RECENT RESEARCH IN Heart-Brain Medicine
Protective Effects of Beta-blockers in Cerebrovascular Disease
Somchai Laowattana, MD, PhD; and Stephen M. Oppenheimer, MD, PhD
Because activated sympathetic tone is associated with poorer outcome after stroke, we investigated whether beta-blocker treatment was associated with lesser stroke severity and improved outcome. We prospectively studied 111 patients with stroke. Stroke severity on presentation gauged by Canadian Neurologic Scale (CanNS) and medication use verified from medical records. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability estimated cardiac sympathovagal tone. Coagulation and inflammatory activity were assessed.
Assessment and Treatment of Depression in Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute Working Group Report
Karina W. Davidson, PhD, et al.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute convened an interdisciplinary working group of experts to develop recommendations for the assessment and treatment of depression in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). This report summarizes the recommendations made by the working group and discusses the rationale for each recommendation, the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches
to assessment and treatment, and the implications for future research in this area.
Cardiac Chronotropic Organization of the Rat Insular Cortex
Stephen M. Oppenheimer and David F. Cechetto
Clinical evidence implicates the cerebral cortex in the genesis of ECG changes and cardiac arrhythmias. Such findings are not infrequent following acute cortical stroke and during partial seizures. Electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex, however, only rarely and inconsistently results in cardiac changes. When encountered, attendant alterations in blood pressure and respiration occur; consequently, it is unclear whether the cardiac effects are primary or secondary to these.