Immediate and six months clinical and angiographic results of intracoronary paclitaxel-coated stent implantation – the Meo:DrugStar-1 study

The study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and angiographic results of the implantation of the paclitaxel-eluting stent Meo:DrugStar ST in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. The Meo:DrugStar ST stent has a stainless steel stent platform with a homogenous non-biodegradable coating of paclitaxel mixed with a polyether-based biostable, monophase, and hemocompatible coating. Sixty patients with native coronary artery disease were included in the study. The Meo:DrugStar ST stents were implanted in 60 de novo lesions detected in these patients. Immediate and long-term clinical and angiographic follow-up results were evaluated. There was a high proportion of patients with hypertension (55%) according to JNC-VII. Mean stenosis ratio was 78 ± 13 %, mean implanted stent diameter was 3.0 ± 0.4 mm and mean length was 22 ± 5 mm. Restenosis was detected in 4 (10%) of those patients and 11 (27.5%) of 40 patients had insignificant amount of restenosis. The results of this study indicate a potential benefit of the Meo:DrugStar ST stent for the prevention of stent thrombosis and restenosis in these relatively high-risk patients

Dissection of the ascending thoracic aorta as a complication of percutaneous coronary intervention

Acute aortic dissection is a medical emergency with high morbidity and mortality requiring emergent diagnosis and therapy. A 79-year-old woman with acute aortic dissection due to percutaneous coronary intervention was presented. Aortic dissection is an uncommon but potentially lethal illness that can present in an occult manner making the initial diagnosis difficult. Aggressive medical management is mandatory, as well as urgent diagnostic testing and cardiothoracic consultation

Heart rate variability and heart rate turbulence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, functional and structural changes of the respiratory system greatly influence cardiovascular autonomic functions. Determining autonomic balance may be important in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD and useful clinically in the treatment of COPD patients. Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) are useful tools in assessing the autonomic neurovegetative function. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the HRV and HRT variables in COPD patients. Twenty five moderate to severe COPD patients and 25 healthy subjects were included in this study. Methods: Pulmonary function tests and echocardiographic examination, arterial blood gases analysis were performed, HRV and HRT analysis were assessed from a 24-hour Holter recording. Results: When HRV and HRT parameters were compared, COPD patients had significantly decreased sNN50 total, pNN50, SDANN, SDNN, SDNNI, rMSDD in time domain HRV parameters, and the values of the HRT onset was significantly less negative in COPD patients. Although the values of the HRT slope were lower in COPD patients, there was no significant difference between the two groups. We also found a correlation between HRT and HRV parameters. Conclusions: In addition to HRV parameters, HRT onset was significantly different in COPD patients. In our opinion, the combination of HRV variables and HRT onset may be simple and elegant ways of evaluating cardiac autonomic functions. New investigations of HRT and HRV in COPD patients have a potential importance for improving risk stratification and therapeutic approaches, and understanding the autonomic outcomes of the disease process

The Relationship between P Wave Dispersion and Diastolic Dysfunction

We investigated the relationship between P wave dispersion, which is easily measured on the surface electrocardiogram and may be used in evaluating the risk of atrial fibrillation, and left ventricular diastolic function. There were 133 patients: 73 with diastolic dysfunction and 60 without. P wave dispersions were calculated by measuring minimum and maximum P wave duration values on the surface electrocardiogram. The relationships between P wave dispersion and the presence, cause, severity, and echocardiographic measurements of diastolic dysfunction were investigated. P wave dispersion was 53 ± 9 ms in patients with diastolic dysfunction and 43 ± 9 ms in the control group (P <0.01). When patients were grouped according to stage of diastolic dysfunction, P wave dispersion was 48 ± 7 ms in stage 1, 54 ± 8 ms in stage 2, and 58 ± 9 ms in stage 3. As the severity of diastolic dysfunction increased, P wave dispersion increased but the difference did not reach statistical significance (P <0.05). When the cause of diastolic dysfunction was considered, P wave dispersion was 53 ± 8 ms in patients with ischemic heart disease and 52 ± 9 ms in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (P >0.05). We conclude that P wave dispersion increases in diastolic dysfunction, but that this increase is not related to the severity or cause of diastolic dysfunction. When clinical and echocardiographic variables are taken into account, there is a weak but significant correlation only between P wave dispersion and left ventricular ejection fraction

PREDICTION OF CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY REQUIREMENT OF PATIENTS WITH FUZZY LOGIC AND LEARNING VECTOR QUANTIZATION

10th International Conference on Electronics, Computer and Computation (ICECCO) -- NOV 07-09, 2013 -- Turgut Ozal Univ, Ankara, TURKEYLUY, Murat/0000-0002-2378-0009WOS: 000336616500001In this study, prediction of coronary angiography (CA) requirement of patients is presented using Fuzzy Logic (FL) and Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ). Data sets of patients are received from 200 patients, half of whom undergo CA, the other half doesn't undergo CA, the numbers of both men and women patients are selected equal. Input data sets and output data sets are determined and tested for FL. The correct classification rate of FL is measured 86% for prediction of CA requirement of patients. Training data sets and testing data sets are determined and tested for LVQ. The correct classification rate of LVQ is measured 88% for prediction of CA requirement of patients. These results show that LVQ is more effective than FL at prediction of CA requirement of patients.Inst Elect & Elect Engineer

Atrial Electromechanical Delay Is Impaired in Patients with Psoriasis

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate atrial electromechanical delay (EMD) in patients with psoriasis. Subjects and Methods: A total of 43 patients with psoriasis (26 mild-moderate, 17 severe) and 17 healthy control subjects were enrolled. Patients with psoriasis were divided into two groups: the mild-moderate group and the severe group according to their psoriasis area severity index (PASI) scores. Atrial EMD was measured from the lateral mitral annulus and called 'PA lateral', from the septal mitral annulus, called ` PA septal', and from the right ventricle tricuspid annulus, called 'PA tricuspid'. Atrial EMD was defined as the time interval from the onset of atrial electrical activity (P wave on surface ECG) to the beginning of mechanical atrial contraction (late diastolic A wave). All three groups were compared with each other, and correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the PASI score and interatrial EMD. Results: PA lateral was significantly higher in both the mild-moderate psoriasis group and the severe psoriasis group compared to controls (69 +/- 12 and 78 +/- 13 vs. 60 +/- 6 ms; p = 0.001). Also, PA septal (63 +/- 11 vs. 53 +/- 6 ms; p = 0.005, post hoc analysis) and PA tricuspid (49 +/- 7 vs. 41 +/- 5 ms; p = 0.009, post hoc analysis) were significantly higher in the severe psoriasis group than in the control group. Correlation analysis revealed that the PASI score was well correlated with PA lateral (r = 0.520, p < 0.001), PA septum (r = 0.460, p = 0.002), interatrial EMD (r = 0.371, p = 0.014) and intra-atrial EMD (r = 0.393, p = 0.009). Conclusion: Atrial EMD was prolonged in patients with psoriasis. The measurement of atrial EMD might be used to determine the risk of development of AF in patients with psoriasis. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Base

A Closed Interatrial Septal Aneurysm Mimicking a Tumor in the Left Atrium

Bilir, Cemil/0000-0002-1372-4791WOS: 000240700500033PubMed: 17041713