Injury or activity-related pain sustained by a population of at-risk women during a 6-month exercise program.

Background: Exercise provides numerous cardiovascular (CV) benefits to women; however, identifying women who are likely to sustain musculoskeletal injury or discomfort is important when tailoring exercise activities.

Purpose: To evaluate factors associated with the incidence of injury in women at risk for CV disease (CVD) during their participation in a structured exercise intervention for primary CVD prevention.

Study Design: Retrospective comparative study.

Long-term safety and efficacy of telmisartan/amlodipine single pill combination in the treatment of hypertension.

The use of multiple drug regimens is increasingly recognized as a tacit requirement for the management of hypertension, a necessity fueled in part by rising rates of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. By targeting complementary pathways, combinations of antihypertensive drugs can be applied to provide effective blood pressure control while minimizing side effects and reducing exposure to high doses of individual medications. In addition, combination therapies, including angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium channel blockers (CCBs), have the added benefit of reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity over other dual therapies while providing equivalent blood pressure control.

Pheochromocytoma presenting with Takotsubo syndrome.

The clinical presentation of Takotsubo syndrome, or apical ballooning syndrome, resembles an extensive anterolateral myocardial infarction with chest pain symptoms and electrocardiographic ST-elevation or T-wave inversion noted in most patients. However, coronary arteries are invariably found to be normal or to display minimal atherosclerotic disease despite modest elevation of cardiac enzymes. Since most cases of Takotsubo syndrome occur after intense physical and/or emotional stress, catecholamine surge appears to be a common underlying mechanism.

Usefulness of breast arterial calcium detected on mammography for predicting coronary artery disease or cardiovascular events in women with angina pectoris and/or positive stress tests.

Breast arterial calcium (BAC) has been suggested as a marker and predictor of cardiovascular risk and coronary artery disease (CAD). However, an association between BAC and these cardiovascular end points has not been fully elucidated in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Consecutive patients undergoing mammography and cardiac catheterization within a 36-month period were retrospectively evaluated through chart review.

Usefulness of bone mineral density to predict significant coronary artery disease.

Low bone mineral density (BMD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) share common risk factors. To investigate whether low BMD (osteoporosis and/or osteopenia) independently predicts CAD compared with traditional cardiovascular risk factors, a retrospective analysis was performed in consecutive ambulatory patients (n = 209, 89% women) who underwent dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and coronary angiography within the same 12-month period. Angiograms were classified as showing significant CAD if > or =50% luminal narrowing in a major coronary artery was noted.

Adverse outcome in aortic sclerosis is associated with coronary artery disease and inflammation.

Objectives: The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between the presence of aortic sclerosis, serologic markers of inflammation, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Background: Aortic sclerosis is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, the mechanism by which such nonobstructive valve lesions impart excess cardiovascular risk has not been delineated.

Diagnosis, management, and clinical outcome of cardiac tamponade complicating percutaneous coronary intervention.

Cardiac tamponade is an uncommon but life-threatening complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The purpose of the present study was to characterize the incidence, management, and clinical outcome associated with this complication. We analyzed a prospective database of 25,697 PCIs performed at William Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Michigan) between October 1993 and December 2000.

Range and prevalence of cardiac abnormalities in patients hospitalized in a medical ICU.

Background: Patients hospitalized in medical ICUs (MICUs) with acute noncardiac illnesses have an undefined prevalence of underlying cardiovascular abnormalities. Because of the acuteness of illness, the need for frequent concurrent mechanical ventilation, and the nature of the underlying diseases, routine cardiac examination may be suboptimal for identifying concurrent cardiac abnormalities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to utilize transthoracic echocardiography and Doppler echocardiography interrogation to identify the range and prevalence of occult cardiac abnormalities that may be present in patients admitted to an MICU.

Initial experience with hyperoxemic reperfusion after primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction: results of a pilot study utilizing intracoronary aqueous oxygen therapy.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of intracoronary hyperoxemic reperfusion after primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction (MI).

Background: Hyperoxemic therapy with aqueous oxygen (AO) attenuates reperfusion injury and preserves left ventricular (LV) function in experimental models of MI.

Methods: In a multi-center study of patients with acute MI undergoing primary angioplasty (PTCA), hyperoxemic blood (pO(2): 600 to 800 mm Hg) was infused into the infarct-related artery for 60 to 90 min after intervention.