Primary benign schwannoma of the left ventricle coursing under the left anterior descending artery

A 57-year-old female patient with a mass adjacent to the left ventricle coursing along the left anterior descending artery has been reported. The maximum possible resection was performed at a maximum degree; however without complete removal. Histological examination revealed a benign primary schwannoma of the heart. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of benign schwannoma of left ventricle in an adult.     

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm after myocardial infarction

In this report, a case of a left ventricular (LV) pseudoaneurysm due to a previous myocardial infarction, which was repaired successfully, is described. A 62-year-old man, with a history of acute anterior wall myocardial infarction 6 months previously, was admitted with the complaints of acute dyspnea and palpitation. Echocardiography revealed an LV aneurysm, and ventriculography showed ventricular dysfunction and an LV pseudoaneurysm. Coronary angiography showed total occlusion of the proximal segment of the left anterior descending artery with a very thin lumen and insufficient retrograde filling. Under cardiopulmonary bypass and beating heart, the pseudoaneurysm was resected and the defect on the ventricular free wall was closed by the remodeling ventriculoplasty method of Dor. Histopathologic examination of the resected material confirmed the diagnosis of pseudoaneurysm. The postoperative course of our patient was uneventful. He was discharged on the ninth postoperative day.     

Assessment of atrial conduction time by tissue Doppler echocardiography and P-wave dispersion in smokers

Introduction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between cigarette smoking and atrial rhythm disorders with the use of noninvasive methods.

Methods

The study population consisted of 50 healthy volunteer smokers and 40 healthy volunteer non-smokers who had normal echocardiographic parameters and similar sex and age profiles. P-wave dispersion (PWD) was calculated from the 12-lead surface ECG. Left ventricle (LV) end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters, LV ejection fraction, and interatrial and intraatrial electromechanical delay were measured by tissue Doppler imaging and conventional echocardiography.

Results

Isovolumetric relaxation time and deceleration time were significantly higher (91.5?±?11 vs. 82.35?±?8.6, p?p?p?=?0.003). There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to Sm and Em values, Am value, and E/A and E/Em ratios. However, the Em/Am ratio was significantly lower in smokers (1.28?±?0.21 vs. 1.44?±?0.33, p?p?p?r?=?0.567, p?r?=?0.653, p?=?0.001).

Conclusion

We have demonstrated the relationship between inter- and intraatrial electromechanical delay and PWD. These parameters may be useful predictive markers for the development of AF in the asymptomatic period before cardiac rhythm disturbances occur. This finding may indicate that smokers have an increased risk of developing atrial rhythm disturbances.     

Effects of electromagnetic radiation from 3G mobile phone on heart rate, blood pressure and ECG parameters in rats

Effects of electromagnetic energy radiated from mobile phones (MPs) on heart is one of the research interests. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from third-generation (3G) MP on the heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and ECG parameters and also to investigate whether exogenous melatonin can exert any protective effect on these parameters. In this study 36 rats were randomized and evenly categorized into 4 groups: group 1 (3G-EMR exposed); group 2 (3G-EMR exposed + melatonin); group 3 (control) and group 4 (control + melatonin). The rats in groups 1 and 2 were exposed to 3G-specific MP's EMR for 20 days (40 min/day; 20 min active (speech position) and 20 min passive (listening position)). Group 2 was also administered with melatonin for 20 days (5 mg/kg daily during the experimental period). ECG signals were recorded from cannulated carotid artery both before and after the experiment, and BP and HR were calculated on 1st, 3rd and 5th min of recordings. ECG signals were processed and statistically evaluated. In our experience, the obtained results did not show significant differences in the BP, HR and ECG parameters among the groups both before and after the experiment. Melatonin, also, did not exhibit any additional effects, neither beneficial nor hazardous, on the heart hemodynamics of rats. Therefore, the strategy (noncontact) of using a 3G MP could be the reason for ineffectiveness; and use of 3G MP, in this perspective, seems to be safer compared to the ones used in close contact with the head. However, further study is needed for standardization of such an assumption.     

