Publications
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Myocardial function : from myofilaments to cardiac pump Ghent University
This chapter briefly reviews how complex left ventricular (LV) and cardiac function are from molecular and cellular function, over the spreading of electrical activation, to the development of elevated pressure, ejection and interaction with the vascular tree, dissipation of pressure and filling from pulmonary and peripheral circulation at low pressures. This complex and interrelated function achieves a remarkable efficiency and reserve ...
Feasibility and agreement of a novel combined echocardiographic method to measure global longitudinal strain and strain rate compared to speckle tracking and tissue Doppler imaging Ghent University
Background: Currently, two echocardiographic techniques are used to measure deformation: tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking echocardiography (STE). Recently, a technique combining STE and TDI (on TDI overlay images) has become available, allowing derivation of STE/TDI results from a single acquisition/reading (combined-STE/combined-TDI). We tested the feasibility and agreement of this novel technique to measure left ventricular ...
Muscle strength is a major determinant of the blood pressure response to isometric stress testing : the Asklepios population study Ghent University
Aim: Maximal handgrip strength is a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality in economically and socioculturally diverse countries, yet the main determinants of cardiovascular response to change in afterload during handgrip are not well known. We examined the blood pressure (BP) responses during submaximal handgrip (at 25% of grip strength) and the determinants of grip strength. Methods: We studied 2215 participants from a population-based ...
Effect of obesity on left atrial strain in persons aged 35−55 years (The Asklepios Study) Ghent University
Obesity increases the risk of heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Left atrial (LA) dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a mediator of cardiovascular disease. Early effects of obesity on LA function have not been examined in large population samples. We quantified LA strain and strain rate (SR) through speckle tracking echocardiography in 1,531 middle-aged community-based participants enrolled in the Asklepios study. We compared LA ...
Leukocyte telomere length and diet in the apparently healthy, middle-aged Asklepios population Ghent University
Reversal of aging-induced increases in aortic stiffness by targeting cytoskeletal protein-protein interfaces Ghent University
Background: The proximal aorta normally functions as a critical shock absorber that protects small downstream vessels from damage by pressure and flow pulsatility generated by the heart during systole. This shock absorber function is impaired with age because of aortic stiffening. Methods and Results: We examined the contribution of common genetic variation to aortic stiffness in humans by interrogating results from the AortaGen Consortium ...
Myocardial infarction primes autoreactive T cells through activation of dendritic cells Ghent University KU Leuven Flanders Institute for Biotechnology
Peripheral tolerance is crucial for avoiding activation of self-reactive T cells to tissue-restricted antigens. Sterile tissue injury can break peripheral tolerance, but it is unclear how autoreactive T cells get activated in response to self. An example of a sterile injury is myocardial infarction (MI). We hypothesized that tissue necrosis is an activator of dendritic cells (DCs), which control tolerance to self-antigens. DC subsets of a murine ...