Juniper Publishers Journal of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Therapy

Abstract Hypertensive Cardiomyopathy (HTN-CM) is a structural cardiac disorder generally accompanied by concentric or eccentric Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH) associated with diastolic or/and systolic dysfunction in patients with persistent systemic hypertension. It occurs in the absence of other cardiac diseases capable of causing myocardial hypertrophy or cardiac dysfunction. Long standing arterial hypertension (HTN) leads to structural and functional myocardial abnormalities resulting in myocardial ischemia, fibrosis, and hypertrophy. HTN-CM is predominantly a disease of impaired relaxation rather than impaired contractility, although subtle myocardial systolic abnormalities could be detected recently by Global Longitudinal Systolic Strain (GLS) Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE). Importantly, the accompanying LVH is itself a risk factor for mortality and morbidity and is considered an independent predictor for Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). Therefore, early d...

JUNIPER PUBLISHERS - OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY & CARDIOVASCULAR THERAPY Abstract Background: Idiopathic premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) are considered a benign form of cardiac arrhythmia. However, several reports demonstrated that frequent PVCs were associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, increased LV dimensions and cardiomyopathy. Case Report: A 52-year-old lady with underlying diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia presented with dyspnea and palpitation. Echocardiography showed ejection fraction (EF) of 25% with LV systolic diameter 5.2cm and mild functional mitral regurgitation (MR). Holter revealed 13657 isolated and couplet PVCs which represented 11.2% of total QRS count in 24 hours. Cardiac MRI showed no inducible ischemia, fibrosis, infarction or inflammation. Her baseline 12-lead ECG showed inferior axis PVCs with left bundle branch block morphology. Electrophysiology study using the Carto® 3 System (Biosense Webster, Irv...

JUNIPER PUBLISHERS-OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY & CARDIOVASCULAR THERAPY Introduction In Japan as recently as 1991 TakoTsubo recognized as a syndrome, the physicians noted the characteristic changes in Left Ventricular apical ballooning similar to an octopus trap. Tako meaning Octopus and Tsubo meaning Japanese trap pot. It is also sinuously known as apical ballooning syndrome, acute stress-induced cardiomyopathy or commonly as broken heart syndrome (Figure 1). Etiology Caused by sudden surging stress hormones catecholamines (are epinephrine (adrenaline), nor-epinephrine (nor-adrenaline), and dopamine). Release of the hormones epinephrine and nor-epinephrine from the adrenal medulla of the adrenal glands is part of the fight-or-flight response for example, adrenaline essentially “stuns” or contracts the heart, triggering changes in heart muscle cells or coronary blood vessels (or both) that prevent the left ventricle from pumping effectively. Women ...