Netherlands Heart Journal 

About: Netherlands Heart Journal is an academic journal published by Bohn Stafleu van Loghum. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Myocardial infarction & Heart failure. It has an ISSN identifier of 1568-5888. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 2223 publications have been published receiving 21709 citations.

Regulation and characteristics of vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic diversity

Abstract: Vascular smooth muscle cells can perform both contractile and synthetic functions, which are associated with and characterised by changes in morphology, proliferation and migration rates, and the expression of different marker proteins The resulting phenotypic diversity of smooth muscle cells appears to be a function of innate genetic programmes and environmental cues, which include biochemical factors, extracellular matrix components, and physical factors such as stretch and shear stress Because of the diversity among smooth muscle cells, blood vessels attain the flexibility that is necessary to perform efficiently under different physiological and pathological conditions In this review, we discuss recent literature demonstrating the extent and nature of smooth muscle cell diversity in the vascular wall and address the factors that affect smooth muscle cell phenotype (Neth Heart J 2007;15:100-8)

Gender differences in coronary heart disease

Abstract: Cardiovascular disease develops 7 to 10 years later in women than in men and is still the major cause of death in women. The risk of heart disease in women is often underestimated due to the misperception that females are ‘protected’ against cardiovascular disease. The under-recognition of heart disease and differences in clinical presentation in women lead to less aggressive treatment strategies and a lower representation of women in clinical trials. Furthermore, self-awareness in women and identification of their cardiovascular risk factors needs more attention, which should result in a better prevention of cardiovascular events. In this review we summarise the major issues that are important in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease in women. (Neth Heart J 2010;18:598–603.)

Chest pain in the emergency room: value of the HEART score

Abstract: Background. Chest pain is one of the most common causes of presentation to the emergency room. The diagnosis of non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome typically causes uncertainty. Classical considerations for risk stratification are History, ECG, Age, Risk factors and Troponin (HEART). Each can be scored with zero, one or two points, depending on the extent of the abnormality. The HEART score is the sum of these five considerations. Methods. Clinical data from 122 patients referred to the emergency room for chest pain were analysed. The predictive value of the HEART score for reaching an endpoint was evaluated in 120/122 patients. Results. Twenty-nine patients reached one or more endpoints: an acute myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 16 patients, 20 underwent revascularisation and two died. The HEART score in the patients with and without an endpoint was 6.51±1.84 and 3.71±1.83 (p<0.0001) respectively. A HEART score of 0-3 points holds a risk of 2.5% for an endpoint and supports an immediate discharge. With a risk of 20.3%, a HEART score of 4-6 points implies admission for clinical observation. A HEART score ≥7points, with a risk of 72.7%, supports early invasive strategies. Conclusion. The HEART score facilitates accurate diagnostic and therapeutic choices. The HEART score is an easy, quick and reliable predictor of outcome in chest pain patients. (Neth Heart J 2008;16:191-6.)

Cardiac remodelling: concentric versus eccentric hypertrophy in strength and endurance athletes.

Abstract: Cardiac remodelling is commonly defined as a physiological or pathological state that may occur after conditions such as myocardial infarction, pressure overload, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or volume overload. When training excessively, the heart develops several myocardial adaptations causing a physiological state of cardiac remodelling. These morphological changes depend on the kind of training and are clinically characterised by modifications in cardiac size and shape due to increased load. Several studies have investigated morphological differences in the athlete’s heart between athletes performing strength training and athletes performing endurance training. Endurance training is associated with an increased cardiac output and volume load on the left and right ventricles, causing the endurance-trained heart to generate a mild to moderate dilatation of the left ventricle combined with a mild to moderate increase in left ventricular wall thickness. Strength training is characterised by an elevation of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. This pressure overload causes an increase in left ventricular wall thickness. This may or may not be accompanied by a slight raise in the left ventricular volume. However, the development of an endurancetrained heart and a strength-trained heart should not be considered an absolute concept. Both forms of training cause specific morphological changes in the heart, dependent on the type of sport. (Neth Heart J 2008;16:129-33.)

Now you see it, now you don't.

Abstract: Existing fluorescent protein highlighting techniques are irreversible and preclude repeated monitoring of the same protein to study its temporal regulation. Within cells, protein movement is regulated by many different factors and may be altered by changes in the cellular state. Measurements of protein dynamics are affected by the geometry of both the cells and the highlighted regions, and any changes in movement should ideally be assessed with data from a single cell. Ando et al. describe the engineering and application of a fluorescent protein, Dronpa, that can be reversibly highlighted to study spatiotemporal protein dynamics in living cells. The authors directly visualized the influx and efflux of a key regulator of intracellular signaling, mitogen-activated protein kinase, into and out of the nucleus. R. Ando, H. Mizuno, A. Miyawaki, Regulated fast nucleocytoplasmic shuttling observed by reversible protein highlighting. Science 306, 1370-1373 (2004). [Abstract] [Full Text]