La tomografía computarizada en cardiopatía isquémica: de la calcificación coronaria a la caracterización tisular miocárdica

ResumenDurante las últimas 2 décadas las técnicas de imagen han alcanzado un papel indispensable en prácticamente todas las enfermedades cardiovasculares. La tomografía computarizada cardiaca, en el campo de la cardiopatía isquémica, proporciona información irreemplazable para la investigación clínica y básica, y se ha convertido también en imprescindible para guiar la actitud terapéutica de los pacientes con enfermedad coronaria en la práctica diaria. Revisamos su estado actual desde la mirada de su utilidad quirúrgica.AbstractDuring the past 2 decades, imaging techniques have come to play an indispensable role in practically all cardiovascular illnesses.Cardiac computerized axial tomography, in the field of ischemic cardiopathy, provides irreplaceable information for clinical and basic investigations, but it has also become indispensable for guiding the therapeutic approach to treating patients with heart disease in daily practice. We review your current status in the view of its surgical utility

Induction of PGC-1α expression can be detected in blood samples of patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction.

Following acute myocardial infarction (MI), cardiomyocyte survival depends on its mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Cell death is normally followed by activation of the immune system. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ-coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator and a master regulator of cardiac oxidative metabolism. PGC-1α is induced by hypoxia and facilitates the recovery of the contractile capacity of the cardiac muscle following an artery ligation procedure. We hypothesized that PGC-1α activity could serve as a good molecular marker of cardiac recovery after a coronary event. The objective of the present study was to monitor the levels of PGC-1α following an ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) episode in blood samples of the affected patients. Analysis of blood mononuclear cells from human patients following an STEMI showed that PGC-1α expression was increased and the level of induction correlated with the infarct size. Infarct size was determined by LGE-CMR (late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance), used to estimate the percentage of necrotic area. Cardiac markers, maximum creatine kinase (CK-MB) and Troponin I (TnI) levels, left ventricular ejection function (LVEF) and regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) as determined by echocardiography were also used to monitor cardiac injury. We also found that PGC-1α is present and active in mouse lymphocytes where its expression is induced upon activation and can be detected in the nuclear fraction of blood samples. These results support the notion that induction of PGC-1α expression can be part of the recovery response to an STEMI and could serve as a prognosis factor of cardiac recovery