Solitary coronary artery nourishing the entire heart.

Coronary artery anomalies are being more frequently diagnosed these days both because increasing numbers of patients are undergoing diagnostic studies and because advanced radiographic imaging methods are now commonly available. An isolated single coronary artery giving rise to the main coronary branches is a rare congenital anomaly. In this report we present a patient with a solitary coronary ostium, with both the left and right coronary artery systems arising from it, and then following their usual courses.

The effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on the endothelium of the carotid artery of rabbits on a high-cholesterol diet.

The preventive and therapeutic effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on diet-induced hyperlipidemia in rabbits have been investigated. Eighteen New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups of 6 subjects each; experimental group-I (EG-I) was administered a cholesterol rich diet, experimental group-II (EG-II) was treated with EPA (300 mg/kg/d) following a cholesterol-rich diet and the control group (CG) had a standard diet. Blood samples were collected at day 0 and at the 4th and 12th weeks of EG-II to obtain serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), high density lipid-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipid-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG).

Influence of Tribulus terrestris extract on lipid profile and endothelial structure in developing atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta of rabbits on a high-cholesterol diet.

The aim of this study was to investigate the pleotropic effects of an extract of a traditional herb, Tribulus terrestris (TT), on the lipid profile and vascular endothelium of the abdominal aorta in New Zealand rabbits fed a cholesterol-rich diet. Eighteen rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (n=6 for each). One experimental group (EG-I) was given a cholesterol-rich diet, a second experimental group (EG-II) was treated with TT following a cholesterol-rich diet, and a control group (CG) was fed a standard diet.

Hybrid coronary revascularization in high-risk patients.

From January 2002 through June 2004, 17 patients (2% of all coronary cases) were treated with off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting combined with percutaneous coronary intervention. There were 13 men and 4 women, whose ages ranged from 54 to 78 years (mean, 63.1 +/- 20.

LDH levels and left atrial ultrastructural chances in patients with mitral paraprosthetic regurgitation.

Background And Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of paraprosthetic regurgitation of mitral mechanical valves to myocardial tissue and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level.

Methods: We compared 19 patients (study group) who had mitral mechanical valve with severe mitral paravalvular regurgitation with 20 patients (control group) who had native valve with severe rheumatic mitral regurgitation. None of the patients had clinical hemolytic anemia.

Dipyridamole myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in patients with slow coronary flow.

Objective: Several studies have indicated that the velocity of contrast dye increases after intravenous dipyridamole infusion in patients with a slow-flow pattern (SFP). In this study we compared the results of coronary arteriography and exercise myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in patients with SFP. We also investigated the changes in myocardial perfusion in patients with abnormal exercise myocardial perfusion SPECT by using a pharmacological stress test with dipyridamole.

Dipyridamole myocardial perfusion tomography in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Unlabelled: Patients with aortic stenosis (AS) may have classic angina pectoris. The safety of exercise testing in adults with AS is controversial and, in fact, exercise testing in such patients is considered to be contraindicated especially in severe aortic stenosis (SAS). Furthermore, exercise testing has low specificity in uncovering coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with AS, because the baseline ECG is frequently abnormal.