The interest in myocardial damage is very old, but only in recent decades has there been a reasonable advance in greater knowledge thereof. Ancient peoples were limited to rudimentary observations on the morphology and physiology of the circulatory system, but with special interest directed to the heart. Texts in cuneiform scripts from Sumer, considered the first civilization in human history; others from the Library of Ashurbanipal, with inscriptions on clay tiles, discovered intact under the sands at Nineveh; Egyptian hieroglyphs […]

Abstract Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome characterized by inadequate tissue oxygen supply. In spite of the best current approach to heart diseases, population aging in individuals with heart disease has resulted in increased incidence of HF. In Brazil, HF represents the second leading cause of hospitalization due to cardiovascular diseases, and it has high mortality in its most advanced stage. The difficult recognition of therapeutic refractoriness can often lead to delays in referral to specialized centers that are […]