Until recently, the medical management of coronary artery disease consisted of depressing the heart's requirements for oxygen. Little thought was directed towards improving coronary blood flow as it was believed that atherosclerotic lesions were fixed, unchangeable obstructions. Attempts at pharmacological coronary dilatation were, therefore, considered futile. Within the last few years, these ...

The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate the incidence and morphological features of coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) detected by dual-source computed tomography coronary angiography (DS-CTCA). Between January 2011 and January 2013, 19,584 consecutive patients that had undergone electrocardiogram-triggering DS-CTCA were retrospectively reviewed. Image reconstructions were per...

• Considerable evidence indicates that an adrenergic vasoconstrictor mechanism exists in the coronary vascular bed. In the classification advanced by Ahlquist,' the sites mediating this response are termed alpha receptors. Whether or not an adrenergic dilator mechanism exists also in the coronary vessels remains controversial, since it is unclear whether the decrease of coronary resistance that...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of a respiratory-gated three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance angiographic technique (MRCA) in identifying coronary arteries in healthy volunteers and patients with proximal coronary artery stenoses and to compare the results of the navigator echo technique in the assessment of coronary artery stenosis with conventional coronary angiogra...

The possibility of using intravenous proteolytic agents in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction lias been studied. The coronary arteries of closed-chest dogs were embolized with small repetitive doses of fibrin clots until definite electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial injury which persisted for at least two hours was observed. The treated animals were given up to six intravenous ...

Background HIV-infected patients demonstrate premature and more severe vascular disease relative to controls. Therefore, development of a reproducible non-invasive vascular imaging biomarker in this population is important. The purpose of this study was to assess coronary artery wall thickness in young HIV-infected patients who acquired HIV in early life compared to healthy controls using a nov...