Treadmill exercise testing of asymptomatic men and women without evidence of heart disease

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis of differences in performance including differences in ST-T wave changes between healthy men and women submitted to an exercise stress test. Two hundred (45.4 percent) men and 241 (54.6 percent) women (mean age: 38.7 ¡À 11.0 years) were submitted to an exercise stress test. Physiologic and electrocardiographic variables were compared by the Student t-test and the chi-square test. To test the hypothesis of differences in ST-segment changes, data were ranked with functional models based on weighted least squares. To evaluate the influence of gender and age on the diagnosis of ST-segment abnormality, a logistic model was adjusted; P < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Rate-pressure product, duration of exercise and estimated functional capacity were higher in men (P < 0.05). Sixteen (6.7 percent) women and 9 (4.5 percent) men demonstrated ST-segment upslope ¡Ý0.15 mV or downslope ¡Ý0.10 mV; the difference was not statistically significant. Age increase of one year added 4 percent to the chance of upsloping of segment ST ¡Ý0.15 mV or downsloping of segment ST ¡Ý0.1 mV (P = 0.03; risk ratio = 1.040, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) = 1.002-1.080). Heart rate recovery was higher in women (P < 0.05). The chance of women showing an increase of systolic blood pressure ¡Ü30 mmHg was 85 percent higher (P = 0.01; risk ratio = 1.85, 95 percentCI = 1.1-3.05). No significant difference in the frequency of ST-T wave changes was observed between men and women. Other differences may be related to different physical conditioning.

Association of HDL cholesterol and triglycerides with mortality in patients with heart failure

It has been demonstrated that there is an association between serum lipoproteins and survival rate in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, as well as in patients with non-ischemic causes of heart failure. We tested the hypothesis of an association between serum lipoprotein levels and prognosis in a cohort of outpatients with heart failure, including Chagas' heart disease. The lipid profile of 833 outpatients with heart failure in functional classes III and IV of the New York Heart Association, with a mean age of 46.9 ± 10.6 years, 655 (78.6 percent) men and 178 (21.4 percent) women, was studied from April 1991 to June 2003. The survival rate was estimated by the Kaplan-Meyer's method and the Cox proportional hazards models. Etiology of heart failure was ischemic cardiomyopathy in 171 (21 percent) patients, Chagas' heart disease in 144 (17 percent), hypertensive cardiomyopathy in 136 (16 percent), and other etiologies in 83 (10 percent). In 299 (36 percent) patients, heart failure was ascribed to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Variables significantly associated with mortality were age (hazard ratio, HR = 1.02; 95 percentCI = 1.01-1.03; P = 0.0074), male gender (HR = 1.77; 95 percentCI = 1.2-2.62; P = 0.004), idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (HR = 1.81; 95 percentCI = 1.16-2.82; P = 0.0085), serum triglycerides (HR = 0.97; 95 percentCI = 0.96-0.98; P < 0.0001), and HDL cholesterol (HR = 0.99; 95 percentCI = 0.99-1.0; P = 0.0280). Therefore, higher serum HDL cholesterol and higher serum triglycerides were associated with lower mortality in this cohort of outpatients with heart failure.

Endocardite por estreptococo do grupo D (S. bovis e S. faecalis) e tumor de colon. Apresentação de dois casos / Endocarditis due to group D Streptococcus (Sbovis and S faecalis) and tumor of the colon.Report of 2 cases

Sao relatados 2 casos de pacientes com endocardite infecciosa e tumor de tubo digestivo. No primeiro caso, um paciente de 50 anos, o agente etiologico foi o Steptococcus bovis e foram identificados multiplos adenomas vilosos a partir do enema opaco, realizado por ser este o agente etiologico. No outro caso, um paciente de 55 anos de idade apresentou endocardite por S. faecalis e insuficiencia cardiaca severa, necessitando de implante de bioprotese mitral e aortica.A persistencia de anemia prolongada apos a operacao levou a realizacao de enema opaco identificando-se falha de enchimento no angulo hepatico de colon, sendo o paciente submetido a hemicolectomia direita por adenocarminoma tubular, bem diferenciado. Os autores sublinham a necessidade de identificar os estreptococos ate a especie e a necessidade de investigacao do tubo digestivo no caso de identificacao de Streptococcus bovis, mesmo na ausencia de sintomas do tubo digestivo

Endocardite infecciosa aguda por Enterobacter sp relacionada a presenca de cateter venoso central como complicacacao de cetoacidose diabetica. Relato de um caso. / Acute infective endocarditis due to Enterobacter sp related to the presence of central venous catheter as a complication of diabetic ketoacidosis.Report of a case

Os autores apresentam o caso de uma paciente de 42 anos de idade, portadora de diabete melito insulino-dependente, sem evidencia de cardiopatia previa, que desenvolveu cetoacidose diabetica severa, seguindo-se endocardite aguda por Enterobacter sp, relacionada a presenca de cateter venoso central. A paciente faleceu, sem que as manifestacoes clinicas permitissem aclarar o diagnostico, que foi feito a necropsia. Os autores discutem a endocardite como complicacao, sua etiologia, os fatores facilitadores da infeccao e os diagnosticos precoce e diferencial

Endocardite infecciosa - aspectos terapeuticos. / Infectious endocarditis therapeutic aspects

Os autores abordam a evolucao da terapeutica da endocardite infecciosa na era pre-antibioticoterapia e apos o advento da mesma, enfantizando o tratamento clinico-cirurgico atual na fase aguda da doenca. Com base na experiencia do Instituto do Coracao do Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (INCOR), discute-se a exequibilidade do tratamento cirurgico e suas indicacoes: 1) Insuficiencia cardiaca refrataria a tratamento clinico; 2) Falha no tratamento etiologico;3) Complicacoes viscerais; 4) Etiologia por fungos. Os resultados com o tratamento operatorio na fase de estado da doenca sao analisados