The new Polish stent Chopin. Assessment of safety and efficacy in the treatment of de-novo coronary lesions using percutaneous angioplasty.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) using the new Polish stent "Chopin" (Balton, Poland).

Methods: The study consisted of experimental and clinical parts. In the experimental phase, the new stent was implanted into 5 pigs and control coronary angiography as well as intracoronary ultrasonography (ICUS) were performed 30 days later.

The pro- and anti-inflammatory markers in patients with acute myocardial infarction and chronic stable angina.

The aim of this study was to assess the plasma levels of VEGF and interleukin-10 in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stable chronic angina (SA) and correlate the values with traditional CHD risk factors, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and established inflammatory marker hsCRP. Fifty patients with AMI and 30 with SA were enrolled. IL-10 levels in AMI patients were lower than in SA patients (9.

Plasma endothelin-1 in patients with stable or unstable angina.

Background: It has been documented that an elevated endothelin-1 (ET-1) plasma concentration is associated with an increased risk of serious coronary events and the presence of angiographically documented coronary artery disease (CAD). The results of a few studies which examined ET-1 plasma level in patients with stable or unstable angina, were inconclusive.

Aim: To assess whether ET-1 blood concentration measured in the coronary sinus and peripheral vein is associated with clinical symptoms in patients with multi-vessel CAD.

[The dipyridamole test in coronary disease diagnosis].

One of the coronary disease diagnostic methods of big sensitivity and specificity is perfusive effort scintrigraphy of myocardium by means of thallium-201. For few years the dipyridamole test has been applied instead of the effort test. Perfusive scintigraphy of myocardium after provocative treatment by means of dipyridamole and then selective coronary arteriography of coronary vessels, have been carried out at 25 patients with ischemia.

Self--administered cough cardiopulmonary resuscitation (c-CPR) in patients threatened by MAS events of cardiovascular origin.

Sudden cardiac death caused by cardiac arrhythmia's or asystolies in patients with coronary heart disease can often be avoided if resuscitation is administered immediately, preferably before the patient loses consciousness. In cases when rapid help is not available usually death occurs. We have studied a method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which can be self--administered by patients trained in recognizing imminent arrival of life-threatening Morgani Adams Stokes (MAS) events.