Takotsubo syndrome following mitral valve replacement and left anterior descending coronary artery bypass grafting.

Unlabelled: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is rarely diagnosed following valvular and nonvalvular cardiac surgery. Only several such cases, including 12 after mitral valve replacement (MVR) or plasty (MVP) and 2 after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have been reported so far.

A Case Report: The authors describe a case of a 75-year-old female in whom TTS occurred on the first postoperative day after elective combined surgery: MVR (with bioprosthesis) and CABG (of the left anterior descending coronary artery).

Gigantic aneurysm of a venous bypass graft causing superior vena cava syndrome.

A case of a 66-year-old patient 13 years after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) admitted to hospital with typical ischemic chest pain and symptoms of superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is described. Non-invasive diagnostics confirmed acute coronary syndrome: non-ST-elevated myocardial infarction (ACS NSTEMI). Trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a gigantic tumor mass modeling the right atrium, causing chronic cardiac tamponade.

The oxygen stress index and levels of circulating interleukin-10 and interleukin-6 in patients with chronic heart failure.

Objectives: We sought to study circulating levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines together with the oxygen stress index in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Background: Patients with CHF exhibit elevated levels of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines but the relative level of these cytokines with the oxygen stress index have not been reported.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with CHF and 10 control subjects were studied.

The influence of short-term treatment with simvastatin on the inflammatory profile of patients with hypercholesterolaemia.

Background: Treatment with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors can reduce cardiovascular mortality of patients with atherosclerosis. This effect is probably due not only to a decrease in concentration of cholesterol, but also to non-lipid-involving mechanisms elicited by the action of statin drugs.

Objective: To investigate the influence of short-term therapy with simvastatin on markers of inflammation and oxidation processes in patients with hypercholesterolaemia.

The influence of treatment of hypercholesterolemic patients with simvastatin on plasma chemotactic activity and adherence of neutrophils.

Background: there is some evidence to indicate that statins may affect the function of immune and inflammatory cells. This study investigates the influence of short term treatment with simvastatin on plasma chemotactic activity and adherence of polymorphonuclear neutrophils in hypercholesterolemic patients.

Methods And Results: 20 hypercholesterolemic patients (250-400 mg/dl) were given simvastatin (20 mg daily for 12 weeks).