Cardiac syndrome X and endothelial dysfunction: new concepts in prognosis and treatment.

Cardiac syndrome X (CSX), or angina with no flow-limiting stenosis on coronary angiogram, has been regarded as a condition with an excellent prognosis despite variable symptomatic improvement. Newer data show that patients with CSX with endothelial dysfunction have an increased risk for future adverse cardiac events. Current hypotheses of CSX pathophysiology emphasize a dysfunctional vascular endothelium that leads to microvascular ischemia.

Confirming older adult patients' views of who they are and would like to be.

This article reveals a 91-year-old cognitively intact man's lived experiences of being cared for in a geriatric context in which the majority of the patients were cognitively impaired. A narrative patient story was analysed phenomenologically. The findings indicate that this patient's basic needs for ethical care were not met.