Retinal vascular caliber and brachial flow-mediated dilation: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Retinal vascular caliber changes have been shown to predict stroke, but the underlying mechanism of this association is unknown. We examined the relationship between retinal vascular caliber with brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a measure of systemic endothelial function.

Methods: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) is a population-based study of persons 45 to 84 years of age residing in 6 US communities free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline.

Advances in percutaneous treatment for adult valvular heart disease.

Valvular heart disease occurs in 2-3% of the general population with an increase in prevalence with advancing age. The aetiology of valvular heart disease has evolved in recent decades with degenerative aortic and mitral valve disease supplanting rheumatic heart disease as a primary cause. The common valve lesions to be discussed in this article are aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation.

Outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention of ostial lesions in the era of drug-eluting stents.

Background: Ostial lesions are a difficult subset associated with suboptimal outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to analyze outcomes of ostial lesions in contemporary Australian interventional practice.

Methods: The study population comprised 1,713 consecutive patients who underwent PCI for proximal lesions of the left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary arteries, who were prospectively enrolled in the Melbourne Interventional Group Registry (February 2004-December 2006).