coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a rare abnormality of the coronary arteries, co-existent coronary artery disease (CAD) is commonly seen in CAE patients. Since a causative relationship has been shown to exist between oxidative stress and CAD, we sought to determine whether any relationship exists between oxidative stress and CAE...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is considered the liver component of the metabolic syndrome. We investigated the diastolic and systolic functional parameters of patients with NAFLD and the impact of metabolic syndrome on these parameters...

I have read with interest the comments by Dr Kardesoglu on our paper ‘Predictors of successful iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm compression dressing repair’. I could not agree more in regard to preventing the formation of iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms (PSA). The risk factors, including female gender, body mass index ≥ 28, hypertension, simultaneous anticoagulation, large catheters ≥ 7 F, various percutaneous vascular procedures such as intra-aortic balloon pump insertion or the technique of femoral artery puncture are by now well established [1–5]...

The precise mechanisms that cause atrial fibrillation (AF) are not completely understood. Clinicians should ask themselves whether AF is truly ‘lone’ or is the effect of an underlying, ‘masked’ disorder. Atrial fibrillation shares strong epidemiological associations with other cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, diabetes mellitus and hypertension...

This study was designed to examine the influence of exercise training on leptin levels in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD)...

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an acknowledged treatment for advanced heart failure in acquired dilated cardiomyopathy, resistant to pharmacotherapy. Although there are no therapeutic standards regarding heart failure originating from congenital heart defects with systemic right ventricle, a number of CRT implantations by transvenous approach in congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) have been reported since 2001, even though none of them expressly referred to a case concomitant with dextrocardia and situs inversus anomaly...