ESC Congress 2003: Picture Perfect – Progress in non-invasive imaging
There has been increasing awareness of the importance of composition of athero-thrombotic plaque as a major risk factor for acute coronary syndromes. Several invasive and noninvasive imaging techniques are available to assess athero-thrombotic vessels.
Most of the standard techniques identify luminal diameter or stenosis, wall thickness, or plaque volume (such as multi-slice CT, angiography, IVUS, etc.); h
ESC Congress 2003: Stem cells – A tool for mending broken hearts?
We have shown that stem cell injections by catheters into diseased hearts are feasible and safe, even for very sick patients. Moreover, the results suggested strongly a potential ability of these cells to regenerate the arteries of the heart (called coronary arteries), and this regeneration improved the mechanical function of the heart, improving the heart failure condition of these patients. Since heart failure is a mo
ESC Congress 2003
Adult heart cells have limited regenerative capacity and therefore any significant cell loss, such as occurs during a heart attack, is mostly irreversible and may lead to the development of progressive heart failure. Congestive heart failure is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the western world, placing a significant economic burden on the health care systems. Despite advances in the medical, interventional, and surgical therapeutic measures, t
ESC Congress 2003
Heart attack and the resulting heart failure is still one of the leading causes of death in the western world. Therefore, new theraepeutical approaches to restore damaged heart tissue are indispensable. Prof. Hescheler’s research group has been working with murine embryonic stem cells for over 14 years now and was the first group worldwide to obviously measure physiological functions on embryonic stem cells.
Recently his group demonstrated that cardiac prec
Recoverying from third and fourth degree burns, the most damaging types, is a slow and painful process that inevitably leaves excessive scar tissue. Russian researchers have developed a pharmacological enzyme preparation to accelerate the debridement process and wound healing, which reduces the preparation time for grafting and diminishes scarring.
Their product, called ENZYCOL, is a mixture of collagenases from the Kamchatka crab that rapidly dissolves the dense collagen matrix of necrot
ESC Congress 2003
Aortic stenosis (AS) is the narrowing or obstruction of the heart´s aortic valve, which prevents it from opening properly and blocks the flow of blood from the left ventricle to the aorta. AS is common in the ageing population and has become the most frequent native valve disease in Europe. AS when severe, may cause left heart failure, fainting or angina, but the natural progression of less severe degrees is highly variable.
The risk factors for the developm
Surgical repair of such aneurysms and interposition of vascular protheses were until recently the only treatment option for complicated cases (diameter „d 5.5 cm; impending rupture; malperfusion syndrome; recurrent pain). Although great strides have been achieved by improving surgical techniques, postoperative complications (such as persistent paralysis of both legs, stroke, acute renal failure or pulmonary dysfunction) and 30-day mortality remain high. Especially elderly patients with accompanying
Are they really capable of replacing injured cells and reducing infarct size?
The new concept of cell transplantation has been addressed by two recent human investigations. Bone marrow cells of the patient are injected into the coronary circulation about one week after myocardial infarct to replace the injured cells and reduce the infarct size. This intervention seemed to be successful to reduce the contractile malefunction after myocardial infarction. The background of this observati
ESC Congress 2003: Hot Line I – Medical Treatment & Heart Failure
We have shown that a simple blood test measuring B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a marker of heart failure, greatly helps doctors to manage patients presenting with shortness of breath to the emergency department. Used in conjunction with other clinical information, rapid measurement of BNP reduced hospitalisations, reduced need for intensive care, reduced total treatment time and significantly reduced total treatmen
Bisphosphonate drugs reduce the risk of bone complications when used in patients whose cancer has spread to the bone, according to a new study in the BMJ.
Researchers reviewed over 30 studies examining the effect of bisphosphonates – a group of drugs commonly used to treat osteoporosis – on complications of secondary bone cancer. Cancers that commonly spread to the bone include breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma.
They found that patients given bisphosphonate drugs w
ESC Congress 2003
Sudden cardiac death from ventricular tachyarrhythmias is the leading cause of death in Europe and the US. It effects hundreds of thousands people each year. Many of them have known heart disease, mainly coronary artery disease. The implantable defibrillator (ICD) effectively treats such arrhythmias and prevents sudden cardiac death. Identification of patients at risk who may gain profit from prophylactic ICD implantation remains a difficult task for the cardiologist
b>New research has proved that sage can improve memory, confirming centuries-old theories.
British scientists have carried out the first clinical trials with healthy, young adults and found that those who had taken sage oil capsules performed significantly better in a word recall test.
The team, from the Medicinal Plant Research Centre (MPRC) at the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria, UK, have provided scientific evidence for claims dating back centuries.
They
An international study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET suggests that prognosis for patients with HIV/AIDS might be more reliably determined six months after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), rather than before the start of treatment.
HAART became widespread in more-developed countries from 1996 onwards, and has improved the prognosis of HIV-1 infection. However, not enough is known about how to predict the prognosis of people with HIV-1 infection starting HAART.
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have discovered how Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), the bacterium responsible for “flesh-eating” infections, gains a foothold in the body by subverting a key immune system cell.
“The ability of this very common bug, which causes strep throat and other infections, to modulate the gene activity of an immune system cell is remarkable and has never before been
Effective and safe complementary nutrition therapy
The results of a new double-blind randomized placebo controlled human trial of people with type 2 diabetes revealed a potential mechanism that may explain the ability of chromium picolinate to improve insulin resistance in human skeletal muscle – the primary site for glucose metabolism. These data suggest that when chromium picolinate is added to the diet, insulin sensitivity improves for people with diabetes, a chronic disease that a
A gene present in nearly one in eight people is the most commonly inherited cancer susceptibility gene identified so far, increasing cancer risk in carriers by 26 percent, according to a study published by researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital in today’s Journal of Clinical Oncology. More common than the BRCA gene mutations, Transforming Growth Factor Beta Receptor 1*6A (TGFBR1*6A) may increase risk of breast cancer by 48 percent, ovarian cancer by 53 percent, and colon ca
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