Four patients who had stenosis of a single major coronary artery which was treated by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty are described. Three had exercise induced myocardial ischaemia complicated by ventricular tachycardia, fibrillation, and sinus bradycardia, respectively. Asystole developed in a fourth patient who had spontaneous chest pain. After successful percutaneous translumi...

Background First pass myocardial perfusion imaging by CMR may permit the detection of myocardial ischaemia with greater accuracy than single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Technical developments have led to improvements in myocardial perfusion CMR, particularly through accelerated data acquisition methods. These permit the acquisition of data at higher spatial resolution than conv...

BACKGROUND Real-time perfusion (RTP) contrast echocardiography using low mechanical index power modulation technique allows for simultaneous myocardial perfusion and wall motion analysis. RTP-adenosine stress echocardiography (ASE) could be an alternative to dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography; more tolerable for the patients and possibly similarly accurate. We aimed to evaluate RTP-ASE...

Leucocytes have been shown to play a fundamental role in the pathophysiology of inflammation. This prospective, randomized, controlled study was designed to identify the most advantageous leucocyte depletion technique in terms of reduction in systemic inflammatory response syndrome and myocardial ischaemia reperfusion injury associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Forty consecutive patien...

DESCRIPTION In February 2012, a 60-year-old man presented to us with a positive exercise test for ST-depression, which was performed before beginning sports activity. Rest/stress thallium-201 single-photon emission cardiac tomography (SPECT) revealed inferior and lateral wall reversible defects (ischaemia) and a painless ST-depression at peak during a bicycle maximal exercise test. Cardiac tomo...

BACKGROUND Coronary collaterals are an alternative source of blood supply to myocardium jeopardized by ischaemia. Well-developed coronary collateral arteries in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) mitigate myocardial infarcts and improve survival. METHODS AND RESULTS Collateral arteries preventing myocardial ischaemia during brief vascular occlusion are present in 1/3 of patients with...

The early diagnosis of myocardial ischaemia is problematic in patients with ESRD (end-stage renal disease). The aim of the present study was to determine whether IMA (ischaemia-modified albumin) increases during dobutamine stress and detects myocardial ischaemia in patients with ESRD. A total of 114 renal transplant candidates were studied prospectively, and all received DSE (dobutamine stress ...

Myocardial ischaemia results from a direct mismatch between oxygen supply and demand, commonly arising as a result of coronary atherosclerosis, microvascular dysfunction or acute thrombosis and luminal obstruction. However, transient ischaemia may also occur due to coronary spasm leading to acute and unexpected myocardial ischaemia without obvious visible coronary pathology. Aside from symptoms...

Ischaemic preconditioning is a powerful innate adaptive phenomenon whereby brief periods of sublethal ischaemia result in marked tolerance to subsequent lethal ischaemia. Halogenated anaesthetics have been shown to mimic ischaemic preconditioning, modifying and attenuating ischaemia reperfusion injury. This review aims to present the current animal and human data, discuss the possible mechanism...

Abstract Background Previous studies using experimental models and clinical retrospective samples have pointed to a potential role of glycosylated apolipoprotein J (ApoJ-Glyc) as marker for the early detection myocardial ischaemia. Ischaemia induces intracellular accumulation non-glycosylated ApoJ that mirrors reduction in ApoJ-Glyc serum levels patients presenting with ST-segment elevation inf...