OBJECTIVES Coronary venous retroinfusion (CVR) has been used experimentally in large animals for selective drug delivery into ischaemic myocardium. It would be an advantage if CVR could also be used in isolated perfused rat heart models. The aim of the present paper is to develop a regional ischaemic model in the isolated perfused rat heart combined with CVR. METHOD Pharmacokinetic study: The...

OBJECTIVES Relationship between low-level air pollution and stroke is conflicting. This study was conducted to document the relationship between outdoor air pollution and ischaemic stroke occurrence. DESIGN Time-stratified case-crossover analysis. SETTING University Hospital of Nice, France. PARTICIPANTS All consecutive patients with ischaemic stroke living in Nice admitted in the Univers...

OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of brain edema after ischaemic stroke and its impact on the outcome of patients in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 114 patients. Ischaemic stroke and brain edema are verified by computed tomography. The severity of stroke was determined by National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Laboratory findings...

For patients with ischaemic heart disease, remote ischaemic conditioning may offer an innovative, non-invasive and virtually cost-free therapy for protecting the myocardium against the detrimental effects of acute ischaemia-reperfusion injury, preserving cardiac function and improving clinical outcomes. The intriguing phenomenon of remote ischaemic conditioning was first discovered over 20 year...

AIMS Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a vasoactive gasotransmitter that is endogenously produced in the vasculature by the enzyme cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE). However, the importance of CSE activity and local H2S generation for ischaemic vascular remodelling remains completely unknown. In this study, we examine the hypothesis that CSE critically regulates ischaemic vascular remodelling involving H2S-d...

Ischaemic heart disease is a complex phenotype arising from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Excessive production of reactive oxygen species leading to endothelial dysfunction is believed to be important in the pathogenesis of ischaemic heart disease. The NAD(P)H oxidase system generates superoxide anions in vascular cells; however, the role of the C242T polymorphism of the...

AIMS To test the hypothesis that diabetic status may be used as a prognostic indicator in heart failure (HF) patients. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 1246 consecutive patients with left ventricular dysfunction. All patients had a cardiopulmonary exercise test and an echocardiogram. Cardiac catheterisation was systematically performed to define HF aetiology. Twenty-two percent of the patients ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between air concentrations of fine particulate matter <2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) and ischaemic attacks in high-risk elderly patients (aged ≥60 years). METHODS This retrospective data analysis study extracted clinical data from an electronic medical chart system and environmental air quality data from the Ministry of the Environment Atmospheric Enviro...