OBJECTIVE Sinoatrial node (SAN) artery originates from proximal segment of right coronary artery (RCA) or from left circumflex artery. Sinoatrial node artery artery originating from posterolateral (PL) branch of RCA is very rare. Only several cases have been reported. The study was performed to seek the frequency of this variation, evaluate clinical relevance, and describe electrocardiographic,...

Background: In cardiac anatomy, the term "dominance" refers to supply of posterior descending artery (PDA). Therefore, PDA might arise from left circumflex (LCX), right coronary (RCA), or both, resulting in dominant (LD), (RD), co-dominant (CD) respectively. Few studies have examined relationship between dominance and disease (CAD) severity. CAD severity is defined as single, double, triple ves...

BACKGROUND Coronary tortuosity (CorT) is a common angiographic finding and may be associated with myocardial ischaemia, even without coronary artery disease. Platelets play a crucial role in inflammatory and thrombotic processes and the physiopathology of cardiovascular disease. Larger platelets are more active enzymatically and have higher thrombotic ability compared to smaller platelets. Plat...

PURPOSE To evaluate retrospectively stent implantation (SI) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) performed in 7 hospitals in Rio de Janeiro. METHODS From June/94 to December/96 2,220 procedures were performed among which we analyzed 783 SI in 660 (29.7%) patients using coronary angiography without digital subtraction. Several types of stents were used: Palmaz-Schatz (40.9%), Giantur...

Background: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) uses pressure-based measurements to assess the severity of a coronary stenosis. Distal pressure (Pd) is often at different vertical height that proximal aortic (Pa). The difference in between Pd and Pa due hydrostatic pressure, may impact FFR calculation. Methods: One hundred computed tomography angiographies were used measure differences ostia points t...

OBJECTIVE The radial artery is frequently the second graft of choice after the left internal thoracic artery in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. However, the optimal radial artery proximal anastomosis site remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to compare the radial artery patency according to its use as either an aorta-radial artery graft or composite radial artery graft ...

Symptomatic bradyarrhythmia occurs most often in aged patients. Most of these patients have multiple coronary risk factors and present with angina-like symptoms. The coexistence of CAD not only has major effects on their prognosis but also influences the long-term care. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence of coexistent CAD in patients with symptomatic bradyarrhythmias and its rela...

BACKGROUND Implantation of devices into the coronary sinus (CS)/great cardiac vein (GCV) to reshape the mitral annulus (MA) is being investigated, despite these structures not being within the same plane and coronary arteries frequently traversing between them. Furthermore, dynamic changes in their relationship have never been studied. We analyzed the CS/GCV dimensions and its relationship with...