The American journal of cardiology
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The frequency, distribution, and severity of thoracic aortic plaques were evaluated by transesophageal echocardiography in 152 consecutive patients undergoing coronary arteriography. Coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined as > or = 50% stenosis of > or = 1 major branch. Atherosclerotic plaques were detected in the aorta in 90 of the 97 patients (93%) with CAD, but in only 12 of the 55 patients (22%) with normal coronary arteries. ⋯ The sensitivity of aortic plaques for the prediction of CAD was high in all age groups. Its specificity in subjects >63 years was lower than in younger subjects: 64% versus 90%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that aortic plaques were a stronger predictor of CAD than were conventional risk factors.
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Patency trials with reteplase (r-PA): what do they tell us?
Thrombolytic therapy has been shown to reduce mortality and morbidity after acute myocardial infarction. Therapeutic benefit seems to be directly correlated with completeness of reperfusion (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction [TIMI] grade 3 flow) of the infarct-related coronary artery, as well as the timeliness of reperfusion. To determine which regimen of reteplase (r-PA), a deletion mutant of wild-type tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), is most effective for clinical thrombolysis, several reteplase regimens were compared with the most successful standard regimens of recombinant t-PA (alteplase) in 2 large-scale, randomized studies. ⋯ Reteplase and alteplase did not differ significantly with regard to the occurrence of severe bleeding (12.4% vs 9.7%, respectively) or hemorrhagic stroke (1.2% vs 1.9%, respectively). The results of these trials show that reteplase, given as a 10 + 10 U double bolus, achieves significantly higher rates of early reperfusion of the infarct-related coronary artery and is associated with significantly fewer acute coronary interventions when compared with front-loaded alteplase. The benefits of reteplase are achieved without any apparent increased risk of complications.
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Clinical Trial
Control of heart rate during transition from intravenous to oral diltiazem in atrial fibrillation or flutter.
We tested whether patients presenting with atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter (AFl) with a rapid ventricular response could maintain control of heart rate while transferring from a bolus and continuous infusion of intravenous diltiazem to oral diltiazem. Forty patients with AF or AFI and sustained ventricular rate > or = 120 beats/min received intravenous diltiazem "bolus" (20 to 25 mg for 2 minutes) and "infusion" (5 to 15 mg/hour for 6 to 20 hours). Oral long-acting diltiazem (diltiazem CD 180, 300, or 360 mg/24 hours) was administered in patients in whom stable heart rate control was attained during constant infusion. ⋯ Of the 35 patients achieving heart rate control with intravenous diltiazem who entered the transition to oral therapy, 27 maintained heart rate control (response rate of 77%/, 95% confidence interval 63% to 91%). The median infusion rate of intravenous diltiazem was 10 mg/hour, and the median dose of oral diltiazem CD was 300 mg/day. Oral long-acting diltiazem was 77% effective in controlling ventricular response over 48 hours in patients with AF or AFl in whom ventricular response was initially controlled with intravenous diltiazem.
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Clinical Trial
Lidocaine pharmacokinetics after cardiac arrest and external cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Although prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation may impair drug metabolism, plasma lidocaine concentrations tended to remain within the therapeutic range after cardiopulmonary resuscitation lasting up to 30 minutes. Thus, the effects of cardiopulmonary resuscitation on lidocaine metabolism appear to be of little importance in the usual clinical situation.
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Comparative Study
Usefulness of multiplane transesophageal echocardiography to improve the assessment of severity of mitral regurgitation.
This study was designed to examine the accuracy of multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) color Doppler measurements in comparison to monoplane or biplane measurements in estimating the severity of mitral regurgitation (MR). Multiplane TEE potentially increases diagnostic accuracy of transesophageal examinations; it is unknown if multiplane is more accurate in assessing the severity of MR than monoplane or biplane TEE. Left ventricular cineangiograms of 91 patients with MR (40 no or mild, 30 moderate, and 21 severe) were compared with systolic pulmonary venous flow reversal and transesophageal color Doppler measurements: jet area and length in the transverse and longitudinal plane, maximal and average of those 2 planes (biplane), and maximal and average of 11 different planes (multiplane). ⋯ Color Doppler measurements of eccentric jets were not reliable for identification of severe MR. Systolic pulmonary venous flow reversal identifies 2 of 3 patients with severe MR with a high accuracy. In patients without flow reversal, multiplane color Doppler TEE is very capable of assessing MR severity, but biplane and monoplane TEE are equally accurate.