Influence of bilevel positive airway pressure on autonomic tone in hospitalized patients with decompensated heart failure.

[Purpose] This study evaluated the effect of Bilevel Positive Airway (BiPAP) on the autonomic control of heart rate, assessed by heart rate variability (HRV), in patients hospitalized with decompensated heart failure. [Subjects and Methods] This prospective cross-sectional study included 20 subjects (age: 69±8 years, 12 male, left ventricular ejection fraction: 36 ±8%) diagnosed with heart failure who were admitted to a semi-intensive care unit with acute decompensation. Date was collected for HRV analysis during: 10 minutes spontaneous breathing in the resting supine position; 30 minutes breathing with BiPAP application (inspiratory pressure = 20 cmH2O and expiratory pressure = 10 cmH2O); and 10 minutes immediately after removal of BiPAP, during the return to spontaneous breathing. [Results] Significantly higher values for indices representative of increased parasympathetic activity were found in the time and frequency domains as well as in nonlinear Poincaré analysis during and after BiPAP in comparison to baseline. Linear HRV analysis: standard deviation of the average of all R-R intervals in milliseconds = 30.99±4.4 pre, 40.3±6.2 during, and 53.3±12.5 post BiPAP. Non-linear HRV analysis: standard deviations parallel in milliseconds = 8.31±4.3 pre, 12.9±5.8 during, and 22.8 ±6.3 post BiPAP. [Conclusion] The present findings demonstrate that BiPAP enhances vagal tone in patients with heart failure, which is beneficial for patients suffering from acute decompensation.

Cardiac toxicity events in the PHARE trial, an adjuvant trastuzumab randomised phase III study.

BACKGROUND: This article reports, the cardiac toxicity according to 6- versus 12-month durations of adjuvant trastuzumab in PHARE randomised trial (NCT00381901). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cardiac follow-up and Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) assessment by echocardiography or multigated acquisition scan were performed every 3 months while patients received trastuzumab and after completion of treatment over the first 2 years and every 6 months afterwards. The primary cardiac end-point was Cardiac Heart Failure (CHF) defined as New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV. The secondary cardiac end-points were: cardiac events, cardiac dysfunctions defined by NYHA class I and II; LVEF decreases, cardiac recoveries. The cardiac subcommittee reviewed cardiac events and assessed if patients had favourable outcomes or not on the basis of trends from LVEF measurements. RESULTS: Among 3380 patients the cardiac dysfunction assessment included 14,055 and 13,218 LVEF measurements in the 12- and 6-month arms. The overall incidences of CHF were 0.65% (11/1690) and 0.53% (9/1690) in the 12 and 6 month arms, respectively (p>0.05). Cardiac dysfunction occurred in 5.9% (100/1690) and 3.4% (58/1690) of patients in the 12 and 6 month arms, respectively (p=0.001). Recoveries were observed for the majority patients and 0.79% (27/3380) of patients experienced an unfavourable cardiac outcome. CONCLUSION: PHARE confirm that the incidence of cardiac end-points remains low and mostly reversible after trastuzumab. Identification at baseline of cardiac risk categories of patients should be of interest to provide an optimal adaptation of adjuvant modalities and a shorter duration might be an option.

Inflamação na insuficiência cardíaca / Inflammation in heart failure

A insuficiência cardíaca (IC) é um problema de saúde pública que acomete 2,5% da população com mais de 20 anos. Apesar da evolução terapêutica das últimas décadas, a mortalidade e o número de internações persistem elevados. Existe uma ativação inflamatória na IC, com aumento dos níveis plasmáticos de fator de necrose tumoral a (TNF-a), interleucina 1b (IL-1b), IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, receptor solúvel de IL-6, cluster de diferenciação 14 (CD14), endotelinas 1A e 1B. Esta ativação inflamatória ficou conhecida como a ?hipótese das citocinas?. A magnitude do aumento das citocinas está relacionado à gravidade do quadro, sendo que a IC isquêmica apresenta níveis plasmáticos mais elevados. A hipótese das citocinas promoveu uma procura por potenciais alvos terapêuticos: as tentativas de antagonizar o TNF-a, endotelina A e matriz metaloproteinase, todavia, mostraram-se inefetivas ou prejudiciais. Apesar do insucesso dos grandes ensaios clínicos, pequenos estudos mostraram resultados promissores com anti-inflamatórios inespecíficos, como a talidomida, pentoxifilina e o metotrexato.