Ischemia induced focal adhesion kinase cleavage in rat lung.

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a 125 kDa protein, is located at the focal adhesion sites that stabilize endothelial cells on the matrix. Ischemic stimuli cause FAK cleavage and FAK depletion from focal adhesion sites. To test this hypothesis under ischemic conditions, we established an isolated rat lung that we ventilated at 40 inflations/min at inspiratory and expiratory pressures of 10 and 3 cm H2O, respectively.

Impact of change in the price of percutaneous coronary intervention devices on medical expenses.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) devices are much more expensive in Japan than in the United States, but their prices were reduced in April 2002. This study evaluated the impact of that change in the price of PCI devices on medical expenses. In-hospital costs of 22 consecutive patients who underwent elective single-vessel PCI without a debulking procedure before April 2002 were collected and the in-hospital cost of each patient was recalculated by applying the current prices of the PCI devices and those in the USA.

Results of the Jostent coronary stent graft implantation in various clinical settings: procedural and follow-up results.

The Jostent coronary stent graft (CSG) is composed of a PTFE layer sandwiched between two stainless steel stents, initially introduced for the treatment of coronary perforations and aneurysms with excellent results. By providing a mechanical barrier, this stent design also may be beneficial in the treatment of complex ulcerated lesions and in-stent restenosis by preventing debris protrusion and neointimal proliferation through the stent struts. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of this stent graft, we implanted 78 CSGs in 70 patients for a broad range of indications, including coronary perforations, aneurysms, degenerated saphenous vein grafts, complex lesions, and in-stent restenosis.

New-device angioplasty in women: clinical outcome and predictors in a 7,372-patient registry.

Background: Female gender has been identified as an independent predictor of early complications and mortality after conventional balloon angioplasty. To gain insight into the outcome of women after new-device angioplasty, we reviewed the early and late clinical outcome of 7,372 patients undergoing new-device angioplasty between 1991 and 1996 at the Washington Hospital Center.

Methods: Patients (2,077 women and 5,295 men) with native coronary artery (82.

Quantitative coronary angiography in regression trials: a review of methodologic considerations, endpoint selection, and limitations.

Several quantitative angiographic methods (visual assessment, digital hand-held calipers, and automated edge detection) have been successfully used to assess coronary atherosclerosis regression. These methods are applicable for (1) continuous measures of disease progression and regression, including patient-based, segment-based, and lesion-based analyses; and (2) categorical assessment of disease progression and regression (the use of a predefined threshold to categorize the course of disease). Angiographic methods and criteria for assessing disease progression each have distinct advantages and disadvantages, which accounts for the methodologic diversity seen in clinical trials.

Quantitative angiographic methods for appropriate end-point analysis, edge-effect evaluation, and prediction of recurrent restenosis after coronary brachytherapy with gamma irradiation.

Objectives: The study was done to investigate the relationship between clinical restenosis and the relative angiographic location of the recurrent restenotic lesion, after treatment of in-stent restenosis with vascular brachytherapy in the Washington Radiation for In-Stent Restenosis Trial (WRIST).

Background: Intracoronary radiation therapy reduces recurrence of in-stent restenosis. We investigated the above objective in patients enrolled in WRIST.

Acute angiographic and clinical results of the NIR w/SOX stent.

Acute angiographic and clinical results of the NIR w/SOX stent (Boston Scientific/Scimed, Inc., Maple Grove, Minnesota) were evaluated. Between March 2000 and May 2000, a total of 102 lesions in 88 patients underwent stenting with the NIR w/SOX stent.