Statins improve human coronary atherosclerotic plaque morphology.

Statin treatment markedly reduces the incidence of acute coronary events in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. Although imaging studies have indirectly shown the beneficial effects of statins on plaque morphology, there has to our knowledge been no reported histologic comparison of the morphology of coronary plaque in statin-treated versus untreated patients who had substantial coronary artery atherosclerosis. We retrospectively studied arterial sections from the native hearts of patients who had experienced end-stage ischemic heart disease and subsequent cardiac transplantation.

PCr overshoot': a study of the duration in canine myocardium.

The phosphocreatine (PCr) overshoot is a well-documented phenomenon and is readily observable by 31P MRS. In addition, a second 31P MRS observation during ischemia with reperfusion is a diminution in ATP levels. Combining these two as the 'PCr Overshoot' the PCr/ATP ratio may provide an index of viability.