[Vitamin D and laboratory indicators of cardiovascular risk in the elderly.].

The aim of this work was to study the availability of vitamin D in the population of free living elderly people in St. Petersburg and its relationship with laboratory indicators of the risk of cardiovascular complications. In winter were surveyed 209 volunteers who did not take vitamin D during the previous 6 months, with 152 women and 57 men aged 71 to 91 years.

New technique of local ischemic preconditioning induction without repetitive aortic cross-clamping in cardiac surgery.

Background: Several studies have demonstrated that local ischemic preconditioning can reduce myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in cardiac surgery patients; however, preconditioning has not become a standard cardioprotective intervention, primarily because of the increased risk of atheroembolism during repetitive aortic cross-clamping. In the present study, we aimed to describe and validate a novel technique of preconditioning induction.

Methods: Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (12 women and 78 men; mean age, 56 ± 11 years) were randomized into 3 groups: (1) Controls (n = 30), (2) Perfusion (n = 30), and (3) Preconditioning (n = 30).