Journal of cardiovascular medicine
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Sep 2009
Diagnostic accuracy and clinical relevance of brain natriuretic peptide assay in pediatric patients with congenital heart diseases.
The clinical usefulness of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay in congenital heart diseases is still controversial. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy and clinical relevance of this assay in different cardiovascular hemodynamic conditions in pediatric patients with congenital heart diseases. ⋯ BNP assay showed a good diagnostic accuracy in discriminating between healthy individuals and patients. Congenital heart disease with left ventricular pressure overload and biventricular volume overload has higher BNP values than that with right ventricular pressure overload.
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Sep 2009
Editorial Case ReportsAcute inferior myocardial infarction due to cannabis smoking in a young man.
Cannabis smoking, which has euphoric effects, is consistently increasing in Europe. Smoking cannabis is a rare trigger of acute myocardial infarction (MI) by inducing coronary artery spasm. ⋯ Although some cases were reported with MI after cannabis smoking, only two case reports with inferior MI after cannabis smoking were reported in the literature. The present report is of a young male patient who was affected by acute inferior MI half an hour after cannabis smoking.
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J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) · Sep 2009
Pharmacological treatment after acute myocardial infarction from 2001 to 2006: a survey in Italian primary care.
Pharmacological preventive therapy after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is strictly recommended because of its great efficacy. Little is known about long-term utilization of drugs related to cardiovascular secondary prevention in everyday practice. ⋯ The prescription of recommended drugs after AMI has increased from 2001 to 2006 in Italy, but the prescription rate remains largely unsatisfactory. Therapeutic continuity is also suboptimal.