BACKGROUND Carotid angiographic plaque surface morphology is a powerful risk factor for stroke and systemic vascular risk. However, the underlying pathology is unclear, and a better understanding is required both to evaluate other forms of carotid imaging and to develop new treatments. Previous studies comparing angiographic plaque surface morphology with pathology have been small and unblinded...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The pathogenesis of delayed cerebral ischemia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage remains incompletely understood. It is generally assumed that it is caused by angiographic vasospasm. Our aim was to clarify the relationship among angiographic vasospasm, neurological worsening, cerebral infarction, and poor outcome and to investigate whether cerebral infarction also c...

BACKGROUND Re-stenosis after percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is related to clinical and angiographic features. AIM To describe the clinical and angiographic characteristic of our patients with coronary cardiopathy subjected to PTCA and the predictor factors for re-stenosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS We gathered the clinical and angiographic characteristics of all patients who underwent ...

BACKGROUND Intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) has provided insights into vascular pathology and interventional therapy. The Strategy for ICUS-Guided PTCA and Stenting (SIPS) trial tested the hypothesis that routine ICUS guidance of coronary interventions improves outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS A single-center consecutive-patient randomized design (with 6-month angiographic and 2-year clinical foll...

BACKGROUND The biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (DES) were developed to improve vascular healing. However, further data and longer-term follow-up are needed to confirm safety and efficacy of these stents. This randomized clinical trial aimed to compare safety and efficacy of 2 sirolimus-eluting stents (SES): Cordimax-a novel abluminal biodegradable polymer SES and Cypher Select-a durab...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms is safe and effective but is associated with angiographic recurrences. Beta radiation prevents recanalization after coil embolization in experimental models. We wanted to assess the feasibility of using radioactive coil embolization to improve long-term results of endovascular treatment. METHODS Platinum coils were ion-im...

BACKGROUND The sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and the paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) reduce restenosis in small coronary artery lesions. However, it is not clear which of these stents is superior in terms of clinical outcomes. METHODS The authors retrospectively examined 197 patients with 245 de novo small coronary artery lesions (<or=<or=2.75 mm) that were treated with either the SES (156 les...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Coronary stenting without balloon predilatation is a safe technique associated with similar clinical results and lower costs, use of contrast and exposure to radiation in comparison to stenting with predilatation. After direct stenting, expansion may be reduced if the stenotic lesion was not predilatated. This study compared a). stent expansion with and without ballo...

AIMS This study compared the myocardial ischaemic burden (MIB) in patients with angiographic three-vessel coronary artery disease (3VD) using high-resolution and standard-resolution myocardial perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance (perfusion CMR) imaging. METHODS AND RESULTS One hundred and five patients undergoing coronary angiography had two separate stress/rest perfusion CMR studies,...

PURPOSE Cerebral arterial dissections are recognized as a common cause of stroke. However, few studies have reported on the distribution of cerebral arterial dissection and angiographic pattern related to the presenting clinical symptom pattern. We analyzed the distribution of cerebral artery dissection along with angiographic and clinical presenting a pattern as depicted on angiograms. MATER...