Atherosclerosis
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The aim of study was to assess whether activation of blood coagulation and platelets is enhanced in aortic stenosis (AS) and if so, to determine factors that might modulate these processes. ⋯ AS predisposes to prothrombotic state. Maximal gradient as an index of turbulent flow associated with activation of coagulation and platelets. In contrast, the small aortic valve area was not closely related to these parameters.
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Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death world-wide. Its major pathophysiological manifestation is acute myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Innovative treatment strategies for protecting the myocardium against the detrimental effects of this form of injury are required in order to improve clinical outcomes in patients with CHD. ⋯ Initial clinical studies, reporting beneficial effects of 'conditioning' the heart to tolerate acute ischaemia-reperfusion injury, have been encouraging. Larger multi-centred randomised studies are now required to determine whether these 'conditioning' strategies are able to impact on clinical outcomes. In this article, we provide an overview of 'conditioning' in all its various forms, describe the underlying mechanisms and review the recent clinical application of this emerging cardioprotective strategy.
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A significant proportion of women with angina-like chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries have microvascular dysfunction as detected by reduced coronary blood flow reserve (CFR). Classical clinical risk factors of atherosclerosis poorly predict this scenario. We sought to assess whether increased epicardial fat tissue, which is a metabolically active organ, could be associated with impaired CFR in these patients. ⋯ EFT has the potential to be an additional and easy diagnostic tool for risk stratification of women with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries.