In the course of the last two decades, it has become increasingly evident that the sarcolemmal, sarcoplasmic reticular and mitochondrial membrane systems play an important role in determining the status of heart funotion in health and disease. These organelles have been shown to be intimately involved in the regulation of cation movements during the contraotion-relaxation cycle. Various proteins imbedded in the phospholipid 2+ + - + + bilayers of these membranes control Ca, Na, Cl, K and H concentrations within the oytoplasm by indirect or direct means. Cationic channels, Na+, + 2+ 2+ 2+ + 2+...

The importance of heart and artery disease as a cause of death and disability is difficult to exaggerate: it causes over half of all deaths in the western world and now accounts for one-quarter of deaths in the entire world. This appalling incidence persists in spite of commendable progress in treatment and prevention, particularly in the last two or three decades. Deaths from coronary disease have decreased by a third in the past twenty years and stroke has decreased by a half in the same period. This remarkable improvement, saving thousands of lives per year, has come about due to changes...

About 2. 5 million individuals have congestive heart fai lure in the United States with over 400,000 new cases expected annually. Congestive heart failure also is one of the commonest causes for hospital admissions accounting for over 5 million hospital days per year. Despite the early recognition of this condition and active medical research into both mechanisms and therapy, prognosis continues to remain dismal wi th less than a 50% expected five year survival. In the last decade we have seen many new medical and therapeutic options for patients with congestive heart failure which extend...

The field of electrocardiography is at a cross roads. We have reached an era in cardiovascular about the electrical state of the heart not likely to be available in any other imaging techniques. medicine where it is claimed that "imaging" is king. The innovative and useful ultrasound And, in the body surface potential map, we have an imaging technique that goes beyond struc techniques continue to develop, and, in the wings lie magnetic resonance, position emission, ture-the only other being, perhaps, magnetic resonance, which has the potential for metabolic and, perhaps, other modalities....

In 1628 William Harvey published his discovery of the existence of the microcirculation which he deduced from careful anatomical and physiological study. Thirty-three years later, Malpighi confirmed the presence of capillaries through direct microscopical observation. Subsequent scientific advance has been slow, and in view of the fact that microvascular in the genesis and expression of many pathophysiology may be implicated diseases, our know ledge of human microvascular function is surprisingly limited. This ignorance attests to the difficulty of studying something that is both minute and...

It has been known or suspected for centuries that there is an association between mind and emotions and the occurrence of heart disease apd sudden death. During the past fifty years this relationship has become identified with the concept of Stress, a notion developed and popularized by Hans Selye. In recent years there has been an upward surge of interest in stress by scientists in several disciplines and by the general public. Although, books, journal articles, seminars and media programs devoted to stress now abound, the definition, manifestations, mechanisms, and management of stress...

A recent comprehensive study of stress and human health by the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences concludes that individuals who experience any of a wide range of stressful events or situations are at increased risk of developing a physical or mental disorder, including heart disease. Since cardiovascular disease continues to be a leading cause of illness and death, and since the etiology and pathogenesis of several of the commonest forms of heart disease are incompletely known, it is of fundamental impor tance to study the potential role of stress in the genesis of heart...

In summary, there are many animal models that are useful in selecting new antiarrhythmic drugs. The selection of which model is most idea depends upon precisely what question is being asked. The large number of experimental models used to evaluate antiarrhythmic compounds points out the inability of anyone model to define the probability of antiarrhythmic efficacy in man. It has therefore become standard practice to utilize a batter of animal models for the evaluation of new antiarrhythmic agents. Each model has its own advantages and disadvantages and it is necessary to understand each model...

This volume represents a part of the scientific proceedings of the Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Section of the International Society for Heart Research that was held in Oklahoma City from September 13-15, 1984. The chapters have been grouped according to the content of invited symposia on cardiovascular topics ranging from electrophysiology, autonomic control of the circulation, aging of the myocardium, mechanisms of cardiovascular injury, cultured heart cell studies, etc. Abstracts of all the papers presented at this meeting are included in Volume 16 (Supp. 1) of the Journal of...

Although the remarks that follow are based can be induced in a completely healthy heart by a relatively minor perturbation, on my reading not of the volume itself, but on my reading of the table of contents and namely, an electrical stimulus delivered in the vulnerable period. On the other hand, it of the editors' comments on each of the main sections of the book, it is clear that this is a very rare event, since during a lifetime synthesis is a timely one that shows how of 70 years, the average human heart con much we have learned in the past 30 years tracts and relaxes some 2. 5 billion...