Relationship Between Neck Circumference and Epicardial Fat Thickness in a Healthy Male Population.

Background:: Epicardial fat is an upper body visceral fat depot that may play a significant role in the development of adverse metabolic and cardiovascular risk profiles. There is a significant direct relationship between the amount of epicardial fat and general body adiposity (body mass index, BMI), but data regarding subcutaneous adiposity is limited.

Objective:: We conducted a study to determine the association between neck circumference and epicardial fat thickness in healthy young male individuals, and assess their individual correlations with general body adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Misuse of fentanyl transdermal patch mixed with acute coronary syndrome.

Fentanyl transdermal patches have long been used in the palliative care of patients with chronic pain with a favorable safety profile. However, intoxications secondary to intentional and unintentional misuse have been widely reported. In this study, we report an otherwise healthy woman presented to emergency department who used three patches of fentanyl to alleviate her knee pain and with a picture mimicking acute coronary syndrome.

Scimitar syndrome and azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava diagnosed in an adult--an unusual association.

Anormal drainage of the pulmonary veins into the inferior vena cava is known as scimitar syndrome. Scimitar syndrome often presents during infancy and rarely during adulthood, and the adult patients are mostly asymptomatic. It is usually in association with dextrocardia, hypoplasia of right lung, and congenital heart defects.

The relationship between L-arginine/ADMA ratio and coronary collateral development in patients with low glomerular filtration rate.

Background: It is yet to be established which factors are responsible for differences among patients with the same degree of coronary artery disease in terms of coronary collateral development (CCD).

Methods: Patients who had a greater than or equal to 95% stenosis in at least one epicardial coronary artery were classified into two groups according to their glomerular filtration rate (GFR) level. Afterwards, the degree of CCD was evaluated according to their plasma concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and GFR levels.

Wellens' syndrome with segmental wall-motion abnormalities.

Wellens' syndrome is a pattern of electrocardiographic T-wave changes associated with critical, proximal left anterior descending (LAD) artery stenosis. We herein report 2 cases of Wellens' syndrome with segmental wall-motion abnormalities The first case is a 50-year-old man admitted to the emergency department with typical chest pain. Admission ECG showed biphasic T waves in leads V1-V3 with inverted T waves in leads V4-V6, and cardiac enzymes were in normal limits.