Abnormal SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging during periods of obstructive sleep apnea in morbid obese patients without known heart disease.

Objective: Determine the myocardial perfusion characteristics in obstructive sleep apnea and its possible role in cardiovascular damage.

Methods And Procedures: Fourteen patients from the Obesity Clinic weighing less than 130 kg underwent myocardial perfusion studies using single photon emission computed tomography with technetium 99m-labeled sestamibi during nighttime polysomnographic recordings. Coronary angiograms were performed on patients with suspect of severe coronary obstruction according nighttime myocardial perfusion studies or pharmacological stress carried out during waking hours.

Prostaglandin E2 and plasminogen activators in human milk and their secretion by milk macrophages.

Human milk was shown to contain prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and plasminogen activator (PA) at variable concentrations depending on the time of lactation after delivery. Milk PA was functionally and immunologically identical to urokinase. A follow-up study showed that the maximum PGE2 concentrations occurred during the second week while the maximum PA concentration was observed at the end of the first week of lactation.