Background Trapidil is an antiplatelet drug with specific platelet-derived growth factor antagonism and antiproliferative effects in the rat and rabbit models after balloon angioplasty. Methods and Results The Studio Trapidil versus Aspirin nella Restenosi Coronarica (STARC) is a multicentric, randomized, double-blind trial to assess the effects of trapidil in angiographic restenosis prevention...

OBJECTIVE To review, from the purchaser's perspective, the current state of knowledge of techniques for investigation and treating coronary artery disease. The study was based on evidence from past and continuing randomised controlled trials (RCTs). CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION OF REPORTS: Articles listed on Medline (1990-3) with the keywords coronary disease, angina, and unstable angina (combined wi...

Forty–six patients (21 with stable angina and 25 with chronic myocardial infarction, 37 men) with a total chronic proximal coronary occlusion and collateral vessels to the distal part of the occluded artery (30 LAD, 10 RCA and 6 CX properly distributed in both groups) were studied angiographically before and 2 to 8 months (mean 6) after balloon angioplasty. The patients were divided in six subg...

Chemoattractant Protein-1 in Patients With Restenosis After Coronary Angioplasty To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Cipollone et al1 on the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). In their study, plasma MCP-1 levels were significantly increased 1 day after PTCA, and patients with restenosis show...

During 1968 consecutive percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures, 4 patients (0.2%) suffered a focal central nervous system complication. Two patients had a hemisphere infarct, one a brainstem infarct and one a hemisphere transient ischemic attack. Embolism was the likely mechanism in 3 cases; in 1 air was injected through the guiding catheter, and in 2 post-coronary byp...

Diabetes mellitus, a major determinant of cardiovascular events, portends an adverse prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease regardless of treatment strategy. Among patients undergoing coronary revascularization procedures, the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) trial (1) demonstrated an unfavorable interaction between diabetes and an initial strategy of percut...

The era of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has led to substantial changes in the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes and stable coronary heart disease, with an associated range of impacts on the course and outcomes of subsets of patients with these conditions. Interventional cardiology has moved from percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), with or withou...

The therapeutic benefit of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is limited by restenosis in 30-40% of patients. The underlying mechanisms are currently not well understood. Besides clinical and angiographic variables, genetic factors may be involved. In the present study, we investigated the associations between the angiotensinogen T174M and M235T, the angiotensin I-converting ...

BACKGROUND Experimental data suggest that tissue factor (TF) may induce neointimal hyperplasia after arterial injury. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that elevated levels of TF in the circulation contribute to the development of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or stent implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS Whole-blood TF procoagulant activity (...

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to investigate the relation of lipoprotein(a) and serum lipid parameters to restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and to assess the association of these same biochemical markers to coronary artery disease (CAD) in individuals with angiographically defined normal and diseased coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixty-t...