The organization of actin and myosin in vascular endothelial cells in situ was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. Examination of perfusion-fixed, whole mounts of normal mouse and rat descending thoracic aorta revealed the presence of axially oriented stress fibers containing both actin and myosin within the endothelial cells. In both species, the proportion of cells containing stress fib...

We report the case of a 71-year-old female with mega-aorta extending from the ascending aorta to the descending aorta, who was successfully treated with a one-stage total thoracic aortic repair by the frozen elephant trunk technique using a stent-graft. We used a home-made frozen elephant trunk with four giant-turco Z-stents on the distal side that was inserted into the downstream descending ao...

Coronary stent dislodgement is a rare complication of percutaneous coronary intervention. We report a case of stent dislodgement in the ascending thoracic aorta. The stent was mechanically distorted in the left circumflex artery (LCX) while being delivered to the proximal LCX lesion. The balloon catheter was withdrawn, but the stent with the guide wire was remained in the ascending thoracic aor...

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is an emerging treatment option for thoracic aorta aneurysms (TAA). Endovascular access is a challenge. We present a novel TEVAR technique in a patient with single kidney and a 6.4 cm TAA. Attempting to place a sheath through iliac arteries was unsuccessful. The decision to proceed to hybrid TEVAR was made. The protection of the solitary kidney was ac...

To determine the roles of estrogen and constrictor prostanoids in vasopressin (VP)-induced contraction of female rat aorta, vascular reactivity to VP was determined in thoracic aortas of intact, ovariectomized, and ovariectomized + estrogen-replaced female rats in the presence of indomethacin (Indo), NS-398, SQ-29,548, or vehicle control. The effects of estrogen on vascular reactivity to the th...

ata from pathology (1), transesophageal echocardiography TEE) (2), and, more recently, scanning and magnetic resoance imaging (3) studies have shown that atherosclerotic isease of the aortic arch is an independent risk factor for ischemic troke, associated with a high risk of recurrent vascular events. hese findings have been summarized in the literature (4,5) nd confirmed in a meta-analysis (6...

Hemodynamic care during postoperative management of myocardial revascularization should include vasorelaxing drugs to insure adequate graft and coronary flow, and stimulation of stroke volume to maintain vascular perfusion pressure. We tested the cardiac (inotropic and lusitropic) and vascular (relaxant) effects of diltiazem (0.1 nM to 0.1 mM), dobutamine (10 microM to 10 mM) and amrinone (10 m...