The levels of oxidant and antioxidant in patients with COPD

It is determinate that oxidant-antioxidant imbalance is responsible for pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and smoking is playing a part in the pathogenesis. It was aimed to investigate the oxidant-antioxidant imbalance in smokers and pathogenesis of COPD and their relations with lung functions. This study was done prospectively in Firat University Medical Faculty, Department of Chest Diseases. The levels of plasma malonyldialdehyde (MDA), erythrocyte reducted glutathione (GSH) and erythrocyte catalase were studied in 20 patients with COPD, in 20 smokers and in 20 nonsmokers. All of the cases were male. Pulmonary function tests were done to all cases and the predicted values of FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/FVC were measured. The levels of plasma MDA: 1.44 +/- 0.23 nmol/mL, 1.51 +/- 0.27 nmol/mL and 1.29 +/- 0.13 nmol/mL, the levels of erythrocyte GSH: 0.33 +/- 0.13 micromol/g.Hb, 0.34 +/- 0.17 micromol/g.Hb and 0.44 +/- 0.14 micromol/g.Hb and the levels of catalase were 22.82 +/- 17.47 k/g.Hb, 32.88 +/- 22.36 k/g.Hb and 55.73 +/- 26.56 k/g.Hb in patients with COPD, smokers and healthy nonsmokers respectively. There was no significance in each three parameters between smokers and patients with COPD. A significant difference was observed in each three parameters between nonsmokers and patients with COPD (MDA: p= 0.001, GSH: p= 0.028 and catalase: p< 0.001) and between smokers and nonsmokers (MDA: p= 0.035, GSH: p= 0.016 and catalase: p= 0.005). In all three groups, no significant correlation was found between FEV1 (predicted %), FEV1/FVC (predicted %) and the values of erythrocyte catalase, GSH and plasma MDA. In this study, there was an oxidant-antioxidant imbalance systemically in smokers and in patients with COPD. However, decreasing in the antioxidant capacity and/or increasing in the oxidant capacity either not correlate with spirometric measurements of airway obstruction in smokers or in patients with COPD were observed. We concluded that the use of cigarette increased oxidative stress by causing plasma lipid peroxidation and imbalance in erythrocyte antioxidant capacity.     

Effects of rosuvastatin on ADMA,rhokinase, NADPH oxidase,caveolin-1, hsp 90 and NFkB levels in a rat model of myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion

Ischaemic heart disease remains among the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The most common form is reduction in blood flow in the coronary arteries supplying blood to the myocardium due to atherosclerotic plaques or vasospasm.1 After ischaemia, reperfusion of the tissue is of great importance for maintenance of the viability of the ischaemic tissue. However reperfusion may paradoxically lead to some morphological changes, enzyme destruction and even death of the still-viable tissue that may be rescued.2Ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury is the mainstay of myocardial infarction, cerebral ischaemia, stroke, haemorrhagic shock and surgical interventions such as organ transplantation, cardiac surgery, coronary angioplasty and thrombolytic treatment-related pathophysiology.3 Endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation are among the most common mechanisms of I/R injury.4,5Asymmetrical dimethyl arginine (ADMA) is an endogenous nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) inhibitor. Its importance is becoming more recognised and further studies are required to determine its use in clinical diagnosis. Available evidence indicates that oxidative stress leads to changes in the activity of enzymes involved in the production and degradation of ADMA.4,5 High levels of ADMA and low levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the coronary arteries of patients with vasospastic angina have been reported.6In the cardiovascular system, NADPH oxidase accounts for the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is produced not only during I/R injury but also under physiological conditions.7 The pro-oxidative NADPH oxidase is present in the plasma membranes of neutrophils, which are an important source of free radical formation and I/R injury.8 Additionally, the rhokinase pathway, which has an important role in regulation of vascular smooth muscle tone, has been shown to be involved in I/R injury, thus making its inhibition a potential target for limiting I/R injury.9It has been reported that inflammatory NFkB expression increased in the I/R-related infarct area; inflammation was suppressed when NFkB expression was inhibited, and cardiac preservation was provided.10 In this context, caveolin-1 was shown to regulate eNOS activation consistently with other signalling molecules such as hsp 90.11 Interaction of hsp 90 with eNOS increases eNOS activity, and consequently, NO production increases.12,13 Myocardial caveolin-1 content is reported to decrease following ischaemia–reperfusion.14 Caveolin-1 deficiency was noted to aggravate cardiac dysfunction and reduce the survival rate in mice that had experienced myocardial infarction (MI).15Rosuvastatin is a synthetic hydrophilic statin widely used in the treatment of dyslipidaemia, as it increases levels of highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Statins have been reported to have anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antithrombotic, anti-atherogenic and antihypertensive effects in addition to their cholesterol-lowering effects.8,16-18 Recent studies indicate that rosuvastatin decreases levels of ADMA in hypercholesterolaemia,19 levels of caveolin,20 and also NFkB levels21 in subaracnoid bleeding.To our knowledge, the effects of rosuvastatin on ADMA, rhokinase, caveolin-1, hsp 90 and NFkB levels are not known in cardiac I/R injury. In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of rosuvastatin on oxidative stress-related rhokinase, NADPH oxidase, ADMA, caveolin-1 and hsp 90 levels in a rat model of I/R injury.