4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The investigators' hypothesis is that patients with apical ballooning syndrome (ABS) will manifest a personality profile that differs than that of a population of similar range of ethnic and socioeconomic status.
Our hypothesis is that altered cardiac sympathetic activity is present and may contribute to the myocardial stunning observed in the apical ballooning syndrome. Aim: Assess the extent and reversibility of cardiac adrenergic neuronal dysfunction using carbon-11 hydroxyephedrine (C-11 HED), a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer, in patients with the apical ballooning syndrome.
The aim of this study is to measure how different people respond to mental stress. The investigators will measure if there are differences in cardiovascular responses to mental stress among different groups of subjects. In one part of the study the investigators will compare the cardiovascular responses to mental stress between healthy women and healthy men. In another part of the study, the investigators will compare the cardiovascular responses to mental stress between women with apical ballooning syndrome and healthy post-menopausal women. The investigators hypothesize that healthy men will have an increased vascular response to and decreased endothelial function in response to to mental stress, compared to health women. Furthermore, the investigators hypothesize that women with apical ballooning syndrome will have an increased vascular response to and decreased endothelial function in response to mental stress.
Objective: The objective of this pilot study is to characterize the cardiac uptake patterns of I-123 mIBG in stress-induced (Takotsubo's) cardiomyopathy. Hypothesis: Perturbations in sympathetic innervation are the underlying pathogenesis of stress induced cardiomyopathy and will result in abnormalities in I-123 mIBG cardiac imaging. Thus, planar and SPECT I-123 MIBG imaging will provide insight into the pathogenesis of stress-induced cardiomyopathy, and may lead to the development of more specific diagnostic criteria. Study design: This proposal is for a prospective pilot study to characterize perturbations in cardiac sympathetic innervation in patients with stress induced cardiomyopathy by performing planar and SPECT I-123 MIBG imaging during the acute presentation and after recovery of LV function.