BACKGROUND Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) of the heart is a protective strategy in which a brief ischemic stimulus immediately before a lethal ischemic episode potently limits infarct size. Although very promising in animal models of myocardial infarction, IPC has not yet been successfully translated to benefit for patients. OBJECTIVE To appraise all preclinical evidence on IPC for myocardial...

To determine the incidence of perioperative silent cerebral infarction, 97 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy were prospectively studied with preoperative and postoperative computed tomograms. Thirty-one of 96 patients (32%) had findings of cerebral infarction on preoperative computed tomograms. Silent cerebral infarction was found preoperatively in 17 patients (18%) (lacunar infarct...

M itral regurgitation (MR) can be classified as either degenerative or functional. Degenerative MR is due to disease, deformity, or damage of the mitral valve or its supporting apparatus. Functional MR is caused by improper coaptation of normal leaflets and apparatus and is due primarily to abnormalities of the left ventricle. Ischemic MR is a subset of functional MR (papillary muscle rupture, ...

OBJECTIVES Brief episodes of ischemia and reperfusion after a lethal ischemic insult confer cardioprotection, a phenomenon termed "ischemic postconditioning." However, all studies reported to date have been conducted in open-chest animal models. We sought to determine whether postconditioning occurs in conscious animals and whether it protects against severe myocardial injury. METHODS Chronic...

BACKGROUND Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging provides detailed anatomical information on infarction. However, few studies have investigated the association of these data with mortality after acute myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVE To study the association between data regarding infarct size and anatomy, as obtained from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging after acute myocardial infarction, and...

There is increasing evidence that platelets play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute ischemic heart disease. Therefore an understanding of factors that influence platelet performance is important. This study was undertaken (1) to characterize during evolving myocardial infarction platelet activity in the peripheral circulation and across the ischemic/infarcting myocardial compartment...

INTRODUCTION Majority of stroke is due to ischemic infarction and occurs in carotid artery territory. The extra cranial parts of carotid arteries are the common sites for the atherosclerotic plaque formation. Ultrasonography is the first line of investigation for screening of the carotid artery diseases to localize and characterize the plaques. Objective was to study the morphological changes i...

BACKGROUND High serum total cholesterol levels represent a risk factor of ischemic stroke in Western countries. However, this association has not been thoroughly investigated in Asian populations where the incidence of stroke is high. METHODS Participants were 11,727 men and 21,742 women aged 40-69 years, all free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at baseline. During the median 12-year fol...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A blood-based biomarker of acute ischemic stroke would be of significant value in clinical practice. This study aimed to (1) replicate in a larger cohort our previous study using gene expression profiling to predict ischemic stroke; and (2) refine prediction of ischemic stroke by including control groups relevant to ischemic stroke. METHODS Patients with ischemic stroke...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Ischemic stroke is an uncommon but devastating complication of myocardial infarction (MI). It is possible that delay in the acute revascularization of these patients influences the risk of peri-MI ischemic stroke independent of size of infarction or residual ventricular function. The influence of the timing and type of revascularization on risk of ischemic stroke in the p...