Clonazepam-associated Bradycardia in a Disabled Elderly Woman with Multiple Complications.

We herein report an 87-year-old woman who was taking clonazepam at 1.5 mg/day. She was hospitalized with an old cerebral infarction complicated with symptomatic epilepsy, dementia, dyslipidemia, and chronic cholecystitis.

The waveform index of the ophthalmic artery predicts impaired coronary flow reserve.

Background: Coronary flow reserve (CFR) can decrease with impairment in coronary microcirculation, even in the absence of epicardial conduit obstruction. Recently, the ophthalmic artery (OA), which is the first major branch of the internal carotid artery and is representative of microarterioles, has been identified using color Doppler sonography. However, the features of ultrasound waveform indices suggestive of impaired OA microcirculation and the relationships between these indices and CFR have not been elucidated.

[A ten-year follow-up of a 109-year-old woman with myocardial infarction].

A 109-year-old woman was hospitalized with myocardial infarction in the geriatric long-term care ward of our hospital. Her medical history was unknown, and she was receiving only peroral 20 mg/day furosemide. Her medical records at another hospital revealed that she had been given a previous diagnosis of myocardial infarction of the anteroseptal wall of the left ventricle by a cardiovascular specialist approximately 10 years previously.

Waveform of ophthalmic artery Doppler flow predicts the severity of systemic atherosclerosis.

Background: Doppler imaging of ophthalmic artery (OA), the first major branch of the internal carotid artery, provides anatomical advantages due to the vertical angle to the body surface and absence of ultrasonic obstacles. It was hypothesized that the Doppler waveform indices of OA correlate with severity of systemic atherosclerosis.

Methods And Results: The study subjects were 180 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization and OA Doppler imaging (90 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 90 control patients).

Hypercholesterolemia and hypoadiponectinemia are associated with necrotic core-rich coronary plaque.

Background: Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and closely linked to unstable plaque. Hypoadiponectinemia is frequently observed in patients with metabolic syndrome complicated with macroangiopathy and predicts poor clinical outcome. Spectral analysis of intravascular ultrasonography radiofrequency (IVUS-Virtual Histology [VH]) allows quantitative analysis of plaque composition.

Smoking cessation is associated with increased plasma adiponectin levels in men.

Objectives: Low levels of adiponectin, an adipocytokine with anti-diabetic and anti-atherogenic properties, are associated with increased risk of future myocardial infarction in men. Previous studies have demonstrated that cigarette smoking is involved in the development of insulin resistance, and current smokers have been shown to have reduced plasma adiponectin levels. However, the influence of smoking cessation on adiponectin levels remains unknown.

Hypoadiponectinemia is associated with impaired glucose tolerance and coronary artery disease in non-diabetic men.

Background: Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but is not always recognized in the clinical setting. An anti-atherogenic adipocytokine, adiponectin, is decreased in type 2 diabetes mellitus, but its role in non-diabetic subjects has not been clarified. The hypothesis investigated in the present study was that plasma adiponectin levels correlate with IGT and coronary artery disease (CAD) in non-diabetic men.

Pravastatin improved glucose metabolism associated with increasing plasma adiponectin in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and coronary artery disease.

Reduced incidence of type-2 diabetes has been shown in patients treated with pravastatin. Adiponectin can exhibit beneficial effects on glucose metabolism. We investigated whether pravastatin could improve glucose tolerance associated with increasing adiponectin levels in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Plasma adiponectin levels are associated with coronary lesion complexity in men with coronary artery disease.

Objectives: We sought to assess whether plasma adiponectin levels correlate with angiographic coronary lesion complexity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Background: Metabolic disorders, including diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, are important risk factors for acute cardiovascular events, and adiponectin is a key molecule of metabolic disorders, with anti-atherogenic properties. Low plasma adiponectin levels are associated with CAD and future incidence of myocardial infarction.

Future adverse cardiac events can be predicted by persistently low plasma adiponectin concentrations in men and marked reductions of adiponectin in women after acute myocardial infarction.

There is conflicting information about whether mortality after AMI is higher in women than men. We investigated the significance of plasma adiponectin concentrations on major adverse cardiac events (MACE) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to delineate any differences between men and women. The study patients consisted of 114 men and 42 women with AMI.

Hypoadiponectinemia is associated with coronary artery spasm in men.

Background: The relationship between adiponectin and coronary spastic angina (CSA), both of which are closely involved in coronary endothelial dysfunction, has not been elucidated.

Methods And Results: Plasma adiponectin concentrations were examined in 55 men with CSA and 55 with chest pain syndrome (CPS). The plasma log-adiponectin levels were significantly lower in patients with CSA than with CPS (0.

Usefulness of preprocedural platelet aggregation to predict restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention.

We investigated whether the assessment of small platelet aggregates before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) could predict restenosis after PCI. This was a prospective cohort study that enrolled 189 consecutive patients who had coronary artery disease. In multiple logistic regression analysis, higher levels of preprocedural small platelet aggregates were independently associated with restenosis after PCI.

Levels of the adipocyte-derived plasma protein, adiponectin, have a close relationship with atheroma.

Introduction: Inflammation is a key process in atherosclerotic formation. Structural changes in the carotid arterial wall including detection of focal plaques are measured as the intima-media thickness (IMT) providing an index of atheroma. Coronary arterial plaques may be considered as vascular structural changes.

Sensorineural hearing loss combined with Takayasu's arteritis.

A 49-year-old woman complained of hearing loss and diminution of left radial arterial pulsation. She had been diagnosed with sudden deafness and treated with corticosteroids. Her audibility deteriorated again after the cessation of the therapy.

Adiponectin is inversely related to plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 in patients with stable exertional angina.

Adipose tissue is a secretory organ producing a variety of bioactive substances, such as adiponectin. Adiponectin has antiatherogenic properties while plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) is closely involved in the development of atherosclerosis. The relationship between adiponectin and PAI-1 in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been clarified.

Löffler's endocarditis associated with unusual ECG change mimicking posterior myocardial infarction.

A73-year-old man with a history of bronchial asthma and atrial fibrillation was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea and back pain. Blood analysis revealed a marked increase in total blood cell and eosinophil counts. The creatine kinase and creatine kinase-MB increased slightly.

[Intractable infective endocarditis associated with supraaortic stenosis in Williams syndrome: a case report].

A 17-year-old man with supravalvular aortic stenosis associated with Williams syndrome was admitted to our hospital for intensive treatment for intractable infective endocarditis. The patient had a history of percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty for aortic stenosis in 1992. He was well until late in 1999, when he had a high temperature after dental work-up.