"iDoctor – Medical Blog"

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Nancy M. Allen, LaPointe , Anita Y., Chen , Matthew T., Roe , David J., Cohen , Deborah B., Diercks , …<br><br>We evaluated the reported contraindications to early β-blocker use and associated mortality within and across patient age groups. Contraindications to early β-blocker use were evaluated in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome in the Can Rapid Risk Stratification of Unstable Angina Patients Suppress Adverse Outcomes with Early Implementation of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines (CRUSADE) initiative from February 2003 to De

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Batric, Popovic , Marc Antoine, Arnould , Christine, Selton-Suty , Clotilde, Latarche , Michael, Angioi , …<br><br>We aimed to evaluate the long-term clinical outcomes among patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) after coronary artery bypass grafting. We studied 589 consecutive patients who had undergone isolated coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2003 to June 2005 at our university hospital. The effect of PAD was assessed by comparing the 2-year follow-up data from 2 groups of patients: 243 patients with and 346 without PAD. A large systematic atherosclerosis screening was performed%2

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Cheol Whan, Lee , Duk-Woo, Park , Seung-Hwan, Lee , Young-Hak, Kim , Myeong-Ki, Hong , …<br><br>Drug-eluting stents (DESs) are increasingly used for treatment of acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), but there are few comparisons of outcomes of various types of DES. We compared the efficacy and safety of zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZESs), sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs), and paclitaxel-eluting stents (PESs) in primary intervention for STEMI. This multicenter, prospectively randomized ZEST-AMI trial included 328 patients at 12 medical centers who were randomly assig

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Andrew J., Einstein , Steven D., Wolff , Eric D., Manheimer , James, Thompson , Sylvia, Terry , …<br><br>Radiation dose from coronary computed tomographic angiography may be decreased using a sequential scanning protocol rather than a conventional helical scanning protocol. We compared radiation dose and image quality from coronary computed tomographic angiography in a single center between an initial period during which helical scanning with electrocardiographically controlled tube current modulation was used for all patients (n = 138) and after adoption of a stra

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Arnold C.T., Ng , Victoria, Delgado , Matteo, Bertini , Rutger W., van der Meer , Luuk J., Rijzewijk , …<br><br>Regional left ventricular (LV) myocardial functional changes in early diabetic cardiomyopathy have not been well documented. LV multidirectional strain and strain rate analyses by 2-dimensional speckle tracking were used to detect subtle myocardial dysfunction in 47 asymptomatic, male patients (age 57 ± 6 years) with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results were compared to those from 53 male controls matched by age, body mass index, and body surface area. No differences were found in the LV end-diastolic volu

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Troy M., LaBounty , Sidney, Glasofer , Richard B., Devereux , Fay Y., Lin , Jonathan W., Weinsaft , …<br><br>Retrospectively gated helical cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) has been reported accurate in the evaluation of isolated valvular abnormalities, but its ability to provide comprehensive assessment of common valvular lesions is not established. We evaluated 56 consecutive patients undergoing 64-detector retrospective electrocardiogram-gated CCTA and transesophageal echocardiography for the presence of aortic and mitral stenoses, aortic and mitral regurgitations, mitr

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Siddharth, Mukerji , Feras, Aloka , Muhammad U., Farooq , Mounzer Y., Kassab , George S., Abela<br><br>The Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of acute flaccid paralysis in young adults and the elderly and an important cause of admission to intensive care units. Manifestations of the GBS vary from monoparesis to life-threatening paralysis of the respiratory muscles. The latter is often punctuated by the presence of cardiac involvement. This ranges from variations in blood pressure to involvement of the myocardium and potentially fatal arrhythmias. This review addresses some of the common cardiovascular complications of the GBS, with their myriad presentatio

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Faisal M., Merchant , Peter A., Noseworthy , Rory B., Weiner , Sheldon M., Singh , Jeremy N., Ruskin , …<br><br>Recent studies have suggested that early repolarization (ER) might be associated with up to 1/3 of idiopathic ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) cases (“malignant†ER). We sought to identify electrocardiographic features to distinguish benign from malignant variants of ER. We reviewed the medical records for implantable-cardioverter defibrillators implanted at a single institution (1988 to 2008) to identify cases of idiopathic VT/VF. The electrocardiograms were scored

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Hien Thuy, Bui , Ashok, Krisnaswami , Chieu-Uyen, Le , James, Chan , Bach-Nga, Shenoy<br><br>Patients with mechanical heart valves (MHVs) are at a higher risk for thromboembolic events than patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This difference is observed in the higher maintenance international normalized ratio (INR) range for patients with MHV and in the selection for anticoagulation bridge therapy when warfarin is interrupted perioperatively. However, once the decision is made to “bridge,†the same therapeutic options, unfractionated

Publication year: 2009<br><b>Source:</b> The American Journal of Cardiology, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 26 September 2009<br>Hien-Tu, Nguyen-Thanh , Bruno S., Benzaquen<br><br>Traditional coronary risk assessment is based on major cardiovascular risk factors using the Framingham risk score. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measured by ultrasonography is a noninvasive test used to assess for the presence of coronary atherosclerosis. CIMT has been shown to be an independent predictor of future cardiovascular events and is used in research trials as a surrogate for the presence as well as regression of coronary artery disease. The objectives of this report are to review the published reports on CIMT and to help establish the role of CIMT as a screening tool for coronary artery disease in sele