Association of virtual histology characteristics of the culprit plaque with post-fibrinolysis flow restoration in ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: We sought to test the hypothesis that virtual histology characteristics of the culprit lesion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction are associated with blood flow restoration after thrombolysis.

Methods: Consecutive patients referred for coronary angiography after successful thrombolysis were included in this correlational cross-sectional study. Evaluation with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and virtual histology of the culprit arterial segment was performed in all cases.

Anti-inflammatory treatment with colchicine in stable chronic heart failure: a prospective, randomized study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a 6-month course of anti-inflammatory treatment with colchicine in improving functional status of patients with stable chronic heart failure (CHF).

Background: CHF has been shown to be associated with inflammatory activation. Inflammation has been designated as a therapeutic target in CHF.

Interatrial conduction time and incident atrial fibrillation: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Atrial electrical conduction properties have been implicated in atrial fibrillation (AF) pathogenesis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prospectively assess the potential association of interatrial conduction time (IACT) with incident AF.

Methods: The study included persons referred for invasive electrophysiologic study (EPS), aged ≥50 years, without AF history or valvular disease.

Onset of antiplatelet action with high (100 mg) versus standard (60 mg) loading dose of prasugrel in patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention: pharmacodynamic study.

Background: In patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention, a suboptimal degree of platelet inhibition for the first 2 hours after the standard 60 mg loading dose of prasugrel has been described.

Methods And Results: In a prospective, 3-center, nonrandomized, controlled study, 2 sequential groups of P2Y12 inhibitor-naive consecutive patients were loaded with either 100 mg (n=47) or 60 mg (n=35) of prasugrel. Platelet reactivity was assessed by VerifyNow at hours 0, 0.

Invasive and ultrasound based monitoring of the intracranial pressure in an experimental model of epidural hematoma progressing towards brain tamponade on rabbits.

Introduction: An experimental epidural hematoma model was used to study the relation of ultrasound indices, namely, transcranial color-coded-Doppler (TCCD) derived pulsatility index (PI), optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), and pupil constriction velocity (V) which was derived from a consensual sonographic pupillary light reflex (PLR) test with invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) measurements.

Material And Methods: Twenty rabbits participated in the study. An intraparenchymal ICP catheter and a 5F Swan-Ganz catheter (SG) for the hematoma reproduction were used.

Association of asymmetric dimethylarginine levels with treadmill-stress-test-derived prognosticators.

Background: Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide production. The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between ADMA and treadmill stress test outcome parameters with known prognostic value, in patients with intermediate risk for coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Study participants were referred for treadmill exercise stress test (EST) due to symptoms of suspected CAD.

Colchicine for prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence after pulmonary vein isolation: mid-term efficacy and effect on quality of life.

Background: Our group previously showed that colchicine treatment is associated with decreased early recurrence rate after ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the mid-term efficacy of colchicine in reducing AF recurrences after a single procedure of pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal AF. Assessment of quality-of-life (QOL) changes was a secondary objective.

In-hospital switching of oral P2Y12 inhibitor treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: prevalence, predictors and short-term outcome.

Background: P2Y12 inhibitor switching has appeared in clinical practice as a consequence of prasugrel and ticagrelor availability, apart from clopidogrel, for use in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: In the context of the GReek AntiPlatelet REgistry (GRAPE) we assessed the prevalence, predictive factors and short-term outcome of in-hospital P2Y12 inhibitor switching in 1794 ACS patients undergoing PCI.

Results: Switching occurred in 636 (35.

Colchicine and the heart: pushing the envelope.

Colchicine, a natural and ancient drug still used today, is traditionally considered the staple therapy for gout and a second-line treatment for pericarditis, as well as a basic part of familial Mediterranean fever and Behcet's disease management. It is commonly classified as an anti-inflammatory agent, although its mechanism of action does not involve the arachidonic acid pathway affected by non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and glucocorticoids. Colchicine inhibits microtubule polymerization by binding to tubulin, thus affecting any process that requires cytoskeletal changes, including cell mitosis and neutrophil motility.

Successful management of a combined abdominal and thoracic trauma with rectal impalement: report of a case.

Introduction. Combined abdominal and thoracic impalement injuries are a rare form of penetrating trauma. Nowadays, they occur more frequently as an accident and not so often as a deliberate violent action.

Effectiveness of moxonidine to reduce atrial fibrillation burden in hypertensive patients.

