Non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol versus low density lipoprotein cholesterol as a discriminating factor for myocardial infarction.

Background: Serum total cholesterol (TC) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) have been used as major laboratory measures in clinical practice to assess cardiovascular risk in the general population and disease management as well as prognosis in patients. However, some studies have also reported the use of non-HDL cholesterol (non-HDL-C). As non-HDL-C can be calculated by subtracting HDL-C from TC, both of which do not require fasting blood sample in contrast to LDL-C which requires fasting blood sample, we aimed to compare non-HDL-C with LDL-C as a predictor of myocardial infarction (MI).

Bradycardia and severe hypotension caused by wild honey poisoning.

Wild honey is taken as an alternative medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases as well as for coronary artery disease. However, wild honey made from the nectar of some species of rhododendron may be poisonous. The cause of the poisoning is the toxin grayanotoxin.

Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) in acute myocardial infarction complicated with cardiogenic shock in a newly emerging cardiac center in Nepal.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is complicated by cardiogenic shock in 7~10% of patients. Mortality rate is exceedingly high and reaches 70-80% in those treated conservatively. Large thrombolytic trials demonstrate 60% mortality with most effective thrombolytic agent.

Study of Prevalence, Awareness,and control of Hypertension in a Suburban Area of Kathmandu, Nepal.

BACKGROUND, In the context of rapidly raising occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in the developing countries, it becomes imperative to study the scenario in its various aspects. The present study in Nepal deals with the hypertension as it is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. METHODS AND RESULTS, A house-to-house survey was conducted in a suburban area of Kathmandu valley from February to June 2005 in adult population (age >/=18 years) to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension.

Assessment of carotid artery dimensions by ultrasound in non-smoker healthy adults of both sexes.

Unlabelled: Assessment of carotid artery lumen diameter and intima-media thickness is becoming as a surrogate marker of early evaluation of cardiovascular disease. Present study aims to describe the normal carotid dimensions in healthy adults of both sexes. A total of 123 healthy volunteers including 65 men and 58 women, aged 21 to 60 years (mean +/- SD; 35.

Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy.

Two hundred patients underwent Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) from January 2003 to July 2004. Seventy four percent of the patients were female. Age ranged from 10 years old to 61 years and mean age was 29 years.

Public knowledge of heart attack in a Nepalese population survey.

Objective: Limited knowledge of heart attack symptoms may prevent patients from seeking time-dependent thrombolytic therapy, an intervention that offers impressive survival benefit. Previous studies carried out in developed countries demonstrated a deficit of knowledge about a wide range of heart attack symptoms. The aim of this study was to describe knowledge of heart attack, knowledge of heart attack symptoms, and anticipated first response to symptoms among the lay public in Nepal.