The Quantification of Total Coronary Atheroma Burden - A Major Step Forward.

The extent of coronary artery disease has been shown to be an important indicator of prognosis. Cardiac computed tomography (CT) has the ability to measure plaque, with both coronary artery calcium scanning and CT angiography (CTA), to give a measure of total atheroma burden. Beyond assessing stenosis and atherosclerosis, CTA can assess high-risk plaque.

Complex regional pain syndrome after thromboendarterectomy: which type is it?

The authors describe a complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and discuss its type according to the presence or absence of nerve injury. A patient underwent thromboendarterectomy of the right popliteal artery. Subsequently, right lower limb reflex sympathetic dystrophy developed, which was confirmed by scintigraphy and responded well to calcitonin treatment.

Comparison of left ventricular responses to the six-minute walk test, stair climbing, and maximal upright bicycle exercise in patients with congestive heart failure due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Submaximal exercise tests have been advocated to assess exercise capacity in chronic heart failure, but hemodynamic responses have not been characterized. To determine left ventricular (LV) responses during submaximal exercise, the LV ejection fraction (EF) and volumes were evaluated by using an ambulatory radionuclide detector in 13 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy during upright maximal graded bicycle exercise, stair climbing and a 6-minute walk test. The 3 tests elicited different responses in volumes and, to a lesser degree, in LVEF.

Residual area at risk after anterior myocardial infarction: are ST segment changes during coronary angioplasty a reliable indicator? A comparison with technetium 99m-labeled sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess whether, after anterior myocardial infarction, ST segment changes during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of the left anterior descending coronary artery correlated with the amount of ischemic myocardium in the area at risk, measured with 99mTc-labeled sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) during balloon inflation.

Methods And Results: Quantitative continuous monitoring of the ST segment was performed during PTCA of the left anterior descending coronary artery in 11 patients, and corresponding SPECT imaging was compared with a rest acquisition performed before PTCA. SPECT was quantified by a bull's-eye analysis according to main criteria: (1) the planimetered defect size during PTCA as an indicator of the size of the area at risk, (2) the change in the pathologic/normal area count ratio in the area at risk as an index of the severity of ischemia, and (3) the difference between the size of the defect during PTCA and at baseline.

Nonlimited exercise test combined with high-dose dipyridamole for thallium-201 myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography in coronary artery disease.

Clinical, electrocardiographic, and thallium-201 single-photon emission computed tomography data were evaluated in 397 consecutive patients divided into 3 groups according to coronary hyperemic stimulation: 186 patients (group I; Ex) had maximal symptom-limited exercise ergometric stress testing, 93 patients (group II; Dip) had intravenous dipyridamole (0.7 to 0.8 mg/kg) stress testing, and 118 patients (group III; Dip+Ex) had dipyridamole (0.

Dual-isotope myocardial imaging: feasibility, advantages and limitations. Preliminary report on 231 consecutive patients.

Two hundred and thirty-one patients underwent dual-isotope myocardial imaging (rest thallium-201 followed by stress technetium-99m sestamibi). The feasibility of the procedure was excellent: camera scheduling flexibility was improved and the duration of the procedure was less than that of a classical stress-redistribution procedure. Interpretation of defects due to image attenuation was facilitated by the different attenuation properties of 201Tl and 99mTc-sestamibi in 11 of 19 patients.

Coronary vasodilator reserve in untreated and treated hypertensive patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy.

Objectives: This study was initiated to compare the coronary reserve in treated hypertensive patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy with that in untreated patients.

Background: Coronary reserve is impaired in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and normal coronary arteries. Moreover, basal coronary resistance is elevated in hypertensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy.

[Coronary vasoconstriction induced by acetylcholine in young smokers with normal angiographic coronary vessels].

Unlabelled: Cigarette smoking is a major risk of coronary artery disease. Acetylcholine-induced coronary artery constriction has been reported in patients with normal coronary arteries and other risk factors. To evaluate coronary artery endothelial function in smokers, coronary artery responses to acetylcholine (10(-8) M to 10(-5) M) were analyzed by quantitative angiography in 5 young heavy-smokers and in 5 age-matched nonsmokers.

