BACKGROUND Abciximab reduces major adverse cardiac events in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Intracoronary abciximab bolus application results in high local drug concentrations and may be more effective than a standard intravenous bolus. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients undergoing primary PCI were randomized to either i...

OBJECTIVE To determine portal hemodynamic changes associated with surgical shunt ligation and establish ultrasonographic criteria for determining the optimal degree of shunt narrowing and predicting outcome. DESIGN Case series. ANIMALS 17 dogs, each with a single congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. PROCEDURE Pre- and postligation flow velocities and flow directions were determine...

A 67-year-old man was admitted to our institution with sudden and persistent chest pain for 3 days. Coronary angiography showed massive thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary artery. The patient received intracoronary thrombolysis with alteplase (recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, rt-PA). On repeated angiography, there was marked resolution of intracoronary thrombus. After percu...

Recently, percutaneous coronary intervention has been the treatment of choice in most acute myocardial infarction cases. Although the results of percutaneous coronary interventions have ben good, the no-reflow phenomenon and distal embolization of intracoronary thrombus are still major problems even after successful interventions. In this article, we will briefly review the deleterious effects ...

The effect of pancuronium bromide on the canine myocardium was studied by observing several indices of myocardial contractility during i.v. and intracoronary infusion of the drug in an anaesthetized, open-chested dog preparation. Pancuronium produced tachycardia when given for 2 min by i.v. and intracoronary infusion with the heart intact. Following denervation and pacing of the heart the intra...

Although nicorandil, N-(2-hydroxyethyl) nicotinamide dinitrate, is a nitrate ester, its cardiovascular action differs from that of nitrate compounds in several aspects. In this quantitative angiographic study, the acute coronary dilating effect of intracoronary nicorandil (0.25, 0.50, 1.0 mg) was compared with that of isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN; 1.0 mg) in 46 patients with or without ischemic h...

BACKGROUND The intracellular mechanism of coronary artery spasm is still unknown. The pathway mediated by protein kinase C (PKC) is an important intracellular process of various cellular responses, including vascular smooth muscle contraction. Thus, we examined the role of the PKC-mediated pathway in the pathogenesis of coronary artery spasm in our in vivo swine model. METHODS AND RESULTS Sev...

OBJECTIVE To determine the usefulness of a separate reservoir placed at the site of the shunt in evaluation of shunt malfunction. METHODS AND MATERIALS A ventricular catheter was placed alongside the proximal catheter of the shunt and connected to a subgaleal reservoir in 17 patients, in 9 a double-lumen catheter with integrated reservoir and in 13 patients a dual catheter with a double-port ...

Since the isotopes can not be utilized for veterinary patients in Japan, the authors developed a simple calculation formula of shunt fraction of portosystemic shunt based on the hepatic circulation model. The shunt fraction can be calculated utilizing only 2 portal pressure measurements of pre-shunt ligation and temporary or permanent shunt ligation. The calculated shunt fraction can obtained p...