New Insights in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the US and in westernized countries with ischemic heart disease accounting for the majority of these deaths. Paradoxically, the improvements in the medical and surgical treatments of acute coronary syndrome are leading to an increasing number of “survivors” who are then developing heart failure. Despite considerable advances in its management, the gold standard for the treatment of end-stage heart failure patients remains heart transplantation. Nevertheless, this procedure can be offered only to a small percentage of patients who could benefit from a new heart due to the limited availability of donor organs. The aim of this review is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of innovative approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of patients refractory to standard medical therapy and excluded from cardiac transplantation lists.

Download Full-text

Donors after circulatory death heart trial

Future Cardiology ◽

10.2217/fca-2020-0070 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 11-17

Author(s):

Yasuhiro Shudo ◽

Rhodalene Benjamin-Addy ◽

Tiffany K Koyano ◽

William Hiesinger ◽

John W MacArthur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Gold Standard ◽

Orthotopic Heart Transplantation ◽

Donation After Circulatory Death ◽

Clinical Trial Registration ◽

Life Saving ◽

End Stage Heart Failure ◽

Standard Life ◽

End Stage ◽

Circulatory Death

Orthotopic heart transplantation is the gold standard treatment for end-stage heart failure. However, the persistent shortage of available donor organs has resulted in an ever-increasing waitlist and longer waiting periods for transplantation. On the contrary, increasing the number of heart transplants by preserving extended criteria donors and donation after circulatory death hearts with the Organ Care System™ (OCS) Heart System has the potential to provide the gold standard, life-saving treatment to patients with end-stage heart failure. The objective of the Donation After Circulatory Death Heart Trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of the OCS Heart System to preserve and assess hearts donated after circulatory death for transplantation to increase the pool of donor hearts available for transplantation, which can potentially provide patients with end-stage heart failure with the life-saving treatment. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03831048 ( ClinicalTrials.gov )

Download Full-text

Localization of endothelial nitric oxide synthase in the normal and failing human atrial myocardium

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100166397 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 786-787

Author(s):

Chi-Ming Wei ◽

Margarita Bracamonte ◽

Shi-Wen Jiang ◽

Richard C. Daly ◽

Christopher G.A. McGregor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitric Oxide ◽

Heart Failure ◽

Nitric Oxide Synthase ◽

Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase ◽

Cardiac Tissues ◽

Mammalian Tissues ◽

End Stage Heart Failure ◽

End Stage ◽

Oxide Synthase ◽

Endothelial Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent endothelium-derived relaxing factor which also may modulate cardiomyocyte inotropism and growth via increasing cGMP. While endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) isoforms have been detected in non-human mammalian tissues, expression and localization of eNOS in the normal and failing human myocardium are poorly defined. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate eNOS in human cardiac tissues in the presence and absence of congestive heart failure (CHF).Normal and failing atrial tissue were obtained from six cardiac donors and six end-stage heart failure patients undergoing primary cardiac transplantation. ENOS protein expression and localization was investigated utilizing Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining with the polyclonal rabbit antibody to eNOS (Transduction Laboratories, Lexington, Kentucky).

Download Full-text