Genetic variant might have a role in the development of atrial fibrillation

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1225 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Genetic determinants of variation in early response to warfarin

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1226 | Full Text | PDF (65K)

Support for surgery in asymptomatic patients with mitral regurgitation

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1227 | Full Text | PDF (72K)

Renal dysfunction and prognosis in patients with heart failure

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1228 | Full Text | PDF (67K)

Increasing use of secondary prevention medication at root of improved post-MI outcome

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1229 | Full Text | PDF (72K)

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is extremely rare in elite athletes

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1230 | Full Text | PDF (64K)

Novel protocol improves survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1231 | Full Text | PDF (70K)

High lipoprotein(a) levels independently predict risk of coronary heart disease

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1232 | Full Text | PDF (64K)

Transplanted tissue-engineered smooth-muscle sheets promote neovascularization

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1233 | Full Text | PDF (64K)

Out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation: is chest compression enough?

Gordon A Ewy

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1223 | Full Text | PDF (166K)

What are the clinical effects of bone marrow cell therapy in patients with severe coronary artery disease?

L Christian Napp and Helmut Drexler

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1221 | Full Text | PDF (170K)

Sunitinib-related cardiotoxicity: an interdisciplinary issue

Michael S Ewer, Daniel J Lenihan and Aarif Y Khakoo

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1222 | Full Text | PDF (166K)

Prospective electrocardiogram-gating: a new direction for CT coronary angiography?

Swaminatha V Gurudevan and Jagat Narula

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1224 | Full Text | PDF (173K)

Long-term outcomes after Fontan surgery

Jack Rychik

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1220 | Full Text | PDF (167K)

What are the risk factors for progression of coronary artery calcification in patients with type 2 diabetes?

Lars Rydén

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1208 | Full Text | PDF (168K)

What isn't taught in medical schools: the William Wordsworth lesson

Alejandro Lucia, Carl Foster, Margarita Pérez and Joaquín Arenas

In this opinion piece, Dr Alejandro Lucia and colleagues assert that physically inactive modern lifestyles are incompatible with our genetic makeup, which is essentially unchanged from that of our Paleolithic ancestors. The authors highlight the importance of regular physical exercise in preventing the 'diseases of civilization' and to achieving cardiovascular health.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1241 | Full Text | PDF (189K)

Diastolic heart failure: mechanisms and controversies

Maral Ouzounian, Douglas S Lee and Peter P Liu

Considerable controversy continues to surround diastolic heart failure—is diastolic heart failure even a separate entity from systolic heart failure? In this Review, Maral Ouzounian, Douglas Lee and Peter Liu examine the evolving understanding of this important, albeit controversial, condition from molecular mechanisms to how the population is affected.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1245 | Full Text | PDF (623K)

Cardiovascular effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate and progesterone: a case of mistaken identity?

R Kent Hermsmeyer, Theresa L Thompson, Gerald M Pohost and Juan Carlos Kaski

There is considerable semantic confusion when it comes to differentiating between the array of chemically and functionally distinct progestins used therapeutically. Hermsmeyer et al. consider the research reported to date, clearly distinguishing between the cardiovascular actions of estrogen, medroxyprogesterone acetate (a synthetic progestin) and progesterone (the naturally occurring progestin).

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1234 | Full Text | PDF (320K)

Cardiomyopathy induced by pulmonary vein tachycardia cured by catheter ablation

Xiao-Ke Liu, Bernard J Gersh and Yong-Mei Cha

In this month's Case Study, Cha and colleagues present a 51-year-old male patient referred for consideration for heart transplantation because of recently diagnosed congestive heart failure refractory to medical therapy. He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy resulting from pulmonary vein tachycardia, which was treated with catheter-based radiofrequency ablation of pulmonary vein tachycardia focus.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1243 | Full Text | PDF (366K)

Evaluation of a screening protocol using auscultation and portable echocardiography to detect asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease in Tongan schoolchildren

Jonathan R Carapetis, Myra Hardy, Toakase Fakakovikaetau, Rohayati Taib, Lyn Wilkinson, Daniel J Penny and Andrew C Steer

Rheumatic heart disease is an important problem in developing countries but many cases are detected only when the disease has progressed to cardiac failure. Screening can detect cases earlier, but there are no screening guidelines. In this paper the authors describe a novel screening protocol and report a high echocardiographically confirmed prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among Tongan schoolchildren.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1185 | Full Text | PDF (293K)

See also: Clinical Context by Poole-Wilson & Seth

Relationships between leptin and C-reactive protein with cardiovascular disease in the adult general population

Abel Romero-Corral, Justo Sierra-Johnson, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, Randal J Thomas, Prachi Singh, Michal Hoffmann, Aynur Okcay, Josef Korinek, Robert Wolk and Virend K Somers

Leptin may be a key regulator of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, which in turn, is a marker of systemic inflammation. Both leptin and CRP are predictors of cardiovascular disease (CVD). High leptin levels are independently associated with CVD even after adjustment for CRP; elevated CRP levels are not associated with CVD after adjustment for leptin. However, subjects with increased leptin and CRP are at the highest risk for CVD.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1218 | Full Text | PDF (379K)

See also: Clinical Context by Lavie et al.

Rheumatic fever: the potential advantages of technology

Philip A Poole-Wilson and Sandeep Seth

Clinical Context commentary on Carapetis et al. This article sets out the clinical context of the research presented by Carapetis et al. in an accompanying article in this issue. No screening guidelines exist for early detection of rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The lack of agreed diagnostic criteria is one of the reasons why large proportions of cases in resource poor nations go untreated and are detected only when the disease has progressed to cardiac failure. Here, Poole-Wilson and Seth discuss the study carried out by Jonathan Carapetis and colleagues—a cross-sectional screening protocol in Tongan primary school children. The protocol designed by Carapetis et al. identified the highest echocardiographically confirmed prevalence of RHD reported to date. Poole-Wilson and Seth explore how modern technology, in the shape of portable echocardiography, can help to move the focus on rheumatic heart disease away from epidemiology and crude preventive programs, and towards screening programs that can effectively identify people who should receive treatment before cardiac failure occurs.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1216 | Full Text | PDF (162K)

Untangling the heavy cardiovascular burden of obesity

Carl J Lavie, Richard V Milani and Hector O Ventura

Clinical Context commentary on Romero-Corral et al.

doi:10.1038/ncpcardio1257 | Full Text | PDF (169K)