Graft vasculopathy limits survival in pediatric heart transplantation and generally leads to retransplantation, due to the technical limitations of percutaneous revascularization.1 In experimental models, rapamycin and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) decrease intimal proliferation of graft vasculopathy. In animals, MMF is associated with a lower incidence of graft vasculopathy than azathioprine. We...

Myocardial bridging with systolic compression of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) may be associated with myocardial ischemia. In symptomatic myocardial bridging unresponsive to medical treatment, surgical unroofing of the left LAD can be performed. Little information is available about the long-term prognosis of patients with this coronary anomaly after the surgical unroofing,...

BACKGROUND Incidence of radial artery occclusions (RAO) and ulnar artery occclusions (UAO) in coronary procedures, factors predisposing to forearm arteries occlusion, and the benefit of anticoaggulation vary significantly in existing literature. We sought to determine the incidence of RAO/UAO and the impact of anticoagulation intensity. METHODS AND RESULTS Meta-analysis of 112 studies assessi...

Myocardial bridging (MB) is considered as a topic of high interest since its occurrence in different studies is statistically significant, and the clinical manifestations of this phenomenon are complicated with cardiovascular diseases. Whether the MB participates in heart diseases and has a decisive effect to life-threatening situations is still under research, and many studies have been conduc...

Graft vasculopathy limits survival in pediatric heart transplantation and generally leads to retransplantation, due to the technical limitations of percutaneous revascularization.1 In experimental models, rapamycin and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) decrease intimal proliferation of graft vasculopathy. In animals, MMF is associated with a lower incidence of graft vasculopathy than azathioprine. We...

Cardiac catheterization is performed routinely in hospitals all around the world. Extensive analysis of complications has been performed in the 1980s and early 1990s. However, because of the new therapeutic innovations based on advanced catheter technologies, these data may not apply to the present situation. Still, there are few data about procedural complications of diagnostic cardiac cathete...

The accessory internal thoracic artery is a relatively large branch of the initial part of the internal thoracic artery, which was found in 4.54% of 22 cadavers studied in the Institute of Anatomy of the Medical School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The course of this artery lies usually in the inner surface of the anterolateral thoracic wall and its diameter is sometimes almost equiv...

To evaluate the value of angiographic factors in predicting failure of both venous and arterial coronary artery bypass graft. We retrieved from our angiographic database 148 patients who underwent venous and/or arterial CABG and for whom a control coronary angiography at more than 1 month after surgery was available. Pre-CABG and follow-up angiographies were analyzed in order to evaluate diamet...

INTRODUCTION Myocardial bridging with systolic compression (milking) of the left anterior descending coronary artery may be associated with myocardial ischemia. Little information is available about the long-term prognosis of patients with this coronary anomaly. MATERIAL AND METHODS A review was made of coronary angiographies of patients diagnosed as ischemic heart disease made between 1994 a...

This case report describes the role of transesophageal echocardiography to diagnose proximal left main coronary artery disease.