Jozef Bartunek

..The aim of this study was to investigate the physiopathology of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in a model of healed myocardial infarction in dogs...

....

..The proactive scrutiny of these phenomena could eventually facilitate the translation of the promise of cardiac regeneration into a safe and effective therapy...

..We tested the feasibility, safety, and functional effects of the use of enriched CD133+ progenitor cells after intracoronary administration in patients with recent myocardial infarction...

..Here we highlight several aspects of the timing of intracoronary stem cell therapy and focus on time-related questions that are relevant to the design of future experimental and basic studies...

..The study investigated the expression and relationship of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair enzymes with hemodynamic and nitric oxide (NO)-mediated stress in the failing myocardium...

....

....

..We studied whether functional improvement after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is associated with reversal of the heart failure (HF) gene program...

..We examined the influence of epicardial vessel atherosclerosis on coronary microvascular function using the index of myocardial resistance (IMR)...

..To evaluate the effect of thrombus aspiration in a real-world all-comer patient population with STEMI undergoing primary PCI...

..We investigated serial changes in functional MR in relation to left ventricular (LV) remodelling and cardiopulmonary performance after CRT...

....

..We tested the hypothesis that residual platelet reactivity after clopidogrel correlates with the extent and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)...

..We investigated whether acute and chronic cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) was capable of reversing the blunted FFR and MCR and if this was associated with upregulation of beta1-AR...

..The aim of the study was to quantify the changes in cardiopulmonary function after minimally invasive video-assisted mitral valve repair for organic mitral regurgitation (MR) in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients...

....

..This study sought to define the additional effective radiation dose, procedural time, and contrast medium needed to obtain fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements after a diagnostic coronary angiogram...

..CONCLUSIONS: In patients with multivessel disease, PCI of hemodynamically non-significant stenoses can be safely deferred, even if initially planned on the basis of the angiogram...

..12 (-0.39-0.05) mm, respectively, NS]. Early intracoronary administration of hematopoietic BM stem cells in patients with previous MI is associated with accelerated luminal loss and reduced conductance of the infarct-related artery...

..This link might explain the unfavorable PCI outcomes in patients with more severe endothelial impairment...

....

..We conducted a randomized study to compare the effect of direct stenting (DS) and conventional stenting (CS) on post-procedural index of microcirculatory resistance (IMR) values...

..6, 95% confidence interval 1.9 to 11.5, p=0.001). In conclusion, point-of-care assessment of clopidogrel response reliably predicted PMI after low- to medium-risk elective PCI for stable angina...

..Despite their controversial effect, "renal" doses of dopamine (3-5 microg kg(-1) min(-1)) are often used in intensive care units to preserve renal function and to improve final outcome...

..CONCLUSIONS: The normal renal flow reserve averages approximately 2 in humans with normal renal function. An IR bolus injection of 50 microg x kg(-1) of dopamine is the most convenient means to elicit maximal renal hyperemia...

..The aim of cardiac resynchronization therapy is correction of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony. However, little is known about the optimal timing of LV and right ventricular (RV) stimulation...

..Available data are less convincing in small vessel disease. Aim of our study is to assess long-term clinical outcome of drug-eluting stents (DES) vs. bare-metal stents (BMS) in small coronary vessel disease...

..Our purpose was to evaluate the appropriateness of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) as an anatomical standard for decision making in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease...

..The aim of this study was to decipher the angiogenic, atherosclerotic, and inflammatory mRNA profiles in whole blood samples collected at the site of coronary occlusion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)...

..Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common after heart transplantation (HTx). This study assessed the influence of CKD on exercise capacity and ventilatory efficiency after HTx...

..However, heart failure is associated with several abnormalities of beta receptor signalling, and underlying mechanisms are not clear...

..We aimed to validate the technique of measuring the coronary flow reserve (CFR) with coronary pressure measurements against an established thermodilution technique...

..This study investigated the influence of intracoronary enalaprilat on coronary microvascular function and peri-procedural outcome measures in patients with stable angina undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)...

..This improvement is associated with optimal platelet inhibition and it is not observed in patients with post-clopidogrel high platelet reactivity...

..We studied the effects of different drug-polymer-device iterations on endothelium-dependent coronary vasomotion. Systemic markers of endothelial inflammation were correlated with coronary vasomotor changes...

..We postulated that both diastolic and systolic load modulate B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) production in human pressure overload hypertrophy/failure...

..Natriuretic peptides (NPs) modulate vasodilatation and vascular remodelling. In human coronary explants, expression of NPs mRNA and their respective receptors is significantly more pronounced with advanced atherosclerotic lesions...

