Evaluation of cardiac functions with tissue doppler ımaging in prediabetic subjects

WOS: 000342383800003PubMed ID: 23508684Background and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate left ventricle systolic and diastolic function, using tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE), in relation to blood glucose status in prediabetic patients who had no evidence of heart disease by conventional echocardiography (CE). Subjects and Methods: We included 60 patients (30 female, 30 male) and 20 healthy controls (10 male, 10 female). All participants were randomised into four groups according to their oral glucose tolerance test. Group-I consisted of those patients who had only impaired fasting glucose (IFG). group-II consisted of patients who had only impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and group-III consisted of patients who had both IFG and IGT, that is so-called combined glucose intolerance. Group-IV included the healthy controls. All subjects underwent both CE and TDE. Results: No significant differences were found among the four groups in terms of CE. There was no significant difference between group-IV and group-I with respect to the early peak diastolic velocity (Ea) of medial mitral annulus (11.65 +/- 0.66 vs. 9.72 +/- 1.58, p>0.05), whereas a statistically significant difference was found between group-IV and group-II (11.65 +/- 0.66 vs. 9.06 +/- 1.07, p<0.001) and between group-IV and group-III (11.65 +/- 0.66 vs. 9.74 +/- 1.09, p<0.05). Conclusion: Diastolic myocardial dysfunction in prediabetic patients may be identified by quantitative TDE before the appearance of CE indices of myocardial dysfunction

Embolised stent into the circumflex coronary artery during percutaneous coronary intervention

WOS: 000235783800013PubMed: 16479047Dislodgement and embolisation of the new generation of coronary stents before deployment are rare. If it is impossible to withdraw the embolised stent from the coronary artery, the stent may be crushed into the side wall of the coronary artery with a balloon over a wire passed alongside the embolised stent

Immediate and six months clinical and angiographic results of intracoronary Ephesos stent implantation: the "Ephesos-1" study

WOS: 000228734900007PubMed: 15887475Background - This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and angiographic results of the Ephesos stent implantation in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. The Ephesos stent is a new balloon-expandable, stainless steel, tubular stent with multicellular design. Methods - One hundred ten patients with native coronary artery disease were included in the study. The Ephesos stents were implanted in 163 de novo lesions detected in these patients. Immediate and long-term clinical and angiographic follow-up results were evaluated. Results - Most of the patients had unstable angina 63.6%, and 36.7 % of the lesions were type B and C. Mean lesion length was 12.7 +/- 4.7. In 62% of the patients the reference lumen diameter was < 3 mm. One Q-wave and one non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) occurred due to acute thrombotic occlusion during hospital stay. The 6-month event-free survival rate was 77.3%. No patients died in the six-month follow-up period, but 2 patients had non-Q wave MI and I patient experienced Q-wave MI within this period. Control angiographic data was collected from I 10 patients (100% of patients and a total of 163 lesions). Angiographic restenosis rate was 18.1 %. Twenty-two patients with restenosis had repeated target lesion balloon dilatation. Conclusion -The results of the present study showed that the Ephesos stent is a safe and effective choice with a low incidence of major adverse cardiac events and restenosis rate within six months of follow-up

A case of hypothyroidism mimicking acute coronary syndrome

WOS: 000236782700003PubMed: 16231082Hypothyroid patients have increased concentrations of creatinine kinase that is mostly due to increased CK-MM. However, CK-MB has also been reported to increase above reference values in hypothyroid patients without apparent myocardial damage. This may create confusion during the evaluation of myocardial injury in a hypothyroid patient presenting with chest pain. Troponin I is considered as a superior marker for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in hypothyroid patients. However, there are some reports showing an increase in the level of troponin I without any myocardial damage in hypothyroid patients as in our case. In this report, we present a 47 years old male hypothyroid patient who had chest pain, abnormal electrocardiographic findings and increased cardiac enzymes suggesting acute coronary syndrome although he had normal coronary arteriogram

