Association of ST elevation with apical aneurysm in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: Apical aneurysms in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) represent an underrecognized but clinically important subset of HCM patients. However it may be frequently missed by echocardiography because of poor image quality of left ventricular apex. We aimed to compare electrocardiographic STE in HCM patients with and without apical aneurysm.

Association of prediabetes with diffuse coronary narrowing and small-vessel disease.

Background: A significant number of patients may not benefit from conventional techniques of myocardial revascularization due to diffuse coronary artery disease (CAD) or small coronary arterial sizes because of smaller arteries causing anastomotic technical difficulties and poor run-off. Diabetic patients have a more severe and diffuse coronary atherosclerosis with smaller coronary arteries limiting the possibility to perform a successful and complete revascularization, but this has not been examined in prediabetics.

Objective: To evaluate whether there is an association between prediabetes and the coronary arterial size.

Pulmonary artery distensibility in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important complication in the natural history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is caused by the remodeling of pulmonary arteries impairing the distensibility and stiffness of the major pulmonary arteries.

Objectives: To evaluate the pulmonary artery distensibility by transthoracic echocardiography in patients with COPD.

Method: We prospectively investigated COPD male patients and compared with healthy controls.

Exercise-related QT interval shortening with a peaked T wave in a boy with MEN 2 syndrome.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia 2 (MEN 2) is a hereditary syndrome associated with medullary thyroid carcinoma, pheochromocytoma (PCC), and hyperparathyroidism. PCCs in patients with MEN 2 are usually found in the adrenals after the manifestation of medullary thyroid cancer and are commonly bilateral and hormonally active. Unfortunately, a diagnosis of MEN 2 or PCC often is delayed until after the patient has developed an advanced MEN 2-related tumor.

The role of the preoperative screening of sleep apnoea by Berlin Questionnaire and Epworth Sleepiness Scale for postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Background: Undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a risk factor for postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) as well as for heart disease in general. This necessitates screening during preoperative assessment to facilitate the implementation of strategies to minimise the postoperative risk. Overnight polysomnography is the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of OSA but may be impractical during preoperative assessment, and so questionnaires may be useful for screening OSA.

Association of sleep apnea with coronary slow-flow phenomenon.

Background: Both obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and coronary slow-flow phenomenon (CSFP) are known to share similar etiopathogenic mechanisms, such as chronic sympathetic activation, upregulation of inflammatory pathways, oxidative stress and, finally, endothelial dysfunction.

Objective: We evaluated whether there is an association between OSA and coronary flow rates.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of all patients who underwent diagnostic nocturnal polysomnography for suspected OSA.

Intramyocardial hematoma with epicardial rupture following percutaneous coronary intervention.

Intramyocardial (or subepicardial) hematomas are uncommon conditions that occur mostly after myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass surgery, cardiac surgery, or chest trauma. Coronary perforation is a rare complication of PCI and the subset of patients developing an intramyocardial hematoma, usually considered a catastrophic event, is even rarer. We describe here the case of 63-year-old man in whom an intramyocardial hematoma with epicardial rupture occurred after PCI.

Prognostic significance of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: This study investigated the prognostic value of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Background: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin is a promising biomarker for acute kidney injury. Recently, it was concluded that NGAL may be used beyond the boundaries of renal physiopathology.

Ambulatory blood pressure variability is associated with restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention in normotensive patients.

Background: Previous studies have showed that BP variability is associated with cardiovascular events. However, no data were available regarding binary restenosis as an end-point after percutenous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: This multicenter study included 100 consecutive normotensive patients with stable coronary artery disease who were planned for PCI.

Elevated plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine level in acute myocardial infarction patients as a predictor of poor prognosis and angiographic impaired reperfusion.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effects of admission asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels on myocardial perfusion and prognosis in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: ADMA, an endogenous inhibitor of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, was found to be elevated in plasma of patients with cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: 168 consecutive patients undergoing primary PCI for STEMI <12 h after symptom onset and 75 healthy age and sex matched volunteer controls were enrolled in the study.

[An effective and safe alternative to epicardial pacemaker placement for permanent pacemaker implantation in a patient with mechanical tricuspid valve: stimulation of the left ventricle through the coronary sinus].

