The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), a randomized double-blinded treatment trial, was motivated by the high rate of hypertension-related renal disease in the African-American population and the scarcity of effective therapies. This study describes a pattern-based classification approach to predict the rate of decline of kidney function using surface-enhanced las...

BACKGROUND Coronary endothelial dysfunction may occur in patients with minimally obstructive coronary artery disease and angina, and potentially may cause myocardial ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Coronary endothelium-dependent vasodilation was examined in patients with angina and <50% coronary artery diameter (CAD) stenosis by selectively infusing acetylcholine (10(-6) mol/L to 10(-4) mol/L) ...

Aim: This article aims to investigate the degree and frequency of atherosclerosis using “Coronary Artery Disease Reporting Data System” (CAD-RADS) classification in patients who underwent coronary Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) Angiography with a preliminary diagnosis artery disease were found have aneurysm (CAA) also discuss predisposing factors, prevalence, diagnostic criteria compl...

Duplication of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery is a rare anomaly (incidence 1%) characterized by a short LAD that terminates high in the anterior interventricular groove and a long LAD that has a proximal course outside the anterior interventricular groove and returns to the groove in its distal course. The Type 4 variant of this anomaly is extremely rare whereby a long LAD a...

Although quantitative evaluation of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) has been perceived as an attractive advantage of positron emission tomography (PET) over other cardiac imaging technologies, application of the information to specific coronary lesions is a difficult task for nuclear cardiologists. We hypothesized that changes in MBF and MFR over a coronary lesion ...

The TIMI frame count (TFC) is an index of coronary blood flow, and a correction in TFC (CTFC) for left anterior descending artery (LAD) has also been proposed. However, the relationship between TFC and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) parameters of culprit coronary arteries has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate IVUS-derived correlates of TFC before and after stenting, a...

INTRODUCTION Wellens' syndrome, also called left anterior descending (LAD) coronary T-wave syndrome, is a characteristic electrocardiographic (ECG) pattern suggestive of coronary artery disease in the preinfarction stage. [1–3] ECG changes in Wellens' syndrome may signify critical stenosis in the proximal LAD coronary artery. [1–5] Furthermore, ECG changes may occur during a pain-free period wi...

Background The NIH estimated that 7 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease and ~500,000 patients die of heart attacks yearly. Jung et al found that the number of microemboli correlates with the size of myocardium at risk in patients with myocardial infarction [1]. Due to the population inhomogeneity it is difficult to grade and compare LV dysfunction in patients with acute microi...

OBJECTIVES We investigate how early adult and 20-year changes in modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (MRF) predict left atrial dimension (LAD) at age 43-55 years. METHODS The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study enrolled black and white adults (1985-1986). We included 2903 participants with echocardiography and MRF assessment in follow-up years 5 and 25. At years...

BACKGROUND The anatomic features of left atrial diverticula (LAD) are still unclear in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and morphological characteristics of LAD in patients referred for radiofrequency transcatheter ablation of AF with dual-source computed tomography. METHODS AND RESULTS Dual-source computed tomography images were...