Diagnosis and surgical management of subaortic stenosis and mitral valve systolic anterior motion.

The case is reported of a patient with a previously undiagnosed cause of severe congestive heart failure (CHF) caused by the presence of a discrete subaortic stenosis (SAS) from a subvalvular membrane (SVM). The clinical decision making was complicated by the concurrent presence of systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the mitral valve leaflet. Due to the limitations and eventual failure of physiologically opposing medical management strategies, the patient eventually required an open-heart surgical approach and underwent intraoperative SVM resection.

Red cell distribution width as a bleeding predictor after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of variability in the size of circulating erythrocytes, is an independent predictor of mortality in cardiovascular disease and in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We set out to determine if RDW is a prognostic marker of major bleeding post-PCI.

Methods: The study population included 6,689 patients who were subjected to PCI.

Discordant association of C-reactive protein with clinical events and coronary luminal narrowing in postmenopausal women: data from the Women's Angiographic Vitamin and Estrogen (WAVE) study.

Background: The incidence of cardiovascular events had been shown to be associated with C-reactive protein (CRP). However, it is unclear that the cardiovascular risk associated with CRP is due to progressive coronary narrowing or to other factors such as formation of unstable plaque. This study was designed to determine the effect of baseline CRP on cardiovascular events and on the progression of atherosclerotic narrowing among 423 postmenopausal women with angiographic stenosis between 15% and 75%.

Effect of cystatin C levels on angiographic atherosclerosis progression and events among postmenopausal women with angiographically decompensated coronary artery disease (from the Women's Angiographic Vitamin and Estrogen [WAVE] study).

End-stage renal disease and mild renal insufficiency are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Cystatin C, a novel marker of kidney function, was found to be associated with a higher frequency of cardiovascular events and mortality independent of glomerular filtration rate. It remained uncertain, however, whether enhanced cardiovascular risk associated with cystatin C is due to accelerated progression of atherosclerosis or to plaque instability.

Complexity of the relation between hemoglobin A1C, diabetes mellitus, and progression of coronary narrowing in postmenopausal women.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of diabetes mellitus (DM) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) on the progression of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women. A retrospective analysis of the Women's Angiographic and Vitamin and Estrogen (WAVE) trial, a multicenter randomized trial on progression of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women, was performed. Baseline and follow-up angiography was performed in 320 women.