[Ceramides and adhesive molecules in stable ischaemic heart disease].

The aim of the study was assessment of plasma level of ceramides and adhesive molecules in patients with stable ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Ischaemic heart disease was verified by coronary angiography as a 1.2 or 3 vessels disease.

Low dose rofecoxib, inflammation and prostacyclin synthesis in acute coronary syndromes.

Purpose: To assess the influence of low dose rofecoxib on inflammatory mediators and prostacyclin synthesis in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in a short-term follow up.

Material And Methods: Twenty nine patients with ACS without ST elevation were randomized to simvastatin alone or together with low dose rofecoxib. Serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), 6-keto-PGF-1alpha--stable product of prostacyclin (PGT2) and hs-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were assessed on enrollment and after 30-day follow up.

Attempts to detect Helicobacter pylori in atherosclerotic plaques.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are regarded to be the main causes of mortality in developed countries, atherosclerosis being at their pathological base. During the recent years, attention was paid to the role of bacterial infections, including Helicobacter pylori, in the process of atherogenesis and coronary heart disease development. The aim of the study was an evaluation of H.

[Hodgkin's disease as a cause of pyrexia in a patient with valvular heart disease and suspicion of infective endocarditis--a case report].

A case of a 75-year-old male with a history of aortic valve disease hospitalised due to pyrexia of unknown origin is reported. Initially the patient was diagnosed with infective endocarditis due to persistent pyrexia, history of valve disease, single positive blood culture and echocardiographic scan suggesting infective endocarditis. Treatment with two strong antibiotics did not bring expected amelioration.

Thrombolytic therapy does not change the release ratios of enzymatic and non-enzymatic myocardial marker proteins.

Measurements of cardiac marker proteins in plasma from patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have become important in the evaluation of recanalization therapy. The validity of this approach has however been questioned, because it was claimed that coronary reperfusion may increase the recovery in plasma of cardiac enzymes, such as creatine kinase (CK). In the present study, possible effects of thrombolytic therapy on the release of enzymatic and nonenzymatic marker proteins were investigated.