Impact on service provision for non-invasive cardiac imaging following NICE recommendations: an observational study.

Background: Chest pain or discomfort due to angina can have a potentially poor prognosis, emphasising the importance of prompt and accurate diagnosis. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published 'Chest pain of recent onset' guidelines in March 2010. These guidelines appraise the role of newer non-invasive modalities in cardiac imaging in the prompt and cost-effective diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Calcified left ventricular aneurysm: "an egg in the heart".

We present a peculiar case of left ventricular aneurysm which had calcified over 14 years post anterior myocardial infarction and appears to be like an egg in the heart. Previous cases reported of calcified LV ring were associated with Left Ventricular mural thrombus. In our patient, we did not identify any mural thrombus.

Use of the Joint British Society cardiovascular risk calculator before initiating statins for primary prevention in hospital medicine: experience from a large university teaching hospital.

Introduction: Statin therapy is a well established treatment for hyperlipidemia. However, little is known about prescribing of statins for primary prevention in the real world, and even less about what happens to patients requiring primary prevention who are seen in a secondary care setting. The purpose of this research was to investigate the appropriateness of statin prescriptions by using the Joint British Society cardiovascular disease (JBS CVD) risk score for primary prevention in a large secondary care center.

Is high body mass index associated with increased risk of groin complications using manual compression after diagnostic coronary angiography?

There is a common perception that high body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk of bleeding complications at the site of femoral puncture when manual compression is used for achieving hemostasis. Because of lack of evidence to support or refute this, we conducted a study to assess whether raised BMI is associated with increased risk of groin complications. 15 cases of groin complications after manual compression over 2 years and 40 controls were each divided into 3 groups according to BMI.

Is the use of ABPM justified in patients on 1 or 2 antihypertensive medications?

We studied the utility of ABPM in patients with elevated clinic BP on 1-2 antihypertensive medications (group B, N=117), compared with those on no medications (group A, N=76) and on > or =3 medications (group C, N=110). 35% of patients in group B had adequately controlled 24-h BP based on ABPM, compared with 22.4% in group A (P=0.