Cardiology

An estimated 65 million people worldwide have moderate or severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an umbrella term used to describe a group of progressive lung diseases that obstruct airflow such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking contributes to an estimated 90% of COPD cases, as the harmful chemicals produced during tobacco combustion damage the lungs and airways. Although smoking cessation is the only intervention shown to improve COPD prognosis in smokers, many patients who try to quit continue to smoke.

Amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare systemic disease caused by plasma cell dyscrasia. These plasma cells produce excess Ig light chains, which can misfold, aggregate, and deposit in tissues, resulting in toxicity and organ dysfunction. The heart is among the most commonly affected organs and cardiac involvement is associated with significantly worse outcomes.

Caseous mitral annular calcification (CMAC), sometimes called liquefaction necrosis of mitral annular calcification (MAC), is a rare variant of MAC, a chronic degenerative process that progresses with age.

Obstructive HCM is a condition in which the heart has thickened walls that are not caused by blockage of the heart valves or by very high blood pressure. For the majority of patients, the cause of their disease has a genetic basis and is hereditary. A genetic test can diagnose HCM in some patients, but the results are inconclusive in others.

The harmful effects of cigarette smoke on human health are well documented and supported by evidence from preclinical, clinical, and epidemiological studies. Cigarette smoking damages multiple organs and leads to 8 million global deaths per year from direct use and passive exposure of cigarette smoke to non-smokers.

We are honoured to share our EMJ Cardiology 2022 in review interview with Çetin Erol, Cardiologist at İbn-i Sina Hospital, Faculty of…

Essential hypertension, a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), kidney failure, and all-cause mortality, is largely reversible with lifestyle changes and highly efficacious medications. However, the prevalence of raised blood pressure (BP) is increasing globally. Considering its lack of symptoms, many people remain undiagnosed and unaware of the risks. In addition, a lack of perceived benefit makes adhering to pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions challenging for patients.

The aneurysm refers to the increase in arterial diameter in a localised position and this is characterised by the non-parallelism of the arterial wall. Despite prediction models trying to anticipate the onset of an aneurysm, the limits of their accuracy are often reached.