Pericardial Effusion and Compressive Disorders of the Heart: Influence of New Technology on Unraveling its Pathophysiology and Hemodynamics.

Constrictive pericarditis and cardiac tamponade cause severe diastolic dysfunction, but do not depress systolic function until the agonal state has been reached. Multimodality cardiovascular imaging has brought the nuances of pericardial disease to the domain of the practicing cardiologist. This introduction is a revised article originally written by the late Dr Shabetai for a pericardial diseases textbook which was not published. He was the editor of previous Pericardial Diseases issue for Cardiology Clinics in the 1980s, it is most appropriate to begin our issue with his insights. The remaining articles describe advances in diagnosis and management, focusing on clinically important aspects of pericardial diseases.

Isolated quadriceps training increases maximal exercise capacity in chronic heart failure: the role of skeletal muscle convective and diffusive oxygen transport.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the benefits of small muscle mass exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND: How central cardiorespiratory and/or peripheral skeletal muscle factors are altered with small muscle mass training in CHF is unknown. METHODS: We studied muscle structure, and oxygen (O(2)) transport and metabolism at maximal cycle (whole-body) and knee-extensor exercise (KE) (small muscle mass) in 6 healthy controls and 6 patients with CHF who then performed 8 weeks of KE training (both legs, separately) and repeated these assessments. RESULTS: Pre-training cycling and KE peak leg O(2) uptake (Vo(2peak)) were ~17% and ~15% lower, respectively, in the patients compared with controls. Structurally, KE training increased quadriceps muscle capillarity and mitochondrial density by ~21% and ~25%, respectively. Functionally, despite not altering maximal cardiac output, KE training increased maximal O(2) delivery (~54%), arterial-venous O(2) difference (~10%), and muscle O(2) diffusive conductance (D(M)O(2)) (~39%) (assessed during KE), thereby increasing single-leg Vo(2peak) by ~53%, to a level exceeding that of the untrained controls. Post-training, during maximal cycling, O(2) delivery (~40%), arterial-venous O(2) difference (~15%), and D(M)O(2) (~52%) all increased, yielding an increase in Vo(2peak) of ~40%, matching the controls. CONCLUSIONS: In the face of continued central limitations, clear improvements in muscle structure, peripheral convective and diffusive O(2) transport, and subsequently, O(2) utilization support the efficacy of local skeletal muscle training as a powerful approach to combat exercise intolerance in CHF.

Limited maximal exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure: partitioning the contributors.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the factors limiting maximal exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). BACKGROUND: Maximal exercise capacity, an important index of health in CHF, might be limited by central and/or peripheral factors; however, their contributions remain poorly understood. METHODS: We studied oxygen (O2) transport and metabolism at maximal cycle (centrally taxing) and knee-extensor (KE) (peripherally taxing) exercise in 12 patients with CHF and 8 healthy control subjects in normoxia and hyperoxia (100% O2). RESULTS: Peak oxygen uptake (VO2) while cycling was 33% lower in CHF patients than in control subjects. By experimental design, peak cardiac output was reduced during KE exercise when compared with cycling (approximately 35%); although muscle mass specific peak leg VO2 was increased equally in both groups (approximately 70%), VO2 in the CHF patients was still 28% lower. Hyperoxia increased O2 carriage in all cases but only facilitated a 7% increase in peak leg VO2 in the CHF patients during cycling, the most likely scenario to benefit from increased O2 delivery. Several relationships, peak leg VO2 (KE + cycle) to capillary-fiber-ratio and capillaries around a fiber to mitochondrial volume, were similar in both groups (r = 0.6-0.7). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple independent observations, including a significant skeletal muscle metabolic reserve, suggest skeletal muscle per se contributes minimally to limiting maximal cycle exercise in CHF or healthy control subjects. However, the consistent attenuation of the convective and diffusive components of O2 transport (25% to 30%) in patients with CHF during both cycle and even KE exercise compared with control subjects reveals an underlying peripheral O2 transport limitation from blood to skeletal muscle in this pathology.

Pathogenesis, management, and prevention of recurrent pericarditis.

Recurrent pericarditis is one of the most troublesome complications of acute pericarditis and, despite recent advances, remains one of the most challenging problems in pericardial diseases. The exact recurrence rate is unknown, but a reasonable estimate is 30%. The diagnosis is based on clinical criteria, and only routine laboratory testing is required. In many, probably most cases, this is an autoimmune disease, but sometimes it is caused by reactivation of viral pericarditis, an unrelated infection, or is provoked by corticosteroid therapy. Therapeutic modalities are non-specific and varied, and usually the etiology is autoimmunity. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with the possible addition of colchicine are the best first-choice treatment, before steroid therapy is tried. Corticosteroid therapy is an independent risk factor for recurrences. In order to provide an evidence-based clinical approach to management, we performed a systematic review of all publications on acute and recurrent pericarditis focusing on recent clinical trials.

Effect of behavioral management on quality of life in mild heart failure: a randomized controlled trial.

There has been a lack of research regarding nonpharmacologic interventions in heart failure. The objective was to determine the effect of behavioral management on health related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with heart failure. Participants (N = 116) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: usual care for heart failure (n = 58) and the 15-week behavioral management program (n = 58). Outcomes included exercise performance (6-min walk), physical and mental functioning (SF-36), general health perceptions (SF-36), and disease specific HRQL (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire-MLHF). Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 4, 10 and 16 months. Participants were mostly male (95%) and Caucasian (75%), with a mean age of 67 years (S.D. = 10). Intervention patients showed significantly improved self-reported disease specific HRQL (MLHF physical dimension scores) over time compared to control patients. There were no group differences in exercise performance, physical functioning, mental functioning or general health perceptions.

Post-traumatic pericardial calcification.

Trauma is a cause of calcific constrictive pericarditis, but less commonly may cause a localized mass. We report such a case in which the mass impinged on the right heart resulting in severe systemic venous stasis.