[Patent foramen ovale: current state of the art].

Patent foramen ovale is a congenital cardiac lesion that persists into adulthood and which is present in over 25% of the adult population. Its diagnosis, evaluation and treatment have attracted increasing interest as it has been suggested that it may be associated with various pathologic conditions, such as cryptogenic stroke, platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome, decompression sickness and migraine. However, data on these associations are contradictory.

Efficacy and safety of argatroban in patients with heparin induced thrombocytopenia undergoing endovascular intervention for peripheral arterial disease.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of argatroban during percutaneous interventions for peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Background: Endovascular interventions are commonly used in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Heparin is routinely administered during these procedures, but cannot be used in patients with a history of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).

Identification of serum endoglin as a novel prognostic marker after acute myocardial infarction.

Endoglin is a proliferation-associated and hypoxia-inducible protein expressed in endothelial cells. The levels of soluble circulating endoglin and their prognostic significance in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are not known. In this observational prospective study serum endoglin levels were measured by ELISA in 183 AMI patients upon admission to hospital and 48 hrs later and in 72 healthy controls.

Pharmacological and cellular therapies to prevent restenosis after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting.

Angioplasty and stenting have become routine practice for the treatment of significant obstructive atherosclerotic vascular disease. This method of revascularization has a longer history concerning coronary artery disease but is becoming an increasingly used modality of revascularization in the peripheral circulation. Neointimal formation is the pathological basis for restenosis after revascularization procedures such as angioplasty, stenting, and bypass grafting.

Left atrial appendage exclusion using an Amplatzer device.

Patients with atrial fibrillation are at an increased risk of having a cardioembolic stroke. Most of the thrombi responsible for these ischemic events originate in the left atrial appendage (LAA). Several surgical and percutaneous endovascular techniques have been explored to occlude the LAA.

[Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia].

Hemorrhage is the most common and best-recognized complication of heparin treatment. However, a potentially more dangerous complication is the development of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). All patients exposed to heparin, irrespective of the dose and route of administration, are at risk of developing HIT.

Efficacy and safety of argatroban with or without glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor in patients with heparin induced thrombocytopenia undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndrome.

Background: There is limited experience with the use of argatroban in combination with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) inhibitor in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Materials And Methods: This single-center, retrospective study evaluated the efficacy (composite of death, myocardial infarction, or urgent revascularization) and safety (evaluated by TIMI major bleeding) of the argatroban with or without a GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor during PCI. Among 102 consecutive ACS patients (71.

Relationship between the QTc interval at hospital admission and the severity of the underlying ischaemia in low and intermediate risk people studied for acute chest pain.

Background: The corrected QT interval (QTc) is prolonged in the setting of acute coronary artery disease. However, very little data are available concerning the relationship between the QTc obtained soon after an episode of acute chest pain (ACHP) and the magnitude and severity of the myocardial ischaemia objectified in subsequent stress tests (STS).

Methods: This was a prospective and observational study in which we investigated the relationship between the QTc determined on the hospital admission electrocardiogram (AQTc) using Bazett's formula and the results of the STS performed subsequently in 206 patients consecutively admitted to the Emergency Department for ACHP without persistent ST-elevation.

Short- and long-term prognostic value of the corrected QT interval in the non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Background And Purpose: Myocardial ischemia prolongs the QTc interval. Very little data exists about its prognostic implications in the non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NST-ACS).

Methods: This is and observational and prospective study in which we evaluated the prognostic implications of the QTc obtained at admission (AQTc) in the short- and long-term of the NST-ACS.

Homocysteine and outcome in young patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Despite the well-known pro-thrombotic and pro-inflammatory plasma homocysteine effects, it remains uncertain whether these effects can be associated with an adverse cardiac outcome in young patients admitted with acute coronary syndromes.

Methods: Homocysteine levels were determined within 24 h after admission in 244 consecutive patients aged less than 56 years who presented with an acute coronary syndrome. We evaluated the relationship between homocysteine and both short-term (death, myocardial [re]infarction), and long-term prognosis (death, recurrent acute coronary syndrome and/or ischemic stroke), after 3.