PCSK9 and atherosclerosis burden in the coronary arteries of patients undergoing coronary angiography.

Aims: To investigate the association between plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) concentrations, current acute coronary syndrome (ACS), coronary artery disease (CAD) presence, severity and extension and the burden of coronary calcifications in patients with suspected CAD.

Methods And Results: One hundred and one patients, with or without current ACS, were recruited for this cross-sectional study. CAD presence was defined based on either the presence or absence of at least one significant (≥50%) CAD lesion (SCAD).

Echocardiographic predictors of worsening renal function in acute heart failure: observations from the RASHF registry.

Aims: Echocardiography is known as the most useful diagnostic test in the assessment of patients with heart failure (HF), and the prognostic significance of echocardiographic findings in HF is well known. In this report, we aim to present the prognostic significance of a limited set of echocardiographic parameters obtained within 24 h of admission of patients enrolled in the Rajaie Acute Systolic Heart Failure registry.

Methods And Results: A total of 230 patients with the diagnosis of acute systolic HF (left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 35%) were enrolled into the study.

Valsalva Maneuver and Strain-Related ECG Changes.

Background: During the four steps of the Valsalva maneuver (VM), opposite changes can be observed in some physiologic parameters. Manifestations of the VM in the electrocardiogram (ECG) have been studied in detail, but there have been few reports comparing VM-related biochemical and hemodynamic changes with a focus on the strain phase of the VM.

Objectives: We studied strain-related ECG changes during the VM.

The effect of gag reflex on cardiac sympatovagal tone.

Objectives: Heart velocity may be influenced by gagging. The medulla oblongata receives the afferents of gag reflex. Neuronal pools of vomiting, salivation and cardiac parasympathetic fibers are very close in this area.