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Background: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and prognostic value of elevated cardiac troponin (cTnT) and its association with clinical characteristics according to renal function status in patients with stable heart failure., Methods: In a prospective observational study, 152 consecutive patients from the Heart Failure Clinic of the INCMNSZ were followed for a period of 42 months. All underwent clinical evaluation, echocardiography, and determination of body composition by electric bioimpedance to identify hypervolemia. Concentrations of cTnT were quantified by immunoassay with electrochemoluminescence and > or = 0.02 ng/mL levels were considered elevated. Also glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation., Results: Elevated cTnT was significantly associated with increased all-cause mortality in the observational period even after adjusting for eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and clinical findings such as hypertension, functional class, loop diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, pulmonary pressure and hypervolemia in Cox regression analysis with a hazard ratio of 4.58 (95% confidence interval: 1.84-11.45)., Conclusions: Heart failure patients with elevated cardiac-specific troponin T are at increased risk of death independently of the presence of chronic kidney disease.

Background: Serum levels of aldosterone in heart failure are increased up to 20 times compared to normal subjects. After an acute myocardial infarction, aldosterone increases progressively as well as interstitial fibrosis and collagen synthesis from cardiac fibroblasts, forming a patchy heterogeneous interstitial collagen matrix that affects ventricular function. Even if angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARA) can reduce aldosterone levels early during treatment, they increase again after a 12 week treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in structure and function of the left ventricle in symptomatic (NYHA I-III) diastolic heart failure patients receiving an aldosterone receptor antagonist., Methods: Twenty-eight subjects with diastolic heart failure, on BB, ACEI and/ or ARA were randomized to receive spironolactone (group A) on a mean dose of 37.5 mg once a day (n = 14, age 63.7 +/- 21.6 years and body mass index, BMI 27.5 +/- 9.4), or not (group B, n = 14, Age 64.8 +/- 11.9, BMI 26.9 +/- 4.7). All patients were followed-up for a mean of 13.79 +/- 0.99 months., Results: Group A showed a 42.8% ischemic origin of heart failure, while in group B was 55% (p = 0.2). No other co-morbidities were significativelly different among both groups. Mean percentage of changes by echocardiogram was as follows: Interventricular septum (IVS) -12.2 +/- 11% vs. 1.3 +/- 15.2 (p = 0.03), pulmonary systolic artery pressure (PSAP was 0.99 +/- 3.8% vs. 10.5 +/- 9.1, p = 0.05). Other parameters did not show statistically significant differences., Conclusion: Aldosterone receptor antagonists reduce or avoid increasing of PSAP and inducing a favorable remodeling of the left ventricle, especially in the IVS in diastolic heart failure patients.

Unlabelled: Neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS) is diagnosed by means of a head-up tilt table tests (HUTT). This is a prolonged test although early outcome predictors are known., Methods: We conducted a study among patients engaged in a syncope study protocol. We performed HUTT in all of them and compared the basal arterial pressure with the arterial pressure at the end of a the 70 degrees tilting., Results: We performed 185 HUTT studies. Systolic blood pressure (BP) raised 0.9% among patients with a negative test, whereas patients with a positive HUTT showed a 2.3% decrease (p = 0.2) in the same measurement. Diastolic BP increased 34% among negative HUTT patients and 14.9% among patients with positive test (p = 0.02). We calculated a relative risk of 1.45 for positive test when the combination of systolic BD decrease and dyastolic increase was present, according to the percentage of change (IC95%: 1.1 to 7.8)., Conclusions: The combination of systolic BP reduction and diastolic BP elevation at the end of the 70 degrees tilting is associated with an increased risk of having a positive HUTT. These changes might be related to differential sympathetic stimulation.