UNLABELLED Cigarette smoking is one of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and is related to abnormal peripheral and coronary vascular vasomotion. Coronary vascular endothelial dysfunction is caused by chronic smoking in smokers without epicardial coronary artery stenosis. The coronary endothelial vasomotion abnormality is restored by interventions such as l-arginine or vitamin C infusi...

Background Several studies have shown the potential of semi-quantitative and fully-quantitative analysis of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) perfusion images in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, estimates of myocardial blood flow (MBF) rely on accurate selection of important timing parameters. In this study, we evaluate how the identification of the timing of the S...

Background Diagnostic studies using dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI perfusion imaging typically evaluate perfusion in terms of the myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR), which is the ratio of stress to rest myocardial blood flow (MBF) measurements. The aim of this study was to establish whether or not, in the case of absolute MBF quantitation, the MPR exhibits a diagnostic advantage over the s...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine how calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) via axon reflex participates in increasing local muscle blood flow (MBF) following manual acupuncture (MA). METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats (N=56, 270-350 g) were used. We examined (1) the effects of MA on MBF in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle in normal rats; (2) the effects of MA on MBF in the...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether cardiac rehabilitation influences plasma levels of angiogenic cytokines and their correlation with myocardial blood flow (MBF). DESIGN Randomised controlled study. SETTING Tertiary cardiac centre. PATIENTS 39 postinfarction patients randomised to either a 3-month training group (n = 20) or a non-training group (n = 19), and 19 normal controls. INTERVENTION...

BACKGROUND We aimed to investigate the cardiac effects of left bundle-branch block (LBBB) using myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) to ascertain the value of MCE for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) and to uncover the mechanism that affects the accuracy of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in these patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixty-three symptomatic LBBB patie...

BACKGROUND Absolute quantification of perfusion with cardiovascular magnetic resonance has not previously been applied in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Owing to increased contrast bolus dispersion due to the greater distance of travel through a bypass graft, this approach may result in systematic underestimation of myocardial blood flow (MBF). As resting MBF remains norm...

BACKGROUND Preservation of myocardial perfusion during general anesthesia is likely important in patients at risk for perioperative cardiac complications. Data related to the influence of general anesthesia on the normal myocardial circulation are limited. In this study, we investigated myocardial microcirculatory responses to pharmacological vasodilation and sympathetic stimulation during gene...