Current analysis of the results of the COURAGE trial: has an optimal treatment been reached in clinical practice?

The COURAGE (Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation) trial was designed to evaluate the benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention in reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic stable coronary artery disease. The results reinforce the prior evidence regarding the importance of medical treatment which should be a universal goal. The study population enrolled was quite average for a routine cardiology clinic.

[Evaluation of mitral regurgitation severity using a simplified method based on proximal flow convergence].

Introduction And Objectives: Calculation of the effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) is regarded as the most accurate way of assessing the severity of mitral regurgitation (MR), but the technique's complexity limits its use. Our objective was to modify and validate a previously published semiquantitative method of assessment based on measurement of the proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) in order to adapt it to recent recommendations from American and European cardiology societies.

Methods: In the PISA method, maximum regurgitant flow (MRF) is a function of the radius and aliasing velocity (AV).

Role of noninvasive antimyosin imaging in infants and children with clinically suspected myocarditis.

Unlabelled: Endomyocardial biopsy is an invasive procedure, often performed on children for the diagnosis of myocarditis, and is not without risk. Therefore, a noninvasive test of adequate diagnostic accuracy is highly desirable. We evaluated the role of antimyosin scintigraphy in infants and children with clinically suspected myocarditis.