introduction: percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (ptca) is an effective method for revascularizing of stenotic coronary vessels. lack of response to this treatment, either in symptomatic or asymptomatic patients, is usually due to incomplete revascularization, restenosis, and/or irreversibility of myocardial perfusion. introduction of a noninvasive method with high predictive value ...

Myocardial bridge is a benign congenital anomaly in which a segment of major epicardial coronary arteries descends into the myocardium for a variable distance. Myocardial bridge is most often single and located in the middle part of the left anterior descending artery. The presence of more than one myocardial bridge in coronary arteries is very rare. We present a patient with more than one myoc...

While the standard revascularization for left main lesions traditionally has been surgical coronary artery bypass grafting, increasingly studies suggest that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) may be an acceptable alternative to surgery for selected patients. In total, the current evidence suggests that rates of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke may b...

AIM To investigate the survival benefit of bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) grafts in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. METHODS Between 1996 and 2009, we performed elective, isolated, primary, multiple cardiac arterial bypass grafting in 430 consecutive patients with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 40%. The early and long-term results were compared between 167 patients ...

OBJECTIVES We examined long-term outcomes and predictors of major adverse cardiac events after the full metal jacket (FMJ) stent implantation. BACKGROUND The FMJ procedure has been used to treat diffuse coronary artery disease (CAD), but long-term outcomes remain unknown. METHODS The study population consisted of 347 consecutive patients (352 lesions) who had been treated for de novo diffus...

Cardiogenic shock is the most common cause of death in patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction and is associated with a poor prognosis. More than 75% of cases are due to extensive left ventricular infarction and ventricular failure. Other causes include right ventricular infarction and papillary muscle rupture with acute severe mitral regurgitation. Activation of neurohormonal sy...

AIMS In acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the optimal revascularization strategy for unprotected left main coronary disease (ULMCD) has been little studied. The objectives of the present study were to describe the practice of ULMCD revascularization in ACS patients and its evolution over an 8-year period, analyse the prognosis of this population and determine the effect of revascularization on ou...

BACKGROUND Revascularization of infarcted myocardium results in release of inflammatory cytokines mediating myocardial reperfusion injury and heart failure. Blockage of inflammatory pathways dampens myocardial injury and reduces infarct size. We compared the impact of the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist Anakinra and erythropoietin on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. In contrast to othe...

Loss of productivity is a major concern among patients with heart disease. To assess the effect of surgery on this factor, we surveyed every living male patient of the surgeon authors operated on from January 1968 through March 1978 (96% follow-up) and compared their pre- and postoperative work status with the U.S. population as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS). Compariso...

e s t e r d a y . The concept of what is now called transmyocardial revascularization actually precedes the evolution of coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Wearn described the myocardial microanatomy (most notably the arterioluminal sinusoids, which are poorly developed in humans but a major myocardial blood supply to reptiles) as ea...