Old, the new, more or less and the conundrum for biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases?

Biomarkers are critical for diagnostic,monitoring and management of cardio-vascular diseases.Opportunities to improve how biomarkers are used are important.This editorial on biomarkers in coronary artery disease provides commentary on the study as well as broad benchmarks on what make ideal bio-markers.Biomarker discovery is difficult and opportunities to expand and improve their use should be encouraged.

Shortness of breath in clinical practice: A case for left atrial function and exercise stress testing for a comprehensive diastolic heart failure workup

The symptom cluster of shortness of breath(SOB) contributes significantly to the outpatient workload of cardiology services. The workup of these patients includes blood chemistry and biomarkers, imaging and functional testing of the heart and lungs. A diagnosis of diastolic heart failure is inferred through the exclusion of systolic abnormalities, a normal pulmonary function test and normal hemoglobin, coupled with diastolic abnormalities on echocardiography. Differentiating confounders such as obesity or deconditioning in a patient with diastolic abnormalities is difficult. While the most recent guidelines provide more avenues for diagnosis, such as incorporating the left atrial size, little emphasis is given to understanding left atrial function, which contributes to at least 25% of diastolic left ventricular filling; additionally, exercise stress testing to elicit symptoms and test the dynamics of diastolic parameters, especially when access to the "gold standard" invasive tests is lacking, presents clinical translational gaps. It is thus important in diastolic heart failure work up to understand left atrial mechanics and the role of exercise testing to build a comprehensive argument for the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure in a patient presenting with SOB.

Forensic interrogation of diabetic endothelitis in cardiovascular diseases and clinical translation in heart failure

Diabetic heart disease(DHD)can be classified as a primary consequence from several pathophysiological manifestation of diabetes mellitus(DM)on cardiac tissues or secondarily in extracardiac tissues and is encountered as either primary or secondary complications of DM.Endothelitis is inflammation of the vascular endothelium and is likely to be seen in the majority of patients who start to manifest an end organ complication of DM in this case DHD.Diabetes is a leading cause for many cardiovascular syndromes and diseases including congestive heart failure(CHF)however much remains unknown about the transition from diagnosed DM to clinical state and the contribution of the various mechanical and counterregulatory systems in the manifested complaint.Diastolic heart failure or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction(DHF/HFpEF),accounts for half of all CHF presentations,has DM as a major contributor,however,there remain large gaps in clinical and pathophysiological understanding.This review aims to explore the microscopic aspects in diabetic endothelitis and provide a clinical link to with context to HFpEF.

Toward phase 4 trials in heart failure: A social and corporate responsibility of the medical profession

Congestive heart failure(CHF) is a chronic condition, requiring polypharmacy, allied health supports and regular monitoring. All these factors are needed to ensure compliance and to deliver the positive outcomes demonstrated from randomized controlled trials. Unfortunately many centers around the world are unable to match trial level support. The outcomes for many communities are thus unclear. Research design factors in post-marketing surveillance to address this issue. Phase 4 studies is the name given to trials designed to obtain such community level data and thus address issues of external validity. CHF phase 4 studies are relatively underutilized. We feel the onus for this research lies with the health profession. In this commentary we provide arguments as to why phase 4 studies should be viewed as a social and corporate responsibility of health professional that care for clients with CHF.

Risk stratification for coronary artery disease in multi-ethnic populations:Are there broader considerations for cost efficiency?

Coronary artery disease(CAD) screening and diagnosis are core cardiac specialty services.From symptoms,autopsy correlations supported reductions in coronary blood flow and dynamic epicardial and microcirculatory coronaries artery disease as etiologies.While angina remains a clinical diagnosis,most cases require correlation with a diagnostic modality.At the onset of the evidence building process much research,now factored into guidelines were conducted among population and demographics that were homogenous and often prior to newer technologies being available.Today we see a more diverse multi-ethnic population whose characteristics and risks may not consistently match the populations from which guideline evidence is derived.While it would seem veryunlikely that for the majority,scientific arguments against guidelines would differ,however from a translational perspective,there will be populations who differ and importantly there are cost-efficacy questions,e.g.,the most suitable first-line tests or what parameters equate to an adequate test.This article reviews non-invasive diagnosis of CAD within the context of multi-ethnic patient populations.