Plasma homocysteine levels are related to medium-term venous graft degeneration in coronary artery bypass graft patients.

Objective: Saphenous venous grafts (SVGs) are established choices for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); however, their lumen patency is limited. Our goal was to investigate the risk factors of SVG degeneration.

Methods: Seventy-five patients (mean age, 57.

[Myocardial infarction of rare etiology in a young adult].

Chest pain is not uncommon among young patients below the age of 35 years, however, it is rarely caused by acute coronary syndrome. The rarity of coronary artery occlusion in this population can easily lead to diagnostic mistakes. The authors present the case history of a 19-year-old young female, who was admitted to the emergency department of a local hospital due to the sudden onset of chest pain and malaise.

[Short and long term prognosis of patients with myocardial infarction. Hungarian Myocardial Infarction Registry].

Introduction: Mortality data of patients with acute myocardial infarction are incomplete in Hungary.

Aim: The aim of the authors was to analyse the data of 8582 myocardial infarction patients (4981 with ST-elevation myocardial infarction) registered in the Hungarian Myocardial Infarction Register in order to define the hospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality. To evaluate the prehospital mortality of myocardial infarction, all myocardial infarction and sudden death were registered in five districts of Budapest.

[Rectus sheath haematoma--rare complication of anticoagulant therapy].

The haematoma in the sheath of musculus rectus abdominis is a rare clinical entity. Its diagnosis is often difficult. Authors observed it in three patients who were on anticoagulant therapy.

Pharmacological mechanisms contributing to the clinical efficacy of levosimendan.

Acute decompensation of chronic heart failure is a direct life-threatening situation with short-term mortality approaching 30%. A number of maladaptive changes are amplified within the cardiovascular system during the progression of chronic heart failure that makes the decompensation phase difficult to handle. Levosimendan is a new Ca2+-sensitizer for the treatment of acutely decompensated heart failure that has proved to be effective during the decompensation of chronic heart failure and acute myocardial infarction.

[Percutaneous coronary intervention].

The aim of this article was to provide an overview on percutaneous coronary intervention and to identify the predictive factors of the outcome. Numerous and diverse factors have been associated with interventional treatment that include intrinsic stent thrombogenicity and patient-, target lesion-, and procedure-related issues. Stent design, surface coating and the addition of adjunctive pharmacotherapeutic agents may influence the degree of platelet activation.

99mTc-MIBI SPECT assessment of the effects of aneurysm resection on the left ventricular morphology.

Objective: 99mTc-MIBI SPECT is a widely used myocardial perfusion investigation technique, but few data are available concerning its use to assess the morphological characteristics of a left ventricular aneurysm (LVA) before and after LVA resection.

Methods And Results: Pre- and postoperative rest 99mTc-MIBI SPECT images were analysed in order to characterize the features of LVAs and the changes in the 3D scintigraphic parameters after apical LVA resection in 6 patients. In the middle horizontal slice an angle was defined to quantify the apical divergence associated with the LVA.