Although contrast angiography is important in the diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerotic disease, it does have limitations. Intracoronary ultrasound more accurately assesses the amount of atherosclerosis and has given us new insights into the pathophysiology of coronary plaque accumulation and remodelling. It also allows the monitoring of therapeutic intervention. Intracoronary ultrasound i...

SEE PAGE 988 A nimal studies on the intracoronary electrocardiogram (IC ECG) preceded coronary angioplasty, today referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), by 1 year, almost 40 years ago (1). Even the balloon was there, but it was used for temporary coronary occlusion producing ischemia rather than for treating coronary stenoses. In 1983, pacemaker electrodes were used to derive ...

Introduction: Hydrocephalus is one of the most common diseases in children, and its treatment requires brain operation. However, the pathophysiology of the disease is very complicated and still unknown.  Methods: Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy (ETV) and Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt (VPS) implantation are among the common treatments of hydrocephalus. In this study, Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) hyd...

BACKGROUND Shunt vessels were imaged and shunt flow was analysed by cross sectional and Doppler echocardiography in 12 patients who had had 14 shunt procedures (nine left Blalock-Taussig shunts, three right Blalock-Taussig shunts, one modified Waterston shunt, and one central shunt). METHODS The shunt vessels were classified by echocardiography as uniformly patent, segmentally stenosed, and u...

PURPOSE: Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is the main cause of heart attack. Unlike plaques in carotid arteries, the atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries are difficult to be detected using conventional MRI techniques with surface coils. To solve this problem, a 0.014-inch intracoronary MR imaging-guidewire (a loopless RF coil) was invented, which enabled to generate intracoronary...

BACKGROUND Profound reduction in antegrade epicardial coronary flow with concomitant ischemia is seen occasionally during percutaneous coronary intervention despite the absence of evident vessel dissection, obstruction, or distal vessel embolic cutoff. In a prior small series of cases, this "no-reflow" phenomenon appeared to be promptly reversed by the intra-coronary administration of verapamil...

This study was designed to investigate the site of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced vasodilation in the systemic and coronary vasculature. Intracoronary infusion of VEGF in Yorkshire pigs resulted in a significant drop in the mean arterial blood pressure, with a decline in the left ventricular left end-diastolic pressure, and no change in the heart rate. Coronary blood flow inc...

The clinical effects of intravenous streptokinase in patients with acute myocardial infarction were compared with those of intracoronary streptokinase in a randomized, prospective study. Comparisons were also made with a historical control group. Fifty patients were entered into the study at 2.4 +/- 1.2 hr after onset of pain, and 27 were assigned to intravenous and 23 to intracoronary therapy....

Acutely Increases Flow Through Culprit Vessels of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Wöhrle et al1 reporting the reduction of major coronary events with the intracoronary compared with the intravenous administration of abciximab in patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing percutaneous ...