OBJECTIVE To determine the optimum conditions for the demonstration of an antiplatelet effect of nitric oxide and to