Pulmonary uptake of technetium-99m-sestamibi induced by dipyridamole-based stress or exercise.

Unlabelled: On poststress images with 99mTc-sestamibi (MIBI), increased lung uptake of the radiotracer may reflect severe or multivessel coronary artery disease.

Methods: We measured pulmonary/myocardial ratios of MIBI at standardized times on immediate poststress acquisitions and on delayed tomographic acquisitions. In 1500 sequential patients referred for rest and stress myocardial tomography, ancillary planar images were obtained 4 min postinjection at peak stress with exercise, either alone (exercise, n = 674), or after intravenous dipyridamole (dipyridamole, n = 826).

An evaluation of the workplace smoking bylaw in the city of Toronto.

Random-digit dialing surveys were conducted before (n = 1543) and 8 to 9 months after (n = 1430) implementation of the city of Toronto workplace smoking bylaw. Compared with workers in the rest of metropolitan Toronto and persons not working outside the home, city workers evidenced more positive changes in regard to knowledge of the bylaw, its requirements, and enforcement provisions. City workers reported more changes in workplace restrictions and satisfaction with such restrictions.

Does cigarette smoking affect the fitness of young adults? Rationale and protocol for future research.

While there is considerable evidence of the direct effects of cigarette smoking upon the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, one result of impaired function, that is how cigarette smoking affects fitness and athletic performance, has not been well documented. Because of the potential impact that exercise might have as a substitute for smoking, it is important to delineate relationships, particularly for those who are just beginning to smoke. Literature is presented as a rationale for research in this area and results of a pilot study on smokers and non-smokers are reported.

The effects of counseling on smoking cessation among patients hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized clinical trial.

Seventy-four cigarette-smoking patients admitted with COPD to the Chest Unit of a 600-bed teaching hospital served as subjects for a randomized trial of smoking cessation counseling. All patients were advised to quit smoking and smoking in the unit was not allowed. One-half of the patients were, in addition, provided with a self-help manual and three to eight 15- to 20-min counseling sessions on alternate days while in hospital.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and serum thiocyanate level in infants.

The authors measured the concentrations of serum thiocyanate (SCN) of 80 infants in Chang-Ning District, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The infants were classified into one of three groups according to the total number of cigarettes family members collectively smoked per day: (1) unexposed, (2) lightly exposed (1-19 cigarettes/d), and (3) heavily exposed (20+ cigarettes/d). The serum SCN levels (mean +/- SD, mumol/l) were 27.