A new effect of acetylsalicylic acid ? Significantly lower prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus among patients receiving orally administered acetylsalicylic acid

Karabay, Oguz/0000-0003-0502-432XWOS: 000249035800019PubMed: 16532425We aimed to evaluate effect of acetylsalicylic acid on the prevalence of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus. Patients were orally administered a prophylactic dose of acetylsalicylic acid and then were compared with control subjects. The prevalence of nasal carriage of S. aureus was significantly lower among patients who received acetylsalicylic acid than among the control subjects (P < .001)

The relation between homocysteine and calcific aortic valve stenosis

WOS: 000229814800009PubMed: 15838165Background: In patients diagnosed with calcific aortic valve stenosis, cardiac risk factors are similar to those of coronary artery disease; homocysteine concentration is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between plasma homocysteine levels and aortic valve stenosis and the influence of homocysteine levels on the coexistence of coronary artery disease in patients with moderate to severe aortic valve stenosis. Methods: Fifty-eight patients who had been diagnosed with moderate to severe aortic stenosis formed the test group of this study, and 47 healthy subjects without coronary artery disease or aortic valve stenosis formed the control group. The patients with aortic stenosis were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of coronary artery disease in their coronary angiograms. After 12 h fasting venous blood samples were collected and total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides and homocysteine levels were measured and compared between the two groups. Measurements and Results: The mean blood homocysteine level was 10.8 +/- 3.3 mu mol/l in patients with aortic valve stenosis and 8.1 +/- 4.7 mu mol/l in the control group; the difference between these levels was statistically insignificant. The patients with aortic valve stenosis had significantly higher levels of total cholesterol and hypertension and were more likely to have a positive family history for coronary artery disease. When the two subgroups of patients with aortic valve stenosis were compared, mean blood homocysteine levels were 13.2 +/- 3.1 and 8.3 +/- 2.2 mu mol/l, respectively, showing significantly higher levels in the group with coronary artery disease. In this comparison patients with coronary artery disease were also found to have significantly higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL and they were more likely to be smokers. Conclusions: Although there was no relation between blood homocysteine levels and the existence of aortic valve stenosis, in cases with both coronary heart disease and aortic stenosis homocysteine levels were significantly higher than in the patients with pure aortic valve stenosis. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Heart rate turbulence and heart rate variability in patients with mitral valve prolapse

WOS: 000239365100012PubMed: 16798765Aims Heart rate turbulence (HRT) and heart rate variability (HRV) have been shown to be independent and powerful predictors of mortality in a specific group of cardiac patients. However, the predictive valsue of HRV alone is modest and information on HRV in patients with mitral valve protapse (MVP) has so far been conflicting. In addition, no studies have previously evaluated HRT in patients with MVP. To define better the effects of MVP on cardiac autonomic function, we assessed HRT and time-domain parameters of HRV in patients with MVP. Methods and results Fifty patients with MVP and 70 controls without MVP were investigated. The diagnosis of MVP was confirmed by cross-sectional echocardiography in the parasternal long-axis view and apicat 4-chamber view. The HRV and turbulence analysis were assessed from a 24-hour Hotter recording. When HRT parameters were compared, the values of the HRT onset and slope were significantly lower in MVP patients than in the controls group (-0.109 +/- 0.207 vs. -0.289 +/- 0.170%, P = 0.001 and 8.6 +/- 7.2 vs. 11.5 +/- 7.4 ms/RRI, P = 0.043, respectively) and the number of patients who had abnormal HRT onset was significantly higher in the MVP group than in controls (15 vs. 8, P = 0.011). In addition, HRV parameters were not statistically different between the two groups. Conclusion Although we found that the decrease in HRV parameters was not significantly different between MVP patients and controls, HRT variables (especially HRT onset) were significantly lower in MVP patients. Therefore, in our opinion, HRT is an attractive, easily applicable, and better way of non-invasive risk prediction compared with another non-invasive risk predictor, HRV