Acetylcholine-induced coronary vasoconstriction in young, heavy smokers with normal coronary arteriographic findings.

Purpose: Cigarette smoking is a major coronary risk factor. Acetylcholine dilates coronary arteries in normal subjects, but acetylcholine-induced coronary constriction has been reported in patients with normal coronary arteriographic findings and other risk factors for coronary artery disease. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the epicardial coronary artery response to acetylcholine in young, heavy smokers.

[Restoring normal coronary reserve in treated hypertension without left ventricular hypertrophy].

Unlabelled: It has been previously demonstrated that coronary vascular reserve (CVR) was severely impaired in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), even after anti-hypertensive therapy. To assess if CVR was similarly depressed in hypertensive patients without LVH, peak-to-resting coronary flow velocity ratio (P/R) and a minimal coronary vascular resistance index (MCVRI) were determined with a coronary Doppler catheter placed into the left anterior descending coronary artery and maximally vasodilating dose of intracoronary papaverine (12 mg) in 16 control subjects (C), 7 untreated hypertensives without LVH (G1), and 7 hypertensives without LVH treated for at least one year (G2). All subjects and patients had normal left ventricular angiography and coronary arteriography.

Left ventricular regional dysfunction induced by intracoronary papaverine in patients with isolated stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery.

Intracoronary papaverine was administered to eight subjects with normal coronary arteries and to nine patients with single-vessel disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery. All patients had normal left ventricular function at baseline. After papaverine, global and regional ventricular function were unchanged in the normal group.

[Myocardial thallium scintigraphy after administration of dipyridamole. Application to the diagnosis and evaluation of coronary insufficiency].

Myocardial thallium scintigraphy performed after intravenous injection of dipyridamole is a non-invasive method to diagnose and evaluate coronary disease. It can be used as an alternative to postexercise scintigraphy, both methods having similar sensitivity and specificity. The dipyridamole test is contraindicated in patients with a history of bronchospasm and uncontrolled angina pectoris.

[Coronary vascular reserve in heart transplantation. Normalization after therapy for rejection].

Acute rejection is associated with severe impairment of coronary reserve in heart transplants. To evaluate the effects of rejection therapy, coronary reserve was assessed in 6 patients before and after treatment of an acute episode of rejection. Coronary reserve was significantly enhanced after rejection therapy (4.

[Coronary reserve in treated hypertension with persistent left ventricular hypertrophy].

Unlabelled: It has been demonstrated that coronary reserve (CR) is impaired in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and normal epicardial coronary arteries. The present study was undertaken in order to determine if CR returns to normal level after antihypertensive therapy in patients with persistent left ventricular hypertrophy, when the decrease of arterial blood pressure induces a reduction of LV wall stress (LVWS). In 26 patients with normal coronary arteriography, end-diastolic wall thickness (EDWT), LV mass (LVM) and peak systolic LVWS were determined on 30 degrees right anterior oblique LV angiography with simultaneous recording of LV pressure (micromanometer).

Coronary and left ventricular hemodynamic responses following reversal of flunitrazepam-induced sedation with flumazenil in patients with coronary artery disease.

The effects of reversal of flunitrazepam-induced sedation with flumazenil on coronary hemodynamics, myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2), and left ventricular (LV) performance were investigated, in a double-blind trial, in 12 patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing cardiac catheterization. Coronary sinus blood flow was measured by continuous thermodilution. Arterial and coronary sinus blood were analyzed for oxygen and lactate contents.

Size dependence of the end-systolic stress/volume ratio in humans: implications for the evaluation of myocardial contractile performance in pressure and volume overload.

The end-systolic stress/volume ratio is currently recognized as a relatively load-independent index of myocardial contractile performance, but its dependence on ventricular size may limit its value for interpatient comparisons. In this study, the relation between the end-systolic stress/volume ratio and left ventricular end-diastolic volume was angiographically analyzed in 104 patients with normal coronary angiograms. Eighteen patients had a normal ventricle, 24 had aortic stenosis, 18 had aortic regurgitation, 9 had mitral regurgitation and 35 had cardiomyopathy.

