Relationship between established cardiovascular risk factors and specific coronary angiographic findings in a large cohort of Greek catheterized patients.

We evaluated the relationship between coronary artery stenosis status and established cardiovascular risk factors in a large population of 1228 patients who consecutively underwent coronary angiography. Smoking proved to be the most important predictive factor for angiographically significant coronary artery disease (CAD), followed by dyslipidemia, diabetes, family history, and hypertension in a descending order of significance. Obesity rates did not differ significantly between the CAD positive and negative groups, nor changed significantly as the number of affected vessels increased.

Transient left ventricular dysfunction in Churg Strauss syndrome: a case report.

A 42 year old woman was admitted to our hospital for investigation of eosinophilia. There were no findings from the physical examination of the lungs and heart. The echocardiography showed a segmental hypokinesia of the interventricular septum and the apex causing left ventricular dysfunction with an ejection fraction 45% and mild pericardial effusion.

Late recurrence of pulmonic valve endocarditis in an adult patient with ventricular septal defect: a case report.

A 54-year-old female patient with a congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD) was admitted to the authors' hospital for an investigation of mild fever of four months' duration. Her history revealed pulmonary valve endocarditis contracted 18 years previously. Echocardiography revealed an echogenic mobile mass on the pulmonic valve that caused mild regurgitation, while blood cultures were positive for Streptococcus viridans.

Sonographic measurements of subcutaneous fat in obese individuals may correlate better with peripheral artery disease indices.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of various methods for body fat assessment with indices of peripheral artery disease in the deep and superficial femoral arteries.

Methods: The intima-media thickness (IMT), maximal IMT (max IMT), femoral wall thickness (FWT), maximal FWT (max FWT), cross-sectional intima media area (CIMA), and atherosclerotic burden score (ABS) were measured sonographically in 26 subjects. The minimum thickness of the abdominal subcutaneous fat layer (Smin) was measured sonographically close to the xyphoid process, and body fat percentage was calculated using various formulas.

Complete heart block and severe aortic stenosis in a patient with rheumatoid arthtritis: a case report.

Background: A 77-year-old male patient with a history of rheumatoid arthritis was admitted to our hospital for investigation of syncope and dyspnea on exertion class II according to NYHA class association.

Case Presentation: The electrocardiogram revealed complete heart block whereas the echocardiogram showed severe aortic valve stenosis with a peak gradient = 80 mmHg. A permanent pacemaker was implanted in addition to aortic valve replacement.

Circulating tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4) in systemic sclerosis patients with elevated pulmonary arterial pressure.

Decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) or excess levels of their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) may contribute to dysregulation of extracellular matrix turnover in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In a cross-sectional study of 106 SSc patients, we measured serum levels of TIMP-4 which is preferentially expressed in cardiovascular structures and searched for correlations with simultaneously performed echocardiography measurements of pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP), myocardial performance, and pulmonary function tests. TIMP-4, but not MMP-9, levels were significantly raised in patients with SSc than controls.

Aortic dissection and third-degree atrioventricular block in a patient with a hypertensive crisis.

A 55-year-old man with a history of uncontrolled hypertension was admitted because of an episode of severely elevated blood pressure. An electrocardiogram revealed complete atrioventricular block while imaging showed a dissecting aneurysm of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta, type B according to the Stanford classification. Laboratory tests revealed significant increases in serum C-reactive protein.

Libman-Sacks endocarditis in systemic lupus erythematosus: prevalence, associations, and evolution.

Purpose: We evaluated the prevalence and progression of Libman-Sacks endocarditis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and any association between this valvulopathy and their clinical and laboratory characteristics.

Methods: Doppler echocardiography was performed in 342 consecutive patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (297 females and 45 males). The clinical and laboratory data were recorded.

Human soluble leptin receptor concentration in healthy offspring of hypertensive parents.

Essential hypertension is associated with increased plasma leptin levels and decreased human soluble leptin receptor (hsLR) concentration. The aim of this study was to determine whether the concentration of hsLR differs among offspring of hypertensive compared with nonhypertensive parents. Subjects in the 2 groups were matched for age, sex, and body mass index.

Coexistence of anomalous origin of the coronary arteries and severe aortic regurgitation in Marfan syndrome.

A case report of abnormal origin of the left and right coronary arteries from the right sinus of valsalva with severe aortic regurgitation in Marfan syndrome is presented in this paper.

Right coronary ostium agenesis with absence of the right coronary artery: a rare case of non-ST elevation coronary syndrome.

We present a case with right coronary ostium agenesis with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left circumflex artery, which caused a non-ST elevation coronary syndrome. A review of the literature indicates this to be an extremely rare case.

Anomalous left coronary artery arising from the right sinus of valsalva as a cause of ventricular tachycardia.

This paper describes a rare case of a young patient with an anomalous left coronary artery (LCA) originating from the right sinus of Valsalva, passing between the aorta and the pulmonary artery. This rare case was discovered during coronary angiography for the evaluation of the patient, after restoration of symptomatic ventricular tachycardia.

Coronary artery aneurysms and coronary artery fistula as a cause of angina pectoris.

Coronary artery aneurysm is an uncommon disease. Coronary artery fistulae are infrequent congenital anomalies. A extremely rare case report of combination of coronary artery aneurysms and coronary artery fistula is presented with a brief literature review.

Acute myocardial infarction due to spontaneous dissection of the right coronary artery in a young male.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of acute myocardial infarction. We report a case of a 33-year-old male who presented with an acute inferior myocardial infarction. Coronary arteriography performed 3 hours after the episode revealed a dissection involving the middle segment of right coronary artery.

Polyarteritis nodosa and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. A true association?

A 60-year-old man with polyarteritis nodosa under treatment presented with syncope. Echocardiography demonstrated hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy; coronary arteriography revealed normal findings, and Holter monitor showed episodes of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. This is the first report of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy developing in a patient with polyarteritis nodosa.

Parental history of hypertension is associated with coagulation-fibrinolytic balance disorders.

It has been previously shown that essential hypertension (EH) is associated with coagulation-fibrinolytic balance disorders. Our study was conducted in order to investigate disturbances in coagulation-fibrinolysis in offsprings of hypertensive parents. Two groups were studied: 44 healthy normotensive individuals (17 male, 27 female, age range 12-22 years) with a documented family history of hypertension and 33 individuals (14 male, 19 female, age range 11-21 years) without a family history of essential hypertension.

Markers of risk in young offspring with paternal history of myocardial infarction.

Coronary heart disease clusters within families, but there may be several reasons for this phenomenon to occur. A possible way to elucidate this is to study biological relatives of affected individuals. The aim of our study was thus to compare a number of clinical, metabolic, clotting and immunologic factors between offspring with paternal history of premature myocardial infarction and controls and to propose a model which could safely allow to identify the high risk subgroup among them.