..In the present study, we investigated whether the blunted vasodilator flow response is related to indices of left ventricular performance in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy...

..The aim of this study was to assess the clinical outcome of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided PCI in the treatment of small coronary vessel lesions as compared with an angio-guided PCI...

..001) were observed at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The present data suggest that an exaggerated myocardial response to beta-adrenergic stimulation plays a role in the mechanisms of chest pain in some patients with normal coronary arteries...

....

..Heart failure is associated with a reduction in left ventricular (LV) contractility as evidenced by a blunted force-frequency response (FFR) and downregulation of contractility regulating genes...

..78, p < 0.0001) at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of +VIC by pulsed-wave TDI is a simple and accurate method that predicts recovery of contractile function after revascularization in patients with a recent myocardial infarction...

..90 can be considered a threshold for defining a significant renal artery stenosis (RAS). The aim of this study was to compare renal angiography (QRA) and colour duplex ultrasound (CDUS) to pressure measurements in assessing RAS...

....

..The purpose of this study was to define "significant" renal artery stenosis (i.e., a stenosis able to induce arterial hypertension)...

..No data are available on the response of the OUES after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx)...

..When only patients without acute LVEF impairment were considered, CIN confirmed its negative prognostic effect on the 1-year clinical outcomes...

..We aimed to investigate the impact of CRT on freedom from Tx and death in transplant candidates with end-stage heart failure...

....

..Future prospective studies should be performed in larger and more diverse sets of patients presenting with ischemia, and in a complementary fashion in order to provide valuable tools for clinical decision making...

..The present study investigates the incidence and functional significance of iNOS expression and nitrotyrosine formation in patients with heart failure...

..The consequential changes in FFR values do not significantly affect clinical decision making...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of rs5065 atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) gene variant on coronary artery disease (CAD) and its outcomes and to gain potential mechanistic insights on the association with CAD...

..This article is the consensus of this group, of what clinical studies are needed in this field, and the challenges to be addressed in the translation of progenitor/stem cell biology to repair of the heart...

..Nevertheless, conflicting data have been reported concerning their influence on CAD and cardiovascular clinical events...

....

....

..CONCLUSIONS: A hybrid strategy combining FFR-guided PCI and RE-MIDCAB seems safe and provides selected patients with a functionally complete revascularization with minimal surgical trauma and excellent clinical outcomes...

..Therefore, OUES could be helpful to assess exercise performance in advanced heart failure patients unable to perform a maximal exercise test. Further studies are needed to confirm our hypothesis...

....

..The association between nonsignificant stenosis of the native artery and high occlusion rate of the arterial bypass conduit raises concerns about the use of IMA in the treatment of native vessels with only mild or moderate stenosis...

..Coronary allograft vasculopathy is a severe complication of heart transplantation. We used virtual histology intravascular ultrasound to characterize plaque burden and tissue composition over time in heart transplant recipients...

....

..In contrast to physical exercise, dobutamine does not induce "paradoxical vasoconstriction" of atherosclerotic coronary arteries...

..We focus upon the molecular portrait of dyssynchronous heart failure and how cardiac resynchronization therapy influences electrophysiologic, metabolic and adrenergic pathways...

..The present study compares different dosages and routes of administration of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), adenosine, contrast medium, and papaverine regarding their potential to achieve both maximal and steady-state hyperemia...

....

..This review focuses on the physiology of natriuretic peptides as a group and brain natriuretic peptide in more detail, its structure and regulation as well as its effects at the cellular level...

..This study aimed at assessing the role of beta2-ARs in normal, mildly atherosclerotic, and stenotic human coronary arteries...

..We aimed to perform a meta-analysis of clinical trials on intracoronary cell therapy after acute myocardial infarction (AMI)...

....

..CONCLUSIONS: Elevated cardiac NEP activity in pressure loaded and failing human hearts may increase the local degradation of bradykinin and natriuretic peptides...

....

..In addition, a comprehensive summary is provided of the currently available studies investigating a cell therapy-related effect on left ventricular function, myocardial perfusion, scar tissue, and myocardial viability...

....

....

..We report a prospective multicentre clinical trial of coronary implantations of absorbable magnesium stents...

..However, few data are available regarding the baseline cardiac asynchrony and clinical outcome after CRT. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prognostic value of pre-CRT cardiac asynchrony on clinical outcome after CRT...

..Therefore, the objectively measurable OUES is the preferred submaximal predictor of functional capacity in the assessment of aged patients with CAD...