BACKGROUND Impaired vasodilatation capacity in patients with angina pectoris and a normal coronary arteriogram (syndrome X [SX]) has been reported. Most studies report on the response in epicardial vessels. This does not necessarily reflect compromised myocardial microcirculation. Lack of the NO precursor L-arginine has been suggested as a possible cause. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial blood ...

BACKGROUND Positron emission tomography (PET) enables robust and reproducible measurements of myocardial blood flow (MBF). However, the relatively limited resolution of PET till recently prohibited distinction between the subendocardial and the subepicardial layers in non-hypertrophied myocardium. Recent developments in hard- and software, however, have enabled to identify a transmural gradient...

UNLABELLED Several models for the quantitative analysis of myocardial blood flow (MBF) at stress and rest and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) with (13)N-ammonia myocardial perfusion PET have been implemented for clinical use. We aimed to compare quantitative results obtained from 3 software tools (QPET, syngo MBF, and PMOD), which perform PET MBF quantification with either a 2-compartment model (...

AIMS We studied the respective added value of the quantitative myocardial blood flow (MBF) and the myocardial flow reserve (MFR) as assessed with (82)Rb positron emission tomography (PET)/CT in predicting major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with suspected myocardial ischaemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial perfusion images were analysed semi-quantitatively (SDS, summed di...

Impaired hyperemic myocardial blood flow (MBF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), despite normal epicardial coronary arteries, results in microvascular dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to determine the relative contribution of extravascular compressive forces to microvascular dysfunction in HCM. Eighteen patients with symptomatic HCM and normal coronary arteries and 10 age-match...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether, when the vasomotor capacity of the coronary arterioles is exhausted at rest, myocardial blood volume decreases in order to maintain a normal capillary hydrostatic pressure, even at the expense of myocardial oxygen delivery. METHODS 18 dogs were studied. In group 1 (n = 9), coronary driving pressure (CDP) was reduced by 10-80 mm Hg below normal by a stenosis; in...

Objectives: To assess the link between perfusion, metabolism, and function in viable myocardium before and early after surgical revascularisation. Design: Myocardial blood flow (MBF, thermodilution technique), metabolism (lactate, glucose, and free fatty acid extraction and fluxes), and function (transoesophageal echocardiography) were assessed in patients with critical stenosis of the left ant...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of epinephrine (Epi) or felypressin (Fely) contained in dental local anesthetics on myocardial oxygen balance. Methods: Male Japan White tracheotomized rabbits were anesthetized with isoflurane. Three doses of 0.18, 0.36, and 0.72 ml of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride containing 1: 80,000 Epi or 3% prilocaine hydrochloride containing 0.03 IU/...

OBJECTIVES The present study was designed to compare the absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF) after intravenous dipyridamole infusion with that during dobutamine-atropine administration in normal healthy male volunteers. BACKGROUND Both safety and usefulness of dobutamine-atropine stress in myocardial perfusion imaging have been reported. However, no information exists on whether the magnitud...

BACKGROUND The anterior component of occlusal force (ACF), considered to result from the mesial inclination of teeth relative to the occlusal plane, has been estimated by indirectly measuring contact point tightness (CPT) through interproximal insertion of metal strips. ACF has been observed concurrently with a posterior component, whose theoretical origin is difficult to explain. OBJECTIVES ...