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(Circulation. 2005;111:2551.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.
Issue Highlights
An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract. |
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EFFECT OF DIFFICULTY AFFORDING HEALTH CARE ON HEALTH STATUS AFTER CORONARY REVASCULARIZATION, by Spertus et al. |
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Eliminating socioeconomic disparities in health status is an important goal of the United States’ Healthy People 2010 initiative. Spertus and colleagues investigated whether economic burden was related to baseline and 6-month symptoms after percutaneous intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). At baseline, increasing economic burden was associated with increased angina, physical limitation, and poorer quality of life. Although both groups improved symptomatically, patients with increasing economic burden receiving percutaneous intervention had persistent poorer health status, whereas their counterparts receiving CABG improved. The authors speculate that the diminished economic disparity after CABG as opposed to percutaneous intervention may relate to less access to follow-up care, counseling, and medications after the procedure. The authors note the importance of future research into the mechanism and remediation of socioeconomic disparities in revascularization outcome if we are to maximize cardiovascular health. See p 2572.
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QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF REGIONAL MYOCARDIAL FUNCTION IN MICE BY TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING: COMPARISON WITH HEMODYNAMICS AND SONOMICROMETRY, by Sebag et al. |
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Small animal models increasingly are being used to evaluate the molecular pathways involved in left ventricular dysfunction. Echocardiography plays an important role in the assessment of the progressive geometric and functional changes that occur in these animals, but for the most part these measurements have been based on load-dependent semiquantitative indices of function. In this issue of Circulation, Sebag et al demonstrate that sophisticated, quantitative tissue Doppler echocardiography can be performed in the mouse model. Despite the very small animal size and the extreme tachycardia, accurate and reproducible information is derived under varying states of contractility and load. This model expands the utility of echocardiography in the small animal
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