There is substantial evidence that the autonomic system plays an important part in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). It appears that, although some patients have a preponderantly sympathetic or vagal overactivation leading to AF, a combined sympathovagal drive is most commonly responsible for AF triggering. The purpose of this hypothesis-generating study was to test whether moxonidine, a centrally acting sympathoinhibitory agent, on top of optimal antihypertensive treatment, can lead to a decrease in AF burden in hypertensive patients with paroxysmal AF.

Three horizontal muscle surgery for large-angle infantile or presumed infantile esotropia: long-term motor outcomes.

Importance: Bilateral medial rectus muscle recession and one lateral rectus muscle resection surgery for the correction of large-angle infantile esotropia may be associated with a favorable long-term motor outcome. A consecutive exotropic drift was encountered more commonly than a recurrent esotropic drift in the long run, especially in the smaller (50-69 prism diopters [Δ]) range of preoperative esodeviation.

Objective: To outline the short- and long-term motor outcomes of graded bilateral medial rectus muscle recession and one lateral rectus muscle resection for the correction of large-angle esotropia (≥50Δ).

Moderate procedural sedation and opioid analgesia during transradial coronary interventions to prevent spasm: a prospective randomized study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that moderate procedural sedation can reduce the incidence of radial artery spasm.

Background: Transradial access for left heart catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention is increasingly used for emergent and elective procedures, in lieu of the femoral approach. However, increased rates of access site crossover have been reported, with radial artery spasm being a major contributor to this effect.

Renoprotective effect of remote ischemic post-conditioning by intermittent balloon inflations in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of remote ischemic post-conditioning (RIPC) by repeated intermittent balloon inflations in preventing acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with a non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Background: AKI complicating PCI is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Remote ischemic preconditioning, using cycles of upper limb ischemia-reperfusion as a conditioning stimulus, has been recently shown to prevent AKI in patients undergoing elective coronary angiography.

Colchicine treatment for the prevention of bare-metal stent restenosis in diabetic patients.

Objectives: This study sought to test the hypothesis that colchicine treatment after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can lead to a decrease in in-stent restenosis (ISR).

Background: ISR rates are particularly high in certain patient subsets, including diabetic patients, especially when a bare-metal stent (BMS) is used. Pharmacological interventions to decrease ISR could be of clinical relevance.

Evidence of primary aldosteronism in a predominantly female cohort of normotensive individuals: a very high odds ratio for progression into arterial hypertension.

Context: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is an established cause of hypertension, whereas high-normal serum aldosterone levels have been linked to an increased risk for hypertension.

Objective: We aimed to define the post-fludrocortisone-dexamethasone suppression test (FDST) normal cutoff values of aldosterone and the aldosterone to renin ratio and evaluate the presence of PA in normotensive individuals.

Design: This study was designed as a case-control study.

Copeptin as a biomarker in cardiac disease.

The introduction of biochemical biomarkers in the evaluation of patients with cardiovascular disease has led to practice-changing advancements in the way these patients are diagnosed and managed. Measurements of cardiac troponins or brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its precursor, N-terminal brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), have become indispensable in the evaluation of patients with acute coronary syndromes and heart failure, respectively, constituting an integral part of the diagnostic algorithm and risk stratification of these conditions. Copeptin, a glycopeptide, part of the prehormone molecule of the antidiuretic hormone - or arginine-vasopressin - has shown considerable promise in this field.

MicroRNAs and the heart: small things do matter.

MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules and constitute a relatively novel class of gene expression regulators, found in the great majority of eukaryotic cells. Their role in human physiology and pathology is actively being researched with new exciting discoveries continuously coming to the forefront. MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the biogenesis and function of the cardiovascular system and act as important regulators of various metabolic and signaling pathways in cardiovascular disease.

High sensitivity troponin in cardiovascular disease. Is there more than a marker of myocardial death?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and coronary artery disease is its most prevalent manifestation, associated with high mortality and morbidity. In clinical practice cardiac troponins (cTn) are the cornerstone of the diagnosis, risk stratification and thus selection of the optimal treatment strategy in patients with acute coronary syndrome. According to the third update of the universal definition of myocardial infarction (MI) cTn is the preferred cardiac biomarker of myocardial necrosis in the setting of acute myocardial ischemia.

Asymmetric Dimethylarginine (ADMA): a promising biomarker for cardiovascular disease?

Asymmetric Dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO) production. ADMA is generated from methylation of arginine residues by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) and subsequent proteolysis, while its elimination is achieved mainly by degradation with dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH). Oxidative stress, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) inhibition, eNOS uncoupling, inflammation and shear stress play a pivotal role in ADMA pathophysiology by managing PRMT/DDAH expression and NO synthesis and leading to a common result - endothelial dysfunction.