Unrecognized coronary vasospasm in patients referred for percutaneous coronary intervention: Intracoronary nitroglycerin, the forgotten stepchild of cardiovascular guidelines.

Objective: The goal of this study was to demonstrate the importance of intracoronary nitroglycerin (IC NTG) administration during diagnostic coronary angiography and prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: PCI has been a mainstay treatment for patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. While current guidelines emphasize the importance of periprocedural antithrombotic medications, they fail to mention the use of nitroglycerin prior to PCI.

Frequency of Use of Statins and Aspirin in Patients With Previous Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is commonly performed to treat ischemic heart disease, but long-term benefits are limited by failed patency of bypass grafts. Both statin medications and aspirin hold class I indications for all post-CABG patients and should be continued indefinitely unless contraindications exist. Unfortunately, there are limited data regarding long-term usage of these essential medications.

Safety, effectiveness, and outcomes of cardiac catheterization in nonagenarians.

With an aging population, nonagenarians (≥90 years of age) are increasingly being considered for cardiac catheterization. Because of the paucity of outcomes data in this population, we sought to evaluate the acute and intermediate outcomes of nonagenarians undergoing cardiac catheterization. A retrospective cohort of 44 nonagenarians undergoing 53 cardiac catheterizations from 2002 to 2010 was identified.