INTRODUCTION Platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been shown to be an inflammatory and thrombotic biomarker for coronary heart disease, but its prognostic value in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has not been fully investigated. AIM To investigate the relationship between PLR and no-reflow, along with the in-hospital and long-term outcomes in patients with STEMI. MATERIAL ...

Growing evidence suggests that cardiac enkephalins and their receptors are involved in ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Because there is no evidence for vesicular storage of small bioactive enkephalins in the heart, studies were designed to test the hypothesis that ischemia depletes cardiac enkephalins and that IPC preserves the same enkephalins by accelerating their processing from the larger p...

OBJECTIVES In the absence of effective clinical pharmacotherapy for prevention of reperfusion-mediated injury, this study re-evaluated the effects of intracoronary adenosine on infarct size and no-reflow in a porcine model of acute myocardial infarction using clinical bolus and experimental high-dose infusion regimens. BACKGROUND Despite the clear cardioprotective effects of adenosine, when a...

BACKGROUND Prior in vitro and in vivo studies have reported that external ultrasound accelerates thrombolysis at intensities too low to have a direct effect on clot dissolution in the absence of a thrombolytic agent. The present study was undertaken to examine the ultrasound effect on thrombolysis and reocclusion in a rabbit thrombosis model. METHODS AND RESULTS Blood clots were produced in a...

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to investigate the impact of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) in degenerated saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) without distal embolic protection. BACKGROUND Distal embolic protection devices have been shown to reduce the incidence of no reflow/slow flow during PCI of de novo lesions in degenerated SVGs. It is unclear whether PCI of in-stent restenosis (...

To try to unravel the complexity and heterogeneity of the "no-reflow" phenomenon and its underlying mechanisms, we studied tissue perfusion in reperfused heart muscle by using tracer microspheres in an anesthetized dog model of 90-minute coronary occlusion followed by reperfusion for 2 1/2 hours, 24 hours, or 1 week. Regional myocardial blood flow was determined both in basal flow conditions an...

BACKGROUND Nitrogen may contribute to reperfusion injury. Some studies have shown that helium as a replacement for nitrogen in breathing gas (heliox) reduces cell necrosis after ischemia/reperfusion when used in a preconditioning fashion (intermittent heliox exposure). Our aim was to test whether heliox, breathed continuously throughout the ischemic and reperfusion periods, reduced necrosis and...

OBJECTIVES We investigated the association between hyperglycemia and the no-reflow phenomenon in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND Hyperglycemia is associated with increased risks of heart failure, cardiogenic shock, and death after AMI, but its underlying mechanism remains unknown. METHODS A total of 146 consecutive patients with a first AMI were studied by intrac...

Recent evidence indicates that leukocytes (LEU) are large, stiff, viscous cells that naturally adhere to vascular endothelium. Their broad role in the early myocardial microvascular response to acute ischemia was suggested by 1) the role of leukocyte capillary plugging in the no-reflow phenomenon, 2) resistance increases in skeletal muscle with LEU infusions, and 3) salvage of ischemic myocardi...

1. Living-related liver transplantation has some advantages in the evaluation of novel clinical protocols, since many complicated factors affecting initial graft function are almost uniform in grafts obtained from healthy donors. 2. To compare histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) and University of Wisconsin (UW) solution in terms of tissue oxygenation in living-related liver transplantation...