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Background: Persistent dyspnea, functional limitations, and reduced quality of life (QoL) are common following pulmonary embolism (PE). Rehabilitation is a potential treatment option, but the scientific evidence is limited., Research Question: Does an exercise-based rehabilitation program improve exercise capacity in PE survivors with persistent dyspnea?, Study Design and Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted at two hospitals. Patients with persistent dyspnea following PE diagnosed 6 to 72 months earlier, without cardiopulmonary comorbidities, were randomized 1:1 to either the rehabilitation or the control group. The rehabilitation program consisted of two weekly sessions of physical exercise for 8 weeks and one educational session. The control group received usual care. The primary end point was the difference in Incremental Shuttle Walk Test between groups at follow-up. Secondary end points included differences in the Endurance Shuttle Walk Test (ESWT), QoL (EQ-5D and Pulmonary Embolism-QoL questionnaires) and dyspnea (Shortness of Breath questionnaire)., Results: A total of 211 subjects were included: 108 (51%) were randomized to the rehabilitation group and 103 (49%) to the control group. At follow-up, participants allocated to the rehabilitation group performed better on the ISWT compared with the control group (mean difference, 53.0 m; 95% CI, 17.7-88.3; P = .0035). The rehabilitation group reported better scores on the Pulmonary Embolism-QoL questionnaire (mean difference, -4%; 95% CI, -0.09 to 0.00; P = .041) at follow-up, but there were no differences in generic QoL, dyspnea scores, or the ESWT. No adverse events occurred during the intervention., Interpretation: In patients with persistent dyspnea following PE, those who underwent rehabilitation had better exercise capacity at follow-up than those who received usual care. Rehabilitation should be considered in patients with persistent dyspnea following PE. Further research is needed, however, to assess the optimal patient selection, timing, mode, and duration of rehabilitation., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT03405480; URL: www., Clinicaltrials: gov., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease or Lobstein syndrome, is a congenital bone disorder characterized by brittle bones that are prone to fracture. People with OI are born with defective connective tissue in most cases secondary to a deficiency of type-I collagen, which represents approximately 75% of total collagen in the adult myocardium. The purpose of our study was to assess the prevalence of cardiomyopathy, electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities, and cardiovascular symptoms among patients with OI., Methods: We studied 99 adults with OI from the national OI registry in Norway. Patients were divided into type I, III, and IV, and 52 control subjects. History and physical examination, ECG, and echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) systolic and diastolic function were obtained., Results: ECG abnormalities and cardiac symptoms were more common among patients with OI. RV and LV systolic peak velocity were significantly lower and diastolic mitral tricuspid valve wave and early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity ratio increased in the OI group compared with the control subjects; 5.7 ± 1.2 vs 6.3 ± 1.2 cm/s (P < 0.05) and 8 ± 1.8 vs 9.5 ± 1.4 cm/s (P < 0.05) and 9.8 ± 2.6 vs 7.4 ± 2.0 (P < 0.05) and 8.6 ± 3.3 vs 6.1 ± 1.4, respectively. In multivariate analysis OI was found to be an independent risk factor for RV systolic and diastolic dysfunction., Conclusions: Cardiac symptoms and ECG changes are common among patients with OI. Our study findings suggest RV and LV systolic and diastolic function to be impaired in patients with OI compared with normal individuals. In multivariate analysis, however, OI was an independent predictor only of reduced RV systolic and diastolic function., (Copyright © 2015 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). This complication may be overlooked in patients with COPD, as symptoms frequently are attributed to ventilatory limitation. Predictors of PH may identify patients with increased risk of morbidity and mortality., Objective: The aims of this COPD study were to (i) evaluate the relationship between mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and PaO2, (ii) identify significant predictors of mPAP and PaO2 and (iii) use PaO2 as a marker of PH., Methods: Altogether 95 COPD patients with mild to very severe airway obstruction and without left ventricular (LV) dysfunction were included. Pulmonary function tests, right heart catheterizations and exercise tests with blood gases were performed., Results: Multivariate regression analyses showed that only PaO2 was a significant predictor of mPAP. FEV1 and mPAP were significant predictors of PaO2 both at rest and at peak exercise. PaO2 at peak exercise was better to identify pulmonary hypertension than PaO2 at rest. By combining PaO2 at rest and peak exercise, it was possible to predict PH with a detection rate of 76% and a false-positive rate of 24%., Conclusion: In an outpatient COPD population where LV disease was thoroughly excluded, we observed that only PaO2 was a significant predictor of mPAP. PaO2 at rest and peak exercise below 9.5 kPa (71 mmHg) and 8.5 kPa (64 mmHg), respectively, indicates the need for further evaluation of coexisting PH., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated the repeatability of two recently reported colour M-mode Doppler measures of left ventricular diastolic function. 'Delay of peak velocity' is the time interval from peak velocity of early filling at the mitral tip level to peak velocity in the apical region. The 'velocity of flow propagation' is the speed of the mitral to apical spread of the early diastolic filling. Two examiners independently and blindly made measurements by both methods on 32 digital recordings twice, using custom software. Inter- and intra-observer repeatability were given in terms of limits of agreement, where 1 denotes perfect agreement. Limits of intra-observer agreement were 0.72-1.43 for measurements of 'delay of peak velocity', and 0.39-2.28 for 'velocity of flow propagation'. Limits of inter-observer agreement were 0.68-1.42 and 0.19-2.04 respectively. The correlation between the methods was weak (r = 0.45), suggesting that they may detect different properties of early diastole. We suggest that the reliability of the methods may be improved by replicate measurements performed blindly. There are reasons to express the velocity of flow propagation on a logarithmic scale.