Partner-specific sexual behaviors among persons with both main and other partners.

Context: If men and women engage in different sexual behavior with main partners than with other types of partners, then programs aimed at preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) may need to address individuals' differential risk with each partner type.

Methods: Relationship characteristics, partner risk behaviors and sexual behaviors are examined among 123 male and 106 female STD clinic patients who had both main and other partners. Individual-level comparisons are made for two types of partner pairs: main vs.

Lipid-lowering therapy after coronary revascularization: the interventional cardiologist's perspective.

Despite the success of coronary interventions in the treatment of stenosis due to coronary atherosclerosis, it behooves cardiologists to treat the underlying disease by decreasing patients' cholesterol levels. Intravascular ultrasound has made it possible to detect plaque accumulation not visible on angiography. Although advanced lesions that are fibrous and calcific can be treated with atherectomy and lasers, it is the soft, lipid-laden plaque that is particularly vulnerable to rupture and leads to coronary events.

Final results of the Balloon vs Optimal Atherectomy Trial (BOAT).

Background: Previous directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) trials have shown no significant reduction in angiographic restenosis, more in-hospital complications, and higher 1-year mortality than conventional balloon angioplasty (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty [PTCA]). DCA, however, has subsequently evolved toward a more "optimal" technique (larger devices, more extensive tissue removal, and routine postdilation to obtain diameter stenosis <20%).

Methods And Results: The Balloon vs Optimal Atherectomy Trial (BOAT) was conducted to evaluate whether optimal DCA provides short- and long-term benefits compared with balloon angioplasty.

Reliability of the quantitative angiographic measurements in the New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) registry: a comparison of clinical site and repeated angiographic core laboratory readings.

To assess the agreement of clinical site and angiographic core laboratory readings obtained in the New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) registry, we reviewed the angiographic results obtained in 787 lesions assessed both by the sites and the core laboratory, including 135 lesions analyzed twice (> or =2 months apart) by the angiographic core laboratory. Although moderate agreement was demonstrated between the clinical site and angiographic core laboratory for qualitative lesion morphology such as lesion calcium (kappa [kappa] = 0.42), only fair agreement was found between site and core laboratory estimation of lesion ulceration (kappa = 0.

Comparison of men versus women in cross-sectional area luminal narrowing, quantity of plaque, presence of calcium in plaque, and lumen location in coronary arteries by intravascular ultrasound in patients with stable angina pectoris.

Women have an increased mortality after coronary interventions compared with men, which may be partly explained by differences in comorbid clinical conditions. However, whether women also have quantitative differences in coronary atherosclerosis is not known. Preinterventional intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was used to study de novo, nonostial native coronary lesions in 169 women and 549 men with chronic angina.

Early and late assessment of the Micro Stent PL coronary stent for restenosis and suboptimal balloon angioplasty.

This prospective study represents the initial assessment of the Micro Stent PL (Arterial Vascular Engineering, Inc.) coronary stent. From one to three radiopaque stainless steel stents, each measuring 4 mm long, were premounted onto specially designed balloon catheters.

Contemporary stent designs: technical considerations, complications, role of intravascular ultrasound, and anticoagulation therapy.

A number of studies have shown the benefits of stent placement over balloon angioplasty for the treatment of focal, native coronary artery, and saphenous vein graft disease. Although the number of stent designs available for clinical use has increased dramatically, the late clinical benefit of stenting over balloon angioplasty has yet to be shown in diffuse disease, complex bifurcation stenoses, or smaller (2.5-mm) vessels, each of which may require unique stent designs and adjunct therapies not currently available or extensively studied.

Frequency and Prognostic Importance of Creatine Phosphokinase Myocardial Isoforms after Successful Balloon and New Device Coronary Angioplasty.

The frequency and prognostic importance of subclinical myocardial necrosis after new device coronary intervention is not known. To identify the frequency of CPK-MB release after balloon and single new device angioplasty in native coronary arteries, we reviewed the course of 810 patients who underwent successful single lesion, native vessel angioplasty using balloon angioplasty (N=174), Gianturco-Roubin stent placement for suboptimal angioplasty results (N=31), Palmaz-Schatz stent deployment (N=320), directional coronary atherectomy (N=102), or rotational atherectomy (N=183). All patients had serial measurements of CPK-MB isoenzymes 6 and 18Ð24 hours after coronary intervention; absolute CPK-MB levels were determined by radioimmunoassay (normal assay < 4 ng/ml).

Angiographic and Clinical Outcome after Cutting Balloon Angioplasty.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of cutting balloon angioplasty, we reviewed the early angiographic and clinical outcomes of 160 consecutive patients with 173 lesions undergoing this procedure. Angiographic core laboratory analysis was available in 150 of these lesions. Eccentricity was the most common (49%) unfavorable pre-procedural morphologic feature; other morphologic findings included length ³ 10 mm (28%), calcification (23%), angulation ³ 45 degrees (13%), irregularity (7%), ostial location (3%), and thrombus (1%).

Carotid Stent-Assisted Angioplasty: Preliminary Technique, Angiography, and Intravascular Ultrasound Observations.

Currently, surgical carotid endarterectomy has been the standard therapy for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with significant carotid artery stenoses. However, there are high surgical risk and other patient subsets, wherein a Òlesser invasiveÓ catheter-based procedure may be worthwhile. Carotid stent-assisted angioplasty (CSSA) is a percutaneous interventional treatment approach for appropriately selected patients with common and internal carotid artery lesions.

Validation of measures of condom and other contraceptive use among women at high risk for HIV infection and unintended pregnancy.

This study assessed the applicability of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (J.O. Prochaska & C.