[The importance of lipoprotein(a) in pathogenesis of the high risk unstable angina].

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels in patients with low and high risk unstable angina pectoris, which is defined according to the cardiac troponin-I (Tn-I) levels and to investigate their relation with myocardial damage.

Methods: From patients with chest pain; venous blood samples were collected for measuring serum Lp(a) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels on admission and serum cTn-I levels 12 and 24 hours after admission. Fifty-nine patients with serum cTn-I levels <1.

Effect of irbesartan monotherapy compared with ACE inhibitors and calcium-channel blockers on patient compliance in essential hypertension patients: a multicenter, open-labeled, three-armed study.

Objectives: This multicenter, three-armed, open-labeled study investigated patient compliance of patients receiving irbesartan, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium-channel blockers (CCB) for essential hypertension for a 6-month period. Patients were either newly diagnosed or switched from existing antihypertensive medication due to lack of efficacy or side-effects.

Methods: Patients were started monotherapy with irbesartan (n=377), ACE inhibitors (n=298) or CCB (n=308) and were reevaluated on 1st, 3rd, and 6th months of the treatment.

Bacterial endocarditis of systemic atrioventricular valve (tricuspid valve) in corrected transposition and its surgical treatment.

We describe a case of congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries (CCTGA). Tricuspid valve replacement was performed due to valve dysfunction following bacterial endocarditis. After two weeks' antibiotic therapy haemodynamic stabilisation was obtained and the patient was operated in the third week.

[Is slow coronary flow related with inflammation and procoagulant state?].

Objective: To investigate the pathogenesis of coronary slow flow (CSF), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as indicator of inflammation and procoagulant activity were studied in patients with CSF.

Methods: Fifty-one patients (22 female, mean age; 53+/-10 years) who were admitted to our clinic with chest pain and had the diagnosis of CSF established by TIMI frame count method and coronary angiography, and 44 healthy subjects (18 female, mean age; 546 years) with normal coronary flow (NCF) were included in the study. Subjects with any infectious and systemic immune disease were excluded from the study.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a case of symptomatic Japanese type apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

A 61-year-old male patient was hospitalized due to the exertional angina pectoris. A diagnosis of apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was made by ECG (electrocardiography), echocardiographic, and coronary angiographic findings. This case was reported and related literature was reviewed because of its similarity to Japanese type apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (AHCMP) cases rarely seen outside Asia.

[Plasma insulin, glucose and lipid levels, and their relations with corrected TIMI frame count in patients with slow coronary flow].

Objective: High baseline insulin and glucose levels and presence of accompanying dyslipidemia, which are considered in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome X, were also observed in patients with cardiac syndrome X, which is similar to metabolic syndrome X in many aspects. In this study we aimed to compare serum insulin, glucose and lipid levels in patients with coronary slow flow which is hypothesized as a subgroup of cardiac syndrome X with those of healthy subjects and determine the relation of corrected TIMI frame count (cTFC) with these levels.

Methods: Forty-six patients with normal epicardial coronary arteries but determined as coronary slow flow in coronary angiography performed because of chest pain and 16 healthy subjects having normal coronary arteries but without coronary slow flow were included in this study.

Paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia due to interventricular hydatid cyst.

A 35-year-old male patient with palpitations and mild lightheadedness was admitted to our clinic. Short-lasting paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia was diagnosed following 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG). A mass that included two-thirds of the interventricular septum and the left ventricular cavity was seen by two-dimensional echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).