BACKGROUND The role of inflammation in all stages of atherosclerotic disease is increasingly recognized especially in last few years. The chronic inflammatory process can develop to an acute clinical event by the induction of plaque rupture and therefore cause acute coronary syndrome. Creactive protein is a strong predictor of clinical outcome in coronary artery disease and inflammation has bee...

The plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) had been proved to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Few studies involved the entire arginine methylation dysfunction. This study was designed to investigate whether arginine methylation dysfunction is associated with acute coronary syndrome risk in coronary artery disease population.In total 298 patients undergoing coronary an...

A new cardiac syndrome exhibiting transient left ventricular (LV) apical ballooning has been widely described in Japan. Conversely, there are few series outside Japan. 2 This syndrome usually affects elderly women, frequently preceded by emotional/physical stress. 2 These patients present with chest pain, ECG abnormalities, and minimal enzymatic release, mimicking an anterior wall acute coronar...

t akotsubo cardiomyopathy (tcm), also known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy, is a clinical syndrome of transient left ventricular (lv) apical wall motion abnormality with relative preservation of the basal heart segments in the absence of any significant atherosclerosis. recurrence of this condition is rare. we report a postmenopausal woman, who experienced two episodes of tcm within 4 months ...

Kounis syndrome is an accidental occurrence of acute coronary syndrome associated with anaphylaxis, where acute inflammatory mediators cause the spasm of coronary arteries with the erosion and rupture of atheromatous plaque. We present a 53-year-old male who during the treatment of anaphylaxis after a hornet bite developed acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction. The diagnosis of type II Kouni...

Real-time cross-sectional echocardiographic studies revealed the presence of coronary artery aneurysms in five patients with mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. These lesions appeared as circular echo-free spaces with clearly-defined borders in sites corresponding to angiographically proven aneurysms. In 15 normal subjects who were studied only by noninvasive methods, and in 17 who had normal co...

Coronary subclavian steal syndrome (CSSS) is a relatively uncommon entity, and its clinical spectrum is characterized by stable exertional angina and rarely as acute coronary syndrome. The diagnosis can be established easily by angiography. We report a case series of three patients with CSSS and acute coronary syndrome and we review the literature in the attempt to understand the nature of symp...