Increased coronary artery calcium score and noncalcified plaque among HIV-infected men: relationship to metabolic syndrome and cardiac risk parameters.

Objective: In this study, the effects of traditional cardiac risk factors on coronary artery calcium (CAC) score and presence of plaque, including noncalcified plaque, measured by computed tomography coronary angiography, were compared among HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected subjects, with respect to the presence of the metabolic syndrome (MS).

Design And Methods: HIV-infected men recruited for the presence of the MS (HIV + MS, n = 27) were compared with 2 control groups, HIV-infected men recruited without regard to metabolic criteria (HIV, n = 87), and HIV-negative control men (C, n = 40), also recruited without regard to any metabolic criterion.

Results: All 3 groups were similar in age, demographic parameters, and smoking.

Increased epicardial adipose tissue volume in HIV-infected men and relationships to body composition and metabolic parameters.

Epicardial fat accumulation may have important clinical consequences, yet little is known regarding this depot in HIV patients. We compared epicardial fat volume in 78 HIV-infected men and 32 HIV-negative controls. Epicardial fat volume was higher in HIV-infected patients than that in controls (P = 0.

Perceived usefulness of cardiac computed tomography as assessed by referring physicians and its effect on patient management.

Despite the growing use of computed tomographic angiography (CTA), the effect on patient management is less clear. We sought to determine the perceived usefulness of the results provided by CTA and to assess whether and how it influences patient management. Comprehensive prospective data were collected from 184 consecutive patients who presented for clinical CTA for the evaluation of coronary artery disease from March to July 2008.

Increased prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis detected by coronary computed tomography angiography in HIV-infected men.

Objective: The degree of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in HIV-infected patients is unknown. We investigated the degree of subclinical atherosclerosis and the relationship of traditional and nontraditional risk factors to early atherosclerotic disease using coronary computed tomography angiography.

Design And Methods: Seventy-eight HIV-infected men (age 46.

Assessment of coronary plaque progression in coronary computed tomography angiography using a semiquantitative score.

Objectives: We sought to describe the progression of coronary atherosclerotic plaque over time by computed tomography (CT) angiography stratified by plaque composition and its association with cardiovascular risk profiles.

Background: Data on the progression of atherosclerosis stratified by plaque composition with the use of noninvasive assessment by CT are limited and hampered by high measurement variability.

Methods: This analysis included patients who presented with acute chest pain to the emergency department but initially showed no evidence of acute coronary syndromes.

Adenosine-induced stress myocardial perfusion imaging using dual-source cardiac computed tomography.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the feasibility of performing a comprehensive cardiac computed tomographic (CT) examination incorporating stress and rest myocardial perfusion imaging together with coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA).

Background: Although cardiac CT can identify coronary stenosis, very little data exist on the ability to detect stress-induced myocardial perfusion defects in humans.

Methods: Thirty-four patients who had a nuclear stress test and invasive angiography were included in the study.

Intramyocardial transplantation of autologous CD34+ stem cells for intractable angina: a phase I/IIa double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Background: A growing population of patients with coronary artery disease experiences angina that is not amenable to revascularization and is refractory to medical therapy. Preclinical studies have indicated that human CD34+ stem cells induce neovascularization in ischemic myocardium, which enhances perfusion and function.

Methods And Results: Twenty-four patients (19 men and 5 women aged 48 to 84 years) with Canadian Cardiovascular Society class 3 or 4 angina who were undergoing optimal medical treatment and who were not candidates for mechanical revascularization were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized (3:1), placebo-controlled dose-escalating study.