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Prosthetic valve replacement replaces a heart disease with another one. There is no ideal prosthetic valve. All prostheses need to be followed by caution and treatment depends on the type of the prosthesis. Mechanical prostheses add anticoagulant drugs to patient's life and degeneration of bioprostheses requires reoperation. Prosthesis dysfunction includes a group of pathological processes like thrombosis, thromboemboli, valvular or paravalvular regurgitation, patient-prosthesis mismatch, infective endocarditis and bioprosthesis degeneration. Correct diagnosis and treatment of these problems will decrease the mortality and morbidity due to prosthetic valve disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent data show that blockade of aldosterone receptors by spironoloctone reduces the risk of morbidity and death among patients with severe heart failure. Heart failure secondary to ischemia is characterized by an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system, which can be assessed by analysis of the heart rate variability (HRV). Spironolactone's effects on HRV are not well defined. If spironolactone has beneficial effects on HRV, this would contribute to favorable results. We therefore measured Holter-derived HRV indexes in a group of 126 patients with heart failure, aged 36 to 83 years, with angiographically proved coronary artery disease, on 3 separate occasions. Patients' sodium intake was restricted; therapy with enalapril, furosemide, and digoxin was begun, and 2 weeks after this standard therapy, spironolactone 50 mg/day was added. Evaluations were done at baseline, and the first and 12th months. After spironolactone, the triangular interpolation of the NN histogram (from 233.0 +/- 98 to 291.7 +/- 74 ms and 340.5 +/- 130 ms, p <0.001) and the percentage of differences between successive normal RR intervals differing >50 ms over a 24-hour electrocardiography (from 2.9 +/- 2.4% to 4.3 +/- 5.2% and 3.9 +/- 2.6%, p <0.002) increased significantly. Ejection fraction and functional classes were also improved. These data imply that in patients with heart failure who are taking conventional drugs, the addition of spironolactone induces a favorable sympathovagal balance. These changes, as assessed by the triangular interpolation of the NN histogram and the percentage of differences between successive normal RR intervals differing >50 ms over a 24-hour electrocardiography, and observed at 1 month after therapy, persisted in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosthetic valve replacement replaces a heart disease with another one. There is no ideal prosthetic valve. All prostheses need to be followed by caution and treatment depends on the type of the prosthesis. Mechanical prostheses add anticoagulant drugs to patient's life and degeneration of bioprostheses requires reoperation. Prosthesis dysfunction includes a group of pathological processes like thrombosis, thromboemboli, valvular or paravalvular regurgitation, patient-prosthesis mismatch, infective endocarditis and bioprosthesis degeneration. Correct diagnosis and treatment of these problems will decrease the mortality and morbidity due to prosthetic valve disease.

Background: We investigated whether isovolumic acceleration (IVA) under inotropic stimulation as a means of right ventricular (RV) contractile reserve, is a surrogate for hemodynamic burden and has prognostic value in patients with mitral stenosis (MS)., Methods: Thirty-one pure MS patients and 20 controls underwent cardiac catheterization, exercise test, and dobutamine stress echocardiography. RV fractional area change (FAC), +dP/dt/P(max), RV tissue Doppler indices (isovolumic contraction [IVC] and systolic [S] velocity, and IVA) were measured. Patients were followed-up for the occurrence of cardiac adverse events., Results: Inotropic modulation unmasked statistically significant differences regarding magnitude of changes in IVA, IVC, S, and +dP/dt/P(max), but not RV FAC. Inability to increase IVA more than 6.5 m/s(2) was the only independent determinant of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure >or=18 mm Hg (P=.004). Although MS severity did not predict the RV contractile reserve and pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) behavior during inotropic stimulation, the RV contractile reserve was related to the degree of systolic PAP. IVA increases of <3.4 m/s(2) had 86% sensitivity and 75% specificity to predict unfavorable outcomes during long-term follow-up (20+/-8 months)., Conclusion: RV contractile reserve provides complementary data to the hemodynamic significance of MS severity, may contribute to clinical decision making, and be of prognostic value in these patients.

A patient with a prosthetic mitral valve presented with dyspnea, a new murmur and anemia. Real time three-dimensional (3D) echocardiography revealed a large valvular dehiscence that spanned approximately 50% of the circumference of the valve ring. By transesophageal echocardiography the paravalvular leak was mapped between 60 and 180 degrees that exactly matched the 3D echocardiographic appearance.

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of enalaprilat infusion on hemodynamics and renal function during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)., Methods: Thirty adults undergoing CPB were randomly allocated into 2 groups. All patients received the same anesthetic protocol and same dopamine infusion protocol (2 mg/kg(-1)/min(-1)) during the study. In addition to dopamine infusion 15 patients received enalaprilat infusion (0.06 mg/kg(-1)/hr(-1)) during CPB. Blood creatinine, urea levels, and creatinine clearance (CLcr) were measured and cardiac output (CO) was calculated by echocardiography preoperatively and on the 6th postoperative day. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP), systemic vascular resistance (SVR) measurements were recorded during the operation and during postoperative 24 hours., Results: In the control group postoperative blood creatinine and urea levels were significantly higher and CLcr measurements were significantly lower than the preoperative values (p<0.05). These values did not change in the enalaprilat group. Mean arterial pressure was similar in both groups (p>0.05), but SVR was lower (p<0.05) and CVP was higher (p<0.05) in the enalaprilat group than in the control group. In the enalaprilat group postoperative CO measurements were higher than the preoperative values (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that enalaprilat infusion during CPB improves renal function and CO measurements in the early postoperative period.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of stent carbon coating on inflammatory response. The authors serially measured plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, and several cytokines (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin [IL]-1-beta, IL-6, and IL-8) in patients with single-vessel coronary stenosis who underwent primary stent implantation. None of the subjects had inflammatory or infectious disease at the time of the procedure. Forty-six patients (38 males; mean age 55 +/-9 years) were studied. Blood samples were collected before and at 2, 4, 6, 24, and 48 hours after stent implantation. Patients were randomly assigned 1 of 2 different stent types, an uncoated MAC (AMG Raesfeld-Erle, Germany) (UC-MAC) or a carbon-coated MAC (CC-MAC) stent. Implantations were performed without predilatation, and stents were deployed at a maximum pressure of 6 atmospheres for 90 seconds. Of the 46 patients, 14 had stable, 27 had unstable, and 5 had atypical angina. According to ACC/AHA classification, 35 lesions (76.1%) were type A, 10 (21.7%) were type B, and 1 (2.2%) was type C. Single stenosis of 28 left anterior descending, 12 circumflex, and 6 right coronary arteries were treated. Serum IL-6 increased in both the UC-MAC and CC-MAC groups, with concentrations significantly elevated above baseline at 6 hours, and then decreasing after 24 hours (baseline, 6-hour, and 24-hour values = 3.1 +/-2.3, 5.7 +/-3.8, and 6.3 +/-4.6 pg/mL, respectively, in UC-MAC; 3.7 +/-2.6, 6.2 +/-6.0, and 4.6 +/-3.7 pg/mL, respectively, in CC-MAC [p=0.002]). Plasma fibrinogen, CRP, and leukocyte concentrations also increased in both groups over the 24 hours (p < 0.05). The elevations of IL-6, CRP, and fibrinogen were similar in the 2 groups. The percent increases in IL-6, fibrinogen, and CRP were not associated with stent length, size, or clinical presentation (all p > 0.05). The results showed that stent implantation increases plasma IL-6, fibrinogen, and CRP concentrations, but carbon coating of the stent does not seem to affect this inflammatory response.