Open ended circulation pattern: a rare case of a protective coronary artery variation and review of the literature.

Persistent intercoronary communications, forming the so-called open ended coronary circulation pattern, are rare findings of coronary angiography. A case of intercoronary connection between the left anterior descending artery (LAD) and the right coronary artery (RCA), with an obstructive lesion, and no evidence of myocardial infarction is presented. This is an exceptional variant, only 20 cases of which were found in the literature.

Leptin serum levels in cachectic heart failure patients. Relationship with tumor necrosis factor-alpha system.

Cachexia is a strong predictor for mortality in patients with congestive heart failure. To investigate the role of leptin and regulators of apoptosis in cardiac cachexia we compared leptin concentrations and their relation to the TNF system, interleukin 1-beta (IL-1b), and soluble Fas in patients with heart failure with and without cachexia. Patients with cardiac cachexia have increased levels of interleukin-1b compared to non-cachectic heart failure patients [mean(S.

Aneurysm of the mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa as a rare cause of angina pectoris: angiographic demonstration.

Aneurysms of the mitral-aortic interventricular fibrosa (MAIF) are exceptionally rare complications, commonly following aortic valve endocarditis. This report describes the angiographic findings of such an aneurysm, in a patient who developed an uncommon symptomatology of unstable angina pectoris, caused by the aneurysm's expansion against the coronary arteries. Surgical treatment is also discussed.

Posterior right diagonal artery. An angiographic study.

The purpose of this prospectively performed study was the angiographic visualization of the posterior right diagonal artery (PRDA) and its differentiation from the epicardial branches of the right coronary artery (RCA), that is, the right marginal artery and the posterior descending artery (PDA). The authors prospectively studied the angiographic findings of 607 patients who underwent coronary angiography. The incidence of the angiographically demonstrated PRDA and its distinction from other epicardial branches arising from the distal third of the RCA was the main point of interest.

Stress echocardiography using adenosine combined with nitroglycerin-dobutamine in the detection of viable myocardium in patients with previous myocardial infarction.

The aim of this study was to assess the value of adenosine (A) and the combination of nitroglycerin (N) with dobutamine (D) stress echocardiography (SE) in the identification of viable myocardium. The clinical and electrocardiographic (ECG) effects of both tests were also evaluated. Fifty-two coronary artery disease patients, aged 56.

Detection of myocardial viability in the prediction of improvement in left ventricular function after successful coronary revascularization by using the dobutamine stress echocardiography and quantitative SPECT rest-redistribution-reinjection 201TI imaging after dipyridamole infusion.

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, safety, and respective diagnostic accuracy of low-dose dobutamine infusion and rest-redistribution-reinjection thallium 201 single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) after dipyridamole infusion (Th-DIP), in the prediction of functional improvement of asynergic infarcted zones, after successful revascularization in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease. Thirty-one patients with a previous myocardial infarction and left ventricular dysfunction (mean ejection fraction: 41 +/- 5.8%) were studied.

Angioplasty of a left anterior descending artery originating from the right sinus of Valsalva (discussion in decision making).

In this case report, we describe a successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of an abnormally originating left anterior descending artery from the right sinus of Valsalva. We discuss about the decision making in this rare and challenging case, since there is more than one opinion as to which is the appropriate treatment in this group of patients.

Cortical blindness following coronary arteriography: a rare but self-cured complication. Two case reports.

The rare and self-cured complication of cortical blindness following coronary arteriography is presented in 2 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization. Both patients were submitted to an aortocoronary bypass grafting procedure a few years before and were under clinical investigation for a new onset of unstable angina pectoris.

Single coronary artery from the right sinus of Valsalva, associated with absence of left anterior descending and an ostium-secundum-type atrial septal defect: a rare combination. A case report.

A case of single coronary artery from the sinus of Valsalva, with an anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery from the just proximal portion of the right coronary artery, absence of the left anterior descending, and an ostium-secundum-type atrial septal defect is presented. This combination seems to be very rare.

Coronary angioplasty in the elderly: immediate and long-term results.

Coronary angioplasty was performed in 37 elderly patients (> sixty-eight years) with unstable or stable angina, refractory to medical treatment. History of myocardial infarction was present in 38% and of previous bypass surgery in 5% of patients. Coronary angiography revealed single-vessel disease in 22 (59%) and multivessel disease in 15 (41%) of patients.