Molecular markers relevant to myocardial injury following dental extraction in patients with or without coronary artery disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize biological changes following dental extractions in patients with or without coronary artery disease (CAD).

Materials And Methods: Forty-five patients (36 males and 9 females) referred for dental extraction underwent treatment and provided blood samples before, immediately after, and 24 h after the procedure. A broad array of biomarkers was employed to assess myocardial injury (highly sensitive troponin T, hs-TnT), bacterial burden (LPS endotoxin activity), and systemic inflammation (CRP, fibrinogen, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and TNF-α).

Middle East food safety perspectives.

Food safety and quality assurance are increasingly a major issue with the globalisation of agricultural trade, on the one hand, and intensification of agriculture, on the other. Consumer protection has become a priority in policy-making amongst the large economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries following a number of food safety incidents. To enhance food safety, it is necessary to establish markets underpinned by knowledge and resources, including analysis of international rejections of food products from MENA countries, international laboratory accreditation, improved reporting systems and traceability, continued development and validation of analytical methods, and more work on correlating sensory evaluation with analytical results.

Failure of multiple coronary angiographies to identify left main coronary artery disease in a patient diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography.

This case report describes the role of transesophageal echocardiography to diagnose proximal left main coronary artery disease.

Reliability of the rapid bedside whole-blood quantitative cardiac troponin T assay in the diagnosis of myocardial injury in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Background: A rapid bedside whole-blood quantitative cTnT assay has recently been developed. We evaluated the reliability of this test for the diagnosis of myocardial injury in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Material/methods: Whole-blood cTnT levels were measured in 96 patients with ACS using the Roche Cardiac Reader(R) rapid bedside assay device, and the results were compared with serum cTnT levels in the same patients measured by the Roche Elecsys(R) Immunoanalyzer.

Evaluation of 6 cardiac troponin assays in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: An increasing body of evidence has demonstrated the value of strategies based on cardiac troponin (cTn) assays in the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We evaluated the performance and the practicability of 6 commercially available assays (5 cTnI and 1 cTnT) in patients with ACS.

Methods: This study was carried out between October 2001 and June 2002 at Armed Forces Hospital in collaboration with Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.