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A substantial proportion of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries is caused by cardiac complications of 'neglected diseases', such as Chagas disease, endomyocardial fibrosis, and rheumatic heart disease. Here, Yacoub et al. discuss management strategies for what they believe are potentially preventable diseases.
Elucidating arrhythmia mechanisms in heart failure at the basic ionic level will facilitate the design of novel therapeutic approaches. In this Review, Nass and colleagues examine some of the important changes in ventricular ion channels and calcium-handling proteins that underlie electrical remodeling.
Little is known about the basic pathologic mechanisms in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), despite ADHF being a large clinical problem. Here, David Feldman, Terry Elton, Benjamin Sun, Mickey Martin and Mark Ziolo focus on β-adrenergic receptor signaling as one of the final common pathways that could directly contribute to ADHF.
Quantitative assessment of plaque composition has not been possible with grayscale IVUS analysis—until now. Here König and coworkers examine intravascular ultrasonography-derived virtual histology, a method which can provide detailed analysis of plaque morphology, providing more information on the vulnerability of coronary plaques and, in turn, the risk of acute clinical events.
A definitive diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis relies on the results of endomyocardial biopsy. In this Case Study Greif et al. describe a patient whose biopsy was negative for sarcoidosis—leading to a diagnosis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy. Sarcoidosis was only revealed after the patient had progressed to end-stage heart failure and undergone cardiac transplantation several years later.
