Early use of ACE inhibitors in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction in the United States: experience from the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2. National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2 participants.

This study was undertaken to examine recent trends in the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors within 24 hours of admission in patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to identify clinical factors associated with ACE inhibitor-prescribing patterns. Demographic, procedural, and acute medication use from 202,438 patients with AMI were collected at 1,470 US hospitals participating in the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction 2 from June 1994 through June 1996. Acute ACE inhibitor use increased from 14.

Testosterone induces dilation of canine coronary conductance and resistance arteries in vivo.

Background: Although estrogens have been shown to be vasoactive hormones, the vascular effects of testosterone are not well defined. Like estrogen, testosterone causes relaxation of isolated rabbit coronary arterial segments. We examined the vasodilator effects of testosterone in vivo in the coronary circulation and the potential mechanisms of its actions.

Is there a role for positive inotropic agents in congestive heart failure: focus on mortality.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a common clinical syndrome that may result from a variety of etiologies. Impaired contractility can lead to pump failure and a number of hemodynamic and neurohormonal alterations. Vasodilator therapy improves symptoms and survival in patients with CHF due to systolic dysfunction.

Intracoronary ultrasound imaging: intraobserver and interobserver variability of morphometric measurements.

Measurements of lumen and plaque dimensions by intracoronary ultrasound imaging are useful in assessing effects of intracoronary interventions and in quantifying plaque burden in transplant patients or during regression trials. However, these measurements are affected by inter- and intraobserver variability. In 87 patients, 120 intracoronary ultrasound images were obtained with a 4.

Measurement of volumetric coronary blood flow by simultaneous intravascular two-dimensional and Doppler ultrasound: validation in an animal model.

We examined the accuracy and feasibility of using simultaneous intracoronary Doppler and two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound imaging in the measurement of volumetric coronary blood flow (CBF). A femoral artery-to-circumflex coronary artery shunt was created in four dogs with tubing that incorporated an in-line transit-time ultrasound (TTU) flow probe. A 2D ultrasound catheter was introduced over a 0.