Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery
Vol.27 No.2 2011 (52-59)
Michihiro Yoshimura
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
The concept of the heart has changed a lot in recent years. Although the heart was positioned only as a pump organ conventionally, it is now recognized also as one of the endocrine organs. The beginning of this concept was from discovery of natriuretic peptides. And after that, it has been shown that other hormones are also secreted from the heart. Although the pathophysiological implication of cardiac hormones is just going to be examined energetically, clinical practice of heart failure is changing along with progress of basic research. The diagnosis and treatment of heart failure in adults already changed with a central focus on natriuretic peptides; and endocrinology contributes to development of the study of heart failure.