BACKGROUND Early restoration of epicardial flow before primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has been associated with improved clinical outcomes. METHODS We hypothesized that early administration of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor eptifibatide in the emergency department (ED) would yield superior epicardial flow and myocard...

BACKGROUND Risk stratification in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is important, such that the most resource intensive strategy is used to achieve the greatest clinical benefit. This is essential in developing countries with wide variation in health care facilities, scarce resources and increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases. This study sought to validate the Thrombolysis In Myo...

conclusion: although timi grade 3 flows trended to be higher in the patients who received early tirofiban in the emergency ward, the difference did not constitute statistical significance and possible benefits, therefore, require further clarification. results: the study population had a mean age of 57.17 ± 10.09 years and included 79.3 % males. timi grade 3 flow was seen in 15 (21.4 %) patient...

BACKGROUND The Thrombolysis and Thrombin Inhibition in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) 9A trial compared the efficacy and safety of intravenous hirudin with heparin as adjunctive therapy to thrombolysis and aspirin in patients with acute myocardial infarction. The primary safety end point was the occurrence of major hemorrhage or anaphylaxis. METHODS AND RESULTS Based on experience in phase II t...

BACKGROUND Abnormal heart rate turbulence (HRT) is associated with an increased risk of mortality in the chronic phase of myocardial infarction (MI) in the prethrombolytic and thrombolytic eras. However, the impact of direct percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on HRT in the acute phase of MI and its association to the epicardial infarct-related arterial flow has not been examined. METHOD...

PURPOSE To determine the predictive values of D-dimer assay, Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk scores for adverse outcome in patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 234 patients (mean age: 57.2±11.7 years, 75.2% were males) hospitalized with NSTEMI were included....

BACKGROUND In patients with possible acute coronary syndromes, guidelines recommend routine provocative testing after negative cardiac biomarkers. We hypothesized that myocardial perfusion imaging would be low yield with limited short-term value and that early revascularization would not affect mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS We identified consecutive patients referred from our emergency depar...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The multimodal magnetic resonance imaging study in acute stroke includes perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) after administration of contrast and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). However, MRA may overestimate the degree of vessel obstruction caused by limitations to detect low flow states. Our aim was to determine the usefulness of a new fast imaging protocol combining ...

BACKGROUND Adjunctive unfractionated heparin (UFH) during thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) promotes the speed and magnitude of coronary artery recanalization and reduces reocclusion. Low-molecular-weight heparins offer practical and potential pharmacological advantages over UFH in multiple applications but have not been systematically studied as adjuncts to fibrinolysi...

CONTEXT Patients with unstable angina/non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI) (UA/NSTEMI) present with a wide spectrum of risk for death and cardiac ischemic events. OBJECTIVE To develop a simple risk score that has broad applicability, is easily calculated at patient presentation, does not require a computer, and identifies patients with different responses to treatments for UA/N...