Prospective randomized trial of transthoracic versus low-energy internal cardioversion in persistent atrial fibrillation - Long term follow-up

Low energy internal cardioversion (ICV) is a relatively new method. This report describes the long-term follow-up results of a prospective randomized comparison of low energy ICV and transthoracic cardioversion (TT CV) in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF)

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia masquerading as an abdominal episode

A 19-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain. Aside from epigastric tenderness, the patient's physical examination was unremarkable. She developed ventricular tachycardia with left bundle branch block morphology shortly after admission. Echocardiography revealed a thin, enlarged, and hypokinetic right ventricle. Electron beam computed tomography demonstrated hypodense areas in the right ventricular free wall suggestive of fatty infiltration, which suggested arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. The diagnosis was confirmed with the use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The patient received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. This case illustrates a noncardiac presentation of a rare yet treatable cardiac condition

The Role of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Promoter Polymorphisms in Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction

YILMAZ, AKIN/0000-0002-4368-0777WOS: 000288850800002PubMed: 21142815The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family are key enzymes involved in the breakdown of the extracellular matrix in normal physiological processes, including tissue remodeling, and disease processes, such as arthritis and metastasis. The promoter polymorphism in the MMP2 gene may be responsible for multiple diseases related to extracellular matrix degradation. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between genotypes or haplotypes of -1575 G/A, -1306 C/T, -790 T/G, and -735 C/T promoter polymorphisms and coronary artery disease (CAD) with or without myocardial infarction (MI) history. This study included 298 patients with angiographically confirmed CAD and 299 age matched controls. Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood and genotyping was performed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. No significant associations were found between -1575 G/A, -1306 C/T, and -790 T/G polymorphisms and CAD with or without MI history. However, the frequency of the -735 TT genotype was significantly lower in the controls than in the patients with MI alone when compared with the CC genotype (p = 0.021). Only the distribution of the ACGC haplotype in CAD patients exhibited a significant difference than that in controls (p < 0.05). The distribution of other haplotypes did not differ between CAD patients and controls. The present investigation is the first report to detect an association between MMP2 promoter polymorphisms and CAD with or without MI history in the Turkish population. Further case-control studies in CAD development might be contributed to clarify the role of these polymorphisms.Gazi UniversityGazi University [11/2004-84]This study was partially supported by the Gazi University Research Fund as a project with code number 11/2004-84