Implantation of a transvenous endocardial pacemaker is contraindicated in patients with a mechanical tricuspid valve. An epicardial left ventricular pacemaker lead was placed by a transvenous route through the coronary sinus into the lateral cardiac vein in a 58-year-old woman with mechanical aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valves, for permanent pacing due to chronic atrial fibrillation with a slow ventricular rate accompanied by syncope. This lead was then connected to a single-chamber pacemaker.

Safety of clopidogrel in older patients: a nonrandomized, parallel-group, controlled, two-centre study.

Background: The safety and efficacy of clopidogrel therapy in patients with stable coronary artery disease or acute coronary syndromes undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have been demonstrated.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety (primary outcome, defined as any bleeding complication or thrombocytopenia) and adverse outcomes (secondary outcomes, defined as death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction or stroke) of clopidogrel therapy in patients aged ≥75 years with stable or unstable coronary artery disease undergoing PCI, and to compare these outcomes with those in younger controls.

Methods: Patients with both stable coronary heart disease and acute coronary syndromes undergoing PCI were included in the study.

Heart rate profile during exercise in patients with early repolarization.

Background: Both early repolarization and altered heart rate profile are associated with sudden death. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate an association between early repolarization and heart rate profile during exercise.

Methods: A total of 84 subjects were included in the study.

Long-term follow-up data of coronary sinus stenting for the stabilization of the left ventricular leads.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy has been increasingly used for patients with heart failure. However, unstable and dislocated coronary sinus leads reduce the effectiveness of this important intervention.

Aim: To examine the long-term effects of coronary sinus side branch stenting on sensing and pacing parameters of the left ventricular leads.

Paraoxonase activity might be predictive of the severity of aortic valve stenosis.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Aortic valve stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disease in the western world, and in adults is invariably caused by the calcification of a normal tricuspid or congenital bicuspid valve. Calcific AS, as an active disease process, is characterized by lipid accumulation, inflammation and calcification that mimic atherosclerosis. Paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) is a high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-bound enzyme that exerts antiatherogenic properties by protecting low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol from oxidative modification.

Association between plasma asymmetrical dimethylarginine activity and severity of aortic valve stenosis.

Objectives: Aortic valve stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease in the Western world. The most common cause of aortic valve stenosis in adults is calcification of a normal trileaflet or congenital bicuspid valve. Calcific aortic valve stenosis is an active disease process characterized by mechanical stress, endothelial damage, lipid accumulation, inflammation, synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins, and calcification, reminiscent of atherosclerosis in many aspects.

Risk factors for in-hospital mortality in infective endocarditis: five years' experience at a tertiary care hospital in Turkey.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Despite recent improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, infective endocarditis (IE) is still associated with high in-hospital mortality rates. The study aim was to determine the clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic features of IE, and to evaluate the risk factors for in-hospital mortality.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study design was employed, with a main outcome measure of in-hospital mortality.

Ascending aortic pressure-derived indices are associated with the presence and severity of aortic stenosis.

Background: Almost the same pathophysiological mechanism has been suggested for both atherosclerosis and calcific aortic stenosis (AS). In this study, we examined any association between ascending aortic pressure-derived indices and hemodynamic characteristics of calcific AS.

Methods: A total of 90 patients were studied (26 males, 64 females; mean age: 64.

[Stabilization of a dislocated coronary sinus electrode by coronary stenting during resynchronization therapy].

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment in patients with severe refractory heart failure combined with intraventricular conduction disease, improving quality of life and decreasing mortality. In CRT, pacing of the left ventricle is accomplished by a coronary sinus (CS) electrode. The main challenge for this technique is to achieve and maintain an optimal lead position so that no dislocation occurs.

Influence of heavy cigarette smoking on heart rate variability and heart rate turbulence parameters.

Background: Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular events related with several mechanisms. The most suggested mechanism is increased activity of sympathetic nervous system. Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) has been shown to be independent and powerful predictors of mortality in a specific group of cardiac patients.

Relationship between elevated serum gamma-glutamyltransferase activity and slow coronary flow.

Objectives: We evaluated the relationship between coronary blood flow and serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF).

Study Design: The study included 90 patients (47 men, 43 women; mean age 50.8+/-9.

Late atrioventricular block and permanent pacemaker implantation after heart transplantation.

The need for permanent pacemaker implantation due to late atrioventricular (AV) block after heart transplantation is rare. A 59-year-old male patient underwent heart transplantation. He presented with syncope eight months after transplantation.