Patient dose in cardiac radiology.

Introduction: In diagnostic and interventional cardiology procedures performed with the use of X-ray diagnostic imaging systems, the long fluoroscopy time and the large number of cine projections, as well as the repetition of the procedure due to the recurrence of the lesion--a common event--result in a high locally delivered skin dose, which may even lead to patient skin necrosis. The purpose of this study was to collect information in order to estimate the patient dose during coronary angiography and coronary angioplasty procedures, using the dose-area product measuring system of the X-ray angiographic machine.

Methods: Dose-area product (DAP), fluoroscopy time, number of sequences and frames per sequence were collected for each of 108 coronary angiography and 101 coronary angioplasty procedures, using the dedicated X-ray machine of the hospital's haemodynamic department, where more than 3000 procedures are performed per year.

Severe accordion effect: Myocardial ischemia due to wire complication during percutaneous coronary intervention: A case report.

A mechanical alteration during manoeuvring of stiff guidewires in tortuous coronary arteries frequently induces vessel wall shortening and coronary psedostenosis, referred as accordion phenomenon. Subtraction of the guidewires normally leads to the entire resolution of the lesions. A case of this transient angiographic finding, during percutaneous coronary intervention in a tortuous right coronary artery, which resulted in a flow limiting effect and myocardial ischemia, is described in the present report.

Post-mortem angiographic and histologic findings of coronary artery fibromuscular dysplasia.

The present report highlights on exceptional angiographic and histologic features of coronary artery fibromuscular dysplasia in a young man complaining of chest discomfort during strenuous exercise. The striking features of fibromuscular dysplasia were the relative proximal localization of the lesion in left anterior descending coronary artery, the extensive length of the lesion, and the exclusive involvement of the intima producing a diffuse regular narrowing lesion. An eccentric intimal proliferation of the small left anterior descending coronary artery branches along their epicardial and intramural course was additionally demonstrated.

Success, safety, and efficacy of implantation of diamond-like carbon-coated stents.

The aim of this study was to evaluate safety and clinically defined efficacy of the implantation of a new stent coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC stent), in a group of patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary revascularization procedures in two hemodynamic centers. This study was an observational prospective nonrandomized study that included 196 patients with a total of 236 significant de novo atheromatous coronary lesions, in which 245 DLC stents were implanted. The primary end point of this study was a composite of major cardiovascular events (death or acute myocardial infarction with or without Q) and need for target lesion revascularization (TLR) or target vessel revascularization (TVR) procedure during the first 48 hours and at 6 months after the DLC stent implantation.