OBJECTIVES AND BACKGROUND Serum biomarkers have been proposed to reflect fibrosis of several human tissues, but their specific role in the detection of myocardial fibrosis has not been well-established. We studied the association between N-terminal propeptide of type I and III procollagen (PINP, PIIINP, respectively), galectin-3 (gal-3), soluble ST2 (ST2), and myocardial fibrosis measured by la...

Reprint requests to: Dr. Yu-Shien Ko The First Cardiovascular Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. No. 5, Fu Sing Street, Gueishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan, R.O.C. Evaluat ion of chest pain in the emergency department (ED) is a formidable chal lenge. It is established that multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) can detect the changes of myocardial perfusion aft...

Purpose: With  increasing the usage  of  myocardial  perfusion  imaging  (MPI)  for  the diagnosis  of  ischemic  heart  disease,  we  aimed  to  evaluate  the  side  effects  of  low-dose  radiation  induced  by  this  technique  on blood elements, especially proteins and liver function factors.Materials and  Methods:  40  eligible  patients  (Mean  age:  54.6...

Abstract Myocardial contusion (MC) is a note rare and potentially fatal complication of blunt chest trauma (BCT). The spectrum manifestations post–traumatic cardiac injury varies widely: from clinically silent injuries to severe reductions in function, myocardial hematomas, heart ruptures, life–threatening arrhythmias1. There no unique definition for this entity, the diagnostic criteria propose...