Association between anticardiolipin antibodies and recurrent cardiac events in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

To determine whether the presence of anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies in patients with acute coronary syndrome is predictive of recurrent cardiac events in hospital stay and follow-up. The study population consisted of 80 patients with acute coronary syndrome. IgM and IgG aCL levels were determined before hospital discharge.

Increase in soluble E-selectin level after PTCA and stent implantation: a potential marker of restenosis.

Background: E-Selectin is expressed only on activated endothelial cells, and may be used as a marker of endothelial activation. The relationship between soluble form of E-selectin (sE-selectin) and development of restenosis after balloon angioplasty (PTCA) is controversial, and there are no data for after stent implantation. We evaluated the role of serially measured sE-selectin levels in predicting the development of restenosis after PTCA and stent implantation.

Elevated whole-blood tissue factor procoagulant activity as a marker of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and stent implantation.

Background: Experimental data suggest that tissue factor (TF) may induce neointimal hyperplasia after arterial injury. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that elevated levels of TF in the circulation contribute to the development of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or stent implantation.

Methods And Results: Whole-blood TF procoagulant activity (TF-PCA) was measured using a previously described assay before, at 3 hours after, and at 24 hours after the intervention in 61 patients with stable angina undergoing PTCA (n=20) or stent implantation (n=41).

The prevention of minor myocardial injury with ticlopidine pretreatment in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting.

The aim of the study was to determine whether ticlopidine treatment prior the coronary stenting would be associated with lower rates of procedure-related minor myocardial injury (MMI) in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting. In this retrospective, nonrandomized, uncontrolled study, a total of 153 consecutive patients with a mean age of 63.4+/-8.

Coronary-pulmonary artery fistula associated with right heart failure: successful closure of fistula with a graft stent.

Coronary artery fistula constitutes a rare congenital anomaly. The reported incidence of this anomaly ranges from 0.1% to 0.

Direct stent implantation in acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of direct stenting and to compare it with conventional implantation techniques in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: A total of 145 patients were divided into two arms based on the stenting technique used: group I (n = 71) = direct stenting without predilatation group that included only single-vessel procedures and group II (n = 74) = stenting with predilatation group that included only single-vessel conventional stent implantations. The primary endpoint of the study was the major adverse clinical event (MACE) rate in-hospital, at 1 month, and at 6 months and the secondary endpoint was the balloon inflation time (BIT), the number of balloon inflations (NBI), the radiation exposure time (RET), the amount of contrast dye used (ACD) and the no-reflow phenomenon.

Successful surgical resection of a muscular bridge in a patient with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy--a case report.

The authors report a case of myocardial bridging associated with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severe intractable chest pain that was relieved by surgical resection of the muscular bridge. Surgical resection of a myocardial bridge may be considered in patients with refractory symptoms that can clearly be attributed to muscular bridge.