Previous studies have suggested that (1) nitroglycerin causes vasodilatation by interacting with sulfhydryl groups in vascular smooth muscle, thereby activating guanylate cyclase and increasing the intracellular concentration of cyclic GMP, and (2) N-acetylcysteine, a source of sulfhydryl groups, potentiates the peripheral vasodilatory effect of nitroglycerin. This study was performed to explor...

The relationship between the increase in catecholamine levels of the coronary sinus blood and the amplitude of various cardiac responses to adrenergic nerve stimulation was studied in anesthetized dogs. Plasma catecholamine levels in both coronary sinus and aortic blood were measured by a modification of the radiometric enzymatic assay for tissue catecholamines and were found to be 0.622 plus o...

The action of strophanthus preparations on the coronary blood flow and the oxidative metabolism of the normal and failing human heart has been studied by coronary sinus catheterization. It has been found that strophanthus preparations have no effect on the coronary flow or oxidative metabolism of either the normal or failing heart. This agrees with the concept that the oxidative metabolism (ene...

The effect of smoking on the heart has been a controversial subject. The present studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on the coronary flow, myocardial usage of oxygen and myocardial extraction of glucose, pyruvate, lactate, and ketones. Catheterization of the coronary sinus revealed that cigarette smoking in patients without heart disease results in a significa...

The images presented here are from a 44-year-old asymptomatic man. At age 36 years, he experienced nonsustained atrial fibrillation. A year later, a transthoracic echocardiogram disclosed an enlarged left ventricle (diastolic dimension, 7.4 cm; ejection fraction, 56%) and a very large coronary sinus with Doppler color flow evidence of diastolic and systolic turbulence consistent with entry of a...

Anomalous origin of the left main coronary artery from the right sinus of Valsalva is extremely rare when not associated with other congenital cardiac anomalies. In this report we present a patient with a single coronary ostium, with both the left and right coronary artery systems arising from it. The right coronary artery was found to contain a significant flow-limiting lesion that was success...

When steady state pressure-flow relations are studied in the circumflex coronary artery, pressure gradients develop between it and other branches of the left coronary artery. To assess the effects of these pressure gradients, we compared the pressure axis intercept and shape of steady state circumflex pressure-flow relations in the presence and absence of gradients after autoregulation was abol...

We developed a radioimmunoassay for plasma thromboxane B,, the metabolite of the coronary vasoconstrictor thromboxane A,. To see if thromboxane A, is produced during myocardial ischemia, we used atrial pacing to study 14 patients with greater than 75% occlusive coronary artery disease proved by arteriography. Paired samples were taken from the coronary sinus (CS) and an artery (A) for lactate a...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of time-controlled intermittent coronary sinus occlusion (ICSO) in preserving regional and global mechanical function during acute ischemia in an animal preparation without significant arterial collateral vessels. Seventeen (eight control, nine ICSO) swine heart preparations undergoing extracorporeal coronary perfusion in situ were subjecte...

The combination of coronary arteriovenous fistula to the coronary sinus (CS), dilatation of the entire length of coronary artery, coronary aneurysm and persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is very rare. We present the case of a 63-year-old female admitted for dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea, and facial edema. Echocardiography detected a giant coronary artery with shunt flow, dilated CS and...