Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular system [Kronik obstrüktif akciger hastaligi ve kardiyovasküler sistem]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide killing nearly 3 million people annually. Even the most optimistic estimates suggest that COPD mortality rates will increase by 50% over the next 15 years. Individuals with COPD are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), lung cancer, osteoporosis and muscle wasting. Smoking is a well-described risk factor for both COPD and CVD, but CVD in patients with COPD is likely to be due to other factors in addition to smoking. Systemic inflammation may be an important common etiological cause between COPD and CVD, being well described in both diseases. This paper reviews the close relationship between COPD and cardiovascular diseases, principally atherosclerosis. The common pathogenetic mechanisms, relation between cardiovascular comorbidities and pulmonary function parameters, the treatment of pulmonary and systemic inflammation, the role medications in the treatment of both disorders, the effect of cardiovascular comorbidities on the prognosis of COPD and prediction of mortality is discussed. The anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled corticosteroids and statins, their effects on cardiovascular endpoints, all-cause mortality, and survival of COPD patients are rewieved as a new perspective to the treatment

Echocardiographic evaluation of mitral insufficiency [Mitral yetmezliginin ekokardiyografik olarak degerlendirilmesi.]

PubMed ID: 12101824[No abstract available

Spontaneous dissection of the left anterior descending coronary artery: A case report [Sol ön inen koroner arterde spontan diseksiyon: Olgu sunumu]

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a very rare, but increasingly reported cause of myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death. In most cases, diagnosis is made on postmortem examinations. In a minority of cases, it is detected incidentally on angiographic studies during or after an acute coronary syndrome. We present a 49-year-old man who had atherosclerotic risk factors, stable angina pectoris, and decompensated heart failure. Following medical stabilization of the patient, coronary angiography revealed a linear dissection of the left anterior descending coronary artery. On thallium scintigraphy, anterior and inferior myocardial infarction was detected, so percutaneous or surgical revascularization were not considered and the patient was submitted to cardiac transplantation

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire [Kronik kalp yetersizligi Anketi'nin (KKYA) Türkçe sürümünün geçerlilik ve güvenilirligi]

PubMed ID: 20952354Objective: Any disease specific Health Related Quality of Life Instrument for Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is lacking in Turkey. The aim of this study is to adapt the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire (CHQ) into Turkish and probe the reliability and validity of this questionnaire. Methods: There are four dimensions of this 20 items scale. These dimensions are: Dyspnea (5 items), fatigue (4 items), emotional status (7 items) and mastery (4 items). Response options were evaluated using a 7 -point Likert type scale. Quality of life (QOL) improves as the score increases. A total of 205 CHF patients hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology of Ege University hospital were enrolled in this study. The CHQ was applied to the patients twice with a wash-out period of 15 days. Confirmatory approach was used during the reliability and validity analysis. Cronbach alpha test was used for the reliability analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used for the construct validity testing. NYHA classification for testing the criterion validity; SF-36 and WHOQOL-100 General Health and QOL facet for convergent validity testing of the Turkish version of the CHQ were used. Responsiveness to change was evaluated by Effect Size analysis by using test-retest data. Results: The range of Cronbach alpha values is 0.72-0.94. A considerable ceiling and floor effects were observed for the dyspnea dimension of the scale but no problematic items were observed for the entire scale. The CFA results supported the original four factors scale structure. Criterion and construct validity rebuts were satisfactory. Effect sizes obtained among dimensions of the CHQ were between 0.13 and 0.56. Conclusion: Overall results revealed that Turkish version of the CHQ is a reliable and valid instrument to be used for the evaluation of CHF patients. © 2010 by AVES Yayi{dotless}nci{dotless}li{dotless}k Ltd

Large inferoposterior wall pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle with a thrombus after myocardial infarction.

WOS: 000084943900024PubMed ID: 10653269A 70-year-old man was admitted to our coronary care unit with severe dyspnea, nonproductive cough, and palpitations 1 month after an inferoposterolateral myocardial infarction. Two-dimensional echocardiography demonstrated severe left ventricular dysfunction and a large (6.6 x 7.9 cm) inferoposterior wall pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle with a thrombus (Fig, 1). Electrocardiography showed QS formation in leads II, III, aVF, and V-5,V-6; Rs in V-1; and sustained ventricular tachycardia (Fig. 2). The patient refused such interventions as coronary angiography and surgery. His symptoms of heart failure and arrhythmia were relieved by medical therapy He was discharged from the hospital ar his request, and his wife found him dead in his bed 3 weeks later