The effects of bepridil, a calcium antagonist with a half-life of approximately 42 hr, were assessed in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Forty-four patients (39 men, five women) with exercise-induced angina pectoris and ST segment depression with exercise testing (modified Bruce protocol) were studied. Compared with placebo bepridil (400 mg daily) increased total ...

Reports indicating the value of quinidine sulfate in angina pectoris led to (1) a search for related drugs which were equally effective but less toxic, and (2) a study of the mode of action of these drugs. It was found that quinidine, quinine, cinchonadine, and cinchamidine decrease the frequency of attacks in daily life and increase the exercise tolerance as measured by a standardized test. Qu...

To determine the response to repeated treadmill exercise testing soon after uncomplicated myocardial infarction, 24 males (mean age 54 6 years) performed two symptom-limited tests several days apart 3, 7 and 11 weeks after the acute event. Significant within-week differences were noted for peak exercise tolerance (mets) and peak heart rate at 7 weeks (p < 0.05). Significant within-week differen...

Cystatin C, cathepsin S, and IL-1 are three important biomarkers of atherosclerosis. Previous studies emphasized the relationship between individual biomarkers in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and severity of atherosclerostic lesions of the coronary arteries, while combined cystatin C, cathepsin S, and IL-1 have not been reported for clinical classification of CAD. We aimed to establis...

Background Angiogenesis does not fully counteract myocardial ischemia in stable angina pectoris. Refractory angina pectoris, with remaining symptoms despite medication and no possibility for bypass surgery or angioplasty, is rather common. Angiogenic gene therapy is a novel treatment strategy for these patients. Methods and results In study I, six patients with refractory angina received intram...

Despite significant advances in revascularization techniques and medical therapy, there remains a significant population of patients who continue to have intractable angina symptoms. This review aims to define the patients with refractory angina pectoris (RAP) and to present the therapeutic options currently available for this condition. RAP itself is defined and the pharmacological treatment o...

A 32 year old man presenting with typical angina pectoris was found to have primary cardiac amyloidosis. Myocardial infiltration was strongly suggested by echocardiography, and a histological diagnosis was confirmed by renal biopsy. Nevertheless, technetium pyrophosphate myocardial scanning, recently proposed as a sensitive non-invasive test, showed negative results despite widespread cardiac i...

The symptomatic, electrocardiographic, and haemodynamic effects of two adrenergic beta-blocking drugs, oxprenolol and propranolol, have been compared in equipotent intravenous doses in six patients with uncomplicated angina pectoris during treadmill exercise. The method of comparison included double-blind assessment and analysis with placebo control and randomized serial comparison in each pati...

BACKGROUND Oral dipyridamole induces accumulation of endogenous adenosine, which in a hypoxic milieu exerts experimentally an angiogenic effect on coronary collateral circulation. A meta-analysis of 13 randomized placebo-controlled trials published between 1960 and 1992 showed evidence of benefit for dipyridamole in the treatment of angina pectoris, especially with longer duration of treatment....

Quadricuspid aortic valve is a rare congenital anomaly that may cause aortic regurgitation. A 77-year-old male patient was referred to our clinic with complaints of stable angina pectoris. We report a case of a quadricuspid aortic valve diagnosed by 3-dimentional transthoracic echocardiography.