AIMS Coronary risk factors raise the risk of other chronic disorders. We therefore tested the hypothesis that the geographic distribution of ischaemic heart disease mortality is associated with that of other chronic diseases with which it shares risk factors. METHODS AND RESULTS For the 50 provinces of Spain, we collected mortality data for the period 1980-1995 from the national vital statist...

BACKGROUND We compared three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3DSTE) and its strain to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with delayed contrast enhancement for left ventricular (LV) chamber quantification and transmurality of myocardial scar. Furthermore, we examined the ability of 3DSTE strain to differentiate between ischaemic and non-ischaemic LV dysfunction. METHODS In 80 cons...

In order to facilitate the imaging of haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke using frequency difference electrical impedance tomography (EIT), impedance measurements of normal and ischaemic brain, and clotted blood during haemorrhage, were gathered using a four-terminal technique in an in vivo animal model, a first for ischaemic measurements. Differences of 5-10% in impedance were seen between the f...

In order to assess the incidence of acute cerebrovascular events, 142 patients with adult polycystic kidney disease were retrospectively reviewed. Fourteen patients (9.8%) had 19 cerebral attacks. Six patients (4.2%) had intracranial haemorrhage attacks (three ruptured intracranial aneurysms and three cerebral haemorrhages). Ischaemic events occurred in nine patients (five cerebral infarctions ...

AIMS To investigate whether myocardial ischaemia elicitable during pharmacological stress echocardiography portends different prognosis in men and women. METHODS AND RESULTS The study group was made by 1733 patients (941 men, 792 women) who underwent dipyridamole (n=1008) or dobutamine (n=725) stress echo for evaluation of known or suspected coronary artery disease. An ischaemic response was ...

The occurrence of paraesthesiae during occlusion of the circulation to a limb (ischaemic paraesthesiae) and after its restoration (post-ischaemic paraesthesiae) is well recognized. The ischaemic paraesthesiae consist of a soft, diffuse, tingling sensation felt at the periphery of the limb and lasting only a few minutes. The post-ischaemic paraesthesiae, which have been well demarcated by Merrin...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with the development of ischaemic heart disease and whether such infection can explain the social class inequality in ischaemic heart disease. DESIGN Cardiovascular risk factor levels, prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (Rose questionnaire angina, and/or a history of myocardial infarction), and serum antibodies to H...

AIMS Several cardiac resident progenitor cell types have been reported for the adult mammalian heart. Here we characterize their frequencies and distribution pattern in non-ischaemic human myocardial tissue and after ischaemic events. METHODS AND RESULTS We obtained 55 biopsy samples from human atria and ventricles and used immunohistological analysis to investigate two cardiac cell types, ch...

Nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in triggering and mediating delayed preconditioning. However, the role of NO and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in early ischaemic preconditioning is controversial. To investigate the role of eNOS in this paradigm further, the response of hearts isolated from either eNOS knockout (KO) or eNOS wild type (WT) mice to various ischaemic-preconditioning stim...