Acupuncture therapy for the treatment of stable angina pectoris: An updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background And Purpose: Stable angina pectoris is a common symptom imperiling patients' life quality. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture alone or acupuncture plus medicine for the treatment of stable angina pectoris.

Methods: Seven databases were searched ranging from 1959 to February 2018.

Safety and efficacy of frequency-domain optical coherence tomography in evaluating and treating intermediate coronary lesions.

Aim: To establish whether frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) is safe and effective in the evaluation and treatment of angiographically-intermediate coronary lesions (ICL).

Methods: Sixty-four patients with 2-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography (2D-QCA) demonstrating ICL were included. OCT imaging was performed.

Adverse Consequences of Right Ventricular Apical Pacing and Novel Strategies to Optimize Left Ventricular Systolic and Diastolic Function.

Several studies have focused on the deleterious consequences of Right Ventricular Apical (RVA) pacing on Left Ventricular (LV) function, mediated by pacing-induced ventricular dyssynchrony. Therapeutic strategies to reduce the detrimental consequences of RVA pacing have been proposed, that includes upgrading of RVA pacing to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT), alternative Right Ventricular (RV) pacing sites, minimal ventricular pacing strategies, as well as atrial-based pacing. In developing countries, single chamber RV pacing still constitutes a majority of cases of permanent pacing, and assessment of the optimal RV pacing site is of paramount importance.

A pilot clinical study of adjunctive therapy with selective intracoronary hypothermia in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the effect of selective intracoronary hypothermia on outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).

Background: Intracoronary hypothermia, the feasibility and safety of which has been validated in humans, induced by selective trans-coronary infusion of saline at different temperatures can reduce infarct size (IS) prior to reperfusion in animal models of STEMI.

Methods: Sixty STEMI patients presenting with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade 0/1 were randomized after coronary artery angiography.

A study of the association of rs12040273 with susceptibility and severity of coronary artery disease in a Chinese Han population.

Background: The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs12040273, a variant of UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine, polypeptide GalNAc-transferase 2, has recently been reported to be significantly associated with development of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in a Chinese population based on a genome-wide association study. Because IMT is a potent marker of coronary artery disease (CAD), the aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of rs12040273 to susceptibility and severity of CAD in a Chinese Han population.

Methods: We performed a hospital-based case-control study.

Flow-mediated dilatation to relieve puncture-induced radial artery spasm: A pilot study.

Background: Puncture-induced radial artery spasm (RAS) may extend the duration of coronary an-giography (CAG) or cause transradial access failure. Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), a widely-used noninvasive approach for assessing endothelial function, was reported to remove the entrapped radial sheath after percutaneous coronary intervention. Herein, the efficacy and safety of FMD in treating puncture-induced RAS before transradial CAG was investigated.

Pacemaker syndrome with sub-acute left ventricular systolic dysfunction in a patient with a dual-chamber pacemaker: consequence of lead switch at the header.

In the daily practice of pacemaker insertion, the occurrence of atrial and ventricular lead switch at the pacemaker box header is a rare and unintentional phenomenon, with less than five cases reported in the literature. The lead switch may have dire consequences, depending on the indication for the pacemaker. One of these consequences is pacemaker syndrome, in which the normal sequence of atrial and ventricular activation is impaired, leading to sub-optimal ventricular filling and cardiac output.