Recovery of a normal coronary vascular reserve after rejection therapy in acute human cardiac allograft rejection.

During acute rejection, coronary vascular reserve is severely impaired in human orthotopic heart transplants. To evaluate the effects of rejection therapy on coronary vascular reserve, the ratio of peak-to-resting coronary flow velocity was assessed with a coronary Doppler catheter and a maximally vasodilating dose of intracoronary papaverine (12 mg) in nine allograft recipients without rejection (group 1) and in six recipients before and after treatment of an acute episode of rejection (group 2). All the patients had normal epicardial coronary arteries and were free of left ventricular hypertrophy.

Coronary vasodilation induced by intracoronary enalaprilat: an argument for the role of a local renin-angiotensin system in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Although indicated by several experimental studies, the presence of a renin-angiotensin system has not been demonstrated in the human heart. The influence of a local renin-angiotensin system on the coronary vessels may be difficult to establish after oral or intravenous administration of an angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitor, since coronary blood flow depends greatly on the loading conditions of the left ventricle. To avoid such a situation, our study consisted in a direct bilateral intracoronary infusion of enalaprilat in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and normal coronary arteries (mean ejection fraction = 32 +/- 11%, n = 12).

Maximal coronary vasodilator capacity of orthotopic heart transplants in patients with and without rejection.

In cardiac allograft rejection, histopathologic changes suggesting that myocardial ischemia is a component of the rejection process have been documented. To further define the coronary vascular reactivity of human heart transplant, coronary sinus blood flow and coronary resistance were measured before and after intravenous dipyridamole within the first year after transplantation in 8 patients without rejection (group II) and in 5 patients with rejection (group III). All had normal coronary arteriograms.

Severe impairment of coronary reserve during rejection in patients with orthotopic heart transplant.

The present study analyzed coronary sinus blood flow alterations after dipyridamole induced coronary vasodilation in seven patients whose endomyocardial biopsies evidenced no sign of rejection (group 1) and in five patients with histologic signs of rejection (group 2) after orthotopic heart transplantation. All patients were treated with cyclosporine and prednisone and some with azathioprine and had normal coronary arteriograms. Coronary sinus blood flow and coronary resistance were measured before and after intravenous dipyridamole (0.

Reversibility by dipyridamole of thallium-201 myocardial scan defects in patients with sarcoidosis.

Purpose: In order to clarify the significance of anginal pain and myocardial thallium-201 scan defects in cardiac sarcoidosis, the pharmacologic effect of dipyridamole on myocardial perfusion was assessed by planar thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy in patients with sarcoidosis.

Patients And Methods: Thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy was performed at rest and after 0.56 mg/kg intravenous dipyridamole during four minutes in 16 patients with sarcoidosis.

Coronary flow and resistance reserve in patients with chronic aortic regurgitation, angina pectoris and normal coronary arteries.

Left ventricular hypertrophy has been found to be associated with a reduction of coronary vascular reserve, which could be responsible for episodes of myocardial ischemia. To evaluate coronary flow and resistance reserve in patients with chronic aortic regurgitation, coronary sinus blood flow and coronary resistance were measured before and after an intravenous dipyridamole infusion (0.14 mg/kg per min X 4 min) in eight control subjects and eight patients with aortic regurgitation, exertional angina pectoris and normal coronary arteriograms.

Direct myocardial and coronary effects of enalaprilat in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy: assessment by a bilateral intracoronary infusion technique.

Angiotensin II elicits contractile responses in the coronary arteries and myocardial tissue, which suggests that blockade of the renin-angiotensin system by specific agents should lead to both coronary vasodilation and an alteration of left ventricular inotropism. The present work was designed to delineate--independently from its systemic effects--the intrinsic actions of an angiotensin converting-enzyme inhibitor on the coronary circulation and left ventricular function. To minimize peripheral effects, a bilateral intracoronary infusion of enalaprilat (0.