Intracoronary administration of nicorandil during primary percutaneous coronary intervention: Impact on restoration of regional myocardial perfusion in reperfused myocardium during the subacute phase of myocardial infarction.

Background: The impact of nicorandil as adjunctive therapy for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is controversial. We performed O-labeled water positron emission tomography (PET) to quantify regional myocardial perfusion in patients with STEMI who received nicorandil or no adjunctive therapy during PCI.

Methods: PCI was performed within 8 h after STEMI onset in 33 patients.

Prognostic value of circulating regulatory T cells for worsening heart failure in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in the negative regulation of immune responses. Recent studies suggest that Tregs are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and myocarditis. Here, we investigated the involvement of Tregs on worsening heart failure (HF) in patients with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF).

Reduced bone mineral density in hypertensive patients is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, not left ventricular hypertrophy.

Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction are commonly observed in hypertensive patients, and have been demonstrated to be risk factors of chronic heart failure due to LV diastolic dysfunction. Recently, reduced bone mineral density has been found in hypertensive patients compared with healthy controls. However, relationships between bone mineral density and LV hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction have not been fully assessed.

Differences in left ventricular diastolic dysfunction between eccentric and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients with preserved systolic function.

Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) may be eccentric or concentric (2 × LV posterior wall thickness relative to LV end-diastolic dimension ≤ 0.42 or > 0.42, respectively).

Aortic root dilatation as a marker of subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular risk factors.

Consensus is lacking about the clinical importance of aortic root dilatation in assessment of the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this study, correlations between aortic root diameter and echocardiographic features of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function were investigated in 333 patients with at least one cardiovascular risk factor (hypertension, diabetes or dyslipidaemia) and preserved LV systolic function. Aortic root diameter was measured by M-mode echocardiography, and LV diastolic function was evaluated by measuring the peak velocity of early (E) and late (A) diastolic transmitral blood flow and peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') by Doppler echocardiography.

Seasonal variation in estimated glomerular filtration rate based on serum creatinine levels in hypertensive patients.

Seasonal variations in blood pressures should be kept in mind when controlling blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Seasonal variations in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) also may have a clinical significance. However, it is time-consuming to measure GFR directly.

Visit-to-visit variability in blood pressure over a 1-year period is a marker of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in treated hypertensive patients.

Although visit-to-visit variability in systolic blood pressure (SBP) has recently been demonstrated to be a strong predictor of stroke, there are no data about relationships between SBP variability and cardiac damage in hypertensive patients. We compared relationships between visit-to-visit variability in SBP and left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction with the relationships between the mean SBP value and cardiac parameters in treated patients. Forty treated hypertensive patients (69 ± 9 years of age) had their blood pressure measured at outpatient clinics every 1 or 2 months over a 1-year period.

Association between echocardiographic parameters and brain natriuretic peptide levels in treated hypertensive patients.

We examined which echocardiographic parameter correlated best with plasma brain natriuteric peptide (BNP) levels in treated hypertensive patients. Enrolled in the study were 122 treated hypertensive patients (70 ± 9 y). The left ventricular mass index and left atrial dimension (LAD) were measured using echocardiography as indexes of left ventricular hypertrophy and left atrial enlargement, respectively.

Association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and left ventricular diastolic function assessed by echocardiography in patients with cardiovascular risk factors.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) has been demonstrated to play a causal role in atherosclerosis and to predict cardiovascular events in the general population. On the other hand, left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction assessed by echocardiography can also predict cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. However, there are few data regarding the relationships among hsCRP, LV hypertrophy, and diastolic function.

Association between bone mineral density and arterial stiffness in hypertensive patients.

Hypertension and osteoporosis are two common diseases in the elderly population. Recently, reduced bone mineral density has been found in hypertensive patients compared with healthy controls. Reduced bone mineral density is associated with increased arterial stiffness in chronic dialysis patients and healthy postmenopausal women.

Age-related decrease in inferior vena cava diameter measured with echocardiography.

The diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) measured with echocardiography is clinically used as a parameter to estimate right atrial pressure, which reflects dehydration or overhydration. Because elderly patients fall easily into dehydration, normal values for IVC diameters in elderly patients may be helpful for geriatric medicine. However, normal values of IVC diameter in relation to age have not been investigated.

Aortic annular velocity assessed by tissue Doppler echocardiography as a potential parameter of arterial stiffness.

Although mitral annular velocity assessed by tissue Doppler echocardiography has been established as a parameter of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, aortic annular velocity has never been investigated as a parameter of cardiovascular function. We investigated whether aortic annular velocity can be measured using the same tissue Doppler echocardiographic method that is used for measuring mitral annular velocity, as well as the correlation between the aortic annular velocity thus measured and arterial stiffness that was assessed by the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI). Sixty-three patients (69 +/- 13 years) with hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia, who had no overt heart disease, were enrolled.

Acute improvement of cardiac efficiency measured by 11C-acetate PET after cardiac resynchronization therapy and clinical outcome.

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of (11)C-acetate positron emission tomography (PET) for assessing the efficacy of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Enrolled in this study were 20 patients with severe heart failure. All patients underwent 11C-acetate PET within 1 week after CRT.

Positron emission tomographic demonstration of myocardial oxidative metabolism in a case of left ventricular restoration after cardiac resynchronization therapy.

A 65-year-old man with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting was admitted because of severe heart failure. Echocardiography showed diffuse severe hypokinesis of the left ventricle (ejection fraction 25%) and severe mitral regurgitation caused by tethering of the leaflet secondary to left ventricular (LV) dilation. He underwent mitral valve annuloplasty and LV papillary muscle imbrication, but postoperative sustained ventricular tachycardia developed and echocardiography showed ventricular dyssynchrony with a long septal-to-posterior wall motion delay (>130 ms).

Comparative evaluation of 18F-FDG PET and 67Ga scintigraphy in patients with sarcoidosis.

Unlabelled: 67Ga scintigraphy has been used for years in sarcoidosis for diagnosis and the extent of the disease. However, little information is available on the comparison of 18F-FDG PET and 67Ga scintigraphy in the assessment of sarcoidosis. The purpose of this study was to compare the uptake of 18F-FDG and 67Ga in the evaluation of pulmonary and extrapulmonary involvement in patients with sarcoidosis.

Latent abnormal fatty acid metabolism in apparently normal perfusion during stress in patients with restenosis after coronary angioplasty: assessment by exercise stress thallium-201 and iodine-123-labeled 15-(p-iodophenyl)-3-R,S-methylpentadecanoic acid-dual myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography.

Restenosis is a major problem in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty. Reduced uptake of iodine-123-labeled 15-(p-iodophenyl)-3-R,S-methylpentadecanoic acid (I-BMIPP-123) relatively to thallium-201 (Tl-201) has been attributed to the metabolic damage in the myocardium in patients with coronary artery disease. Therefore, we performed exercise stress Tl-201 and I-BMIPP-123 dual myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to detect coronary restenosis in 48 patients (35 men and 13 women, mean age 66 +/- 8 years), followed by coronary angiography at follow-up.

Reduction of coronary flow reserve in areas with and without ischemia on stress perfusion imaging in patients with coronary artery disease: a study using oxygen 15-labeled water PET.

Background: Myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) occasionally fails to detect coronary stenosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). We evaluated coronary flow reserve (CFR) using oxygen 15-labeled water in areas with and without ischemia on technetium 99m tetrofosmin stress perfusion SPECT in patients with angiographically documented CAD.

Methods And Results: Twenty-seven patients with CAD and eleven age-matched normal subjects were studied.

Transient left ventricular dysfunction in ischaemic myocardium after stress: comparative study with exercise and pharmacological stress gated myocardial single photon emission computed tomography.

In ischaemic heart disease patients, transient left ventricular dysfunction is observed due to post-exercise stunning. The aim of this study was to determine whether transient left ventricular dysfunction could also be seen after short-acting pharmacological stress (adenosine triphosphate). A 1 day rest/stress gated myocardial single photon emission computed tomography was performed on 362 patients suspected of having ischaemic heart disease by exercise (n=199) or short-acting pharmacological stress (n=163).

Altered myocardial flow reserve and endothelial function late after Kawasaki disease.

Objectives: Coronary arterial lesions after Kawasaki disease (KD) may cause coronary endothelial dysfunction as the result of intimal hypertrophy. Our purpose was to assess myocardial flow reserve (MFR) and endothelial function in various myocardial regions after KD by using positron emission tomography.

Study Design: Twenty-seven patients, 17.

Assessment of myocardial viability in prior myocardial infarction by intravenous bolus microbubble injection: a new time domain index to estimate regional relative myocardial blood volume.

We tested whether the duration of myocardial opacification by harmonic power Doppler imaging after intravenous bolus microbubble injection (with a definition of "the end of opacification") would reflect the remaining vascular bed in infarcted segments. In 28 patients with previous myocardial infarction and 20 control patients, we performed harmonic power Doppler imaging after intravenous bolus injection of 1.5 g of Levovist.

Decreased endothelium-dependent coronary vasomotion in healthy young smokers.

Chronic cigarette smoking alters coronary vascular endothelial response. To determine whether altered response also occurs in young individuals without manifest coronary disease we quantified coronary blood flow at rest, following adenosine vasodilator stress and during the cold pressor test in healthy young smokers. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was quantified by oxygen-15 labelled water positron emission tomography in 30 healthy men aged from 20 to 35 years (18 smokers and 12 non-smokers, aged 27.