OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to assess morphology and composition of culprit and stable coronary lesions by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). BACKGROUND Noninvasive identification of culprit lesions has the potential to improve noninvasive risk stratification in patients with acute chest pain. METHODS Thirty-seven patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or stable ang...

Nonequimolar-response assays for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are criticized for overestimating total PSA in some men without prostate cancer (PCA), and underestimating total PSA in some men with PCA. We recently studied three nonequimolar-response PSA assays that had undergone modifications. While two of the studied assays achieved equimolar-response characteristics with improved areas unde...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerosis is a systemic, lipid-driven immune-inflammatory disease. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed institutional electronic medical records to seek chest pain patients who were suspicious of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) between January 2011 and December 2013. All the patients were identified by undergoing coronary angiography. On admission white blood cell and its subtyp...

This study investigated the interaction effects of meteorological factors and air pollutants on the onset of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Data of ACS patients were obtained from the Taiwan ACS Full Spectrum Registry and comprised 3164 patients with a definite onset date during the period October 2008 and January 2010 at 39 hospitals. Meteorological conditions and air pollutant concentrations ...

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an essential role in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there is debate about which Treg subsets are truly critical to ACS. Helios, a transcription factor, was recently reported to be a bona fide marker for natural Tregs or activated Tregs with a suppression function, but little is known about its role in ACS. We therefore examined Helios+ Tregs in patients ...

Ant colony system (ACS) is a promising approach which has been widely used in problems such as Travelling Salesman Problems (TSP), Job shop scheduling problems (JSP) and Quadratic Assignment problems (QAP). In its original implementation, parameters of the algorithm were selected by trial and error approach. Over the last few years, novel approaches have been proposed on adapting the parameters...

BACKGROUND The hospitalization rate for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) for people aged ≤50 has remained stable over the past decade. Increased serum levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are associated with a decreased incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality in older patients; however, it is currently unkno...

Living alone is associated with adverse outcomes after acute coronary syndromes (ACS). One potential mediator of the relation between partner status and outcomes after ACS is physical activity. To evaluate the association of partner status with physical activity after ACS, data from 107 participants enrolled in the Prescription Use, Lifestyle, and Stress Evaluation (PULSE) study, a prospective ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate possible mechanisms and association of increased oxidized Lp(a) [ox-Lp(a)] levels with presence and extent of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). METHODS Ox-Lp(a) levels were studied in 96 patients with ACS, 89 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD), and 100 control subjects. RESULTS Compared to control, ox-Lp(a) levels increased in stable CAD patients (P<0....

U Sjedinjenim AmeriËkim Dræavama (SAD) se godiπnje hospitalizira oko 1,2 milijuna bolesnika zbog akutnog koronarnog sindroma (ACS). PrimjeÊeno je smanjenje uËestalosti infarkta miokarda sa ST-elevacijom (STEMI). O razlozima se moæe samo nagaati: moguÊa objaπnjenja ukljuËuju smanjenje puπenja, promjenu dobne strukture stanovniπtva (STEMI je ËeπÊi u srednjoj dobi, dok se ACS bez elevacije ST-seg...