Clinical cardiology
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Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of myocardial ischemia that could present as angina, acute myocardial infarction, or even sudden death. It occurs more commonly in women and it has been associated with autoimmune and collagen vascular diseases. ⋯ In this article, we report 2 cases of asymptomatic SCAD that were diagnosed on routine preoperative evaluation. The management options and clinical implications are discussed.
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Those of us who see patients with cardiovascular disorders frequently use antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents; the common agents are aspirin, clopidogrel, and warfarin. This editorial is a personal viewpoint about commonly used drugs, not so commonly used drugs, and drugs that are yet to be used clinically.
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Clinical cardiology · Jun 2010
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyComparison of traditional risk factors, angiographic findings, and in-hospital mortality between smoking and nonsmoking Turkish men and women with acute myocardial infarction.
The prevalence of smoking is high in Turkey. However, there are no data available evaluating the differences between smokers and nonsmokers according to their sex in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Turkey. ⋯ Smoking, by decreasing the age of first AMI in women, offsets the age difference in first AMI between men and women. The mean age of first AMI is lower in Turkey than most European countries due to a high percentage of smoking.
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Clinical cardiology · Jun 2010
The effect of sleep apnea on QT interval, QT dispersion, and arrhythmias.
QT interval (QT) and QT dispersion (QTd) are electrocardiograph (ECG) parameters for the evaluation of myocardial repolarization. The inhomogeneity of ventricular repolarization is associated with ventricular arrhythmias. An increased QT, QTd, and increased incidence of nocturnal cardiac rhythm disturbances have been described in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), while other investigators did not find a relationship between ventricular arrhythmias and OSA. ⋯ QTd and QTcd did not increase during the nighttime period. Our study did not show an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias in this population during the monitoring period.
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Clinical cardiology · Jun 2010
Review Meta AnalysisEfficacy and safety of intracoronary autologous bone marrow-derived cell transplantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction: insights from randomized controlled trials with 12 or more months follow-up.
Until now there was no systematic review concerning the chronic effects of intracoronary bone marrow-derived cell (BMC) transplantation in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). ⋯ Beneficial effects of intracoronary BMC transplantation could last more than 12 months in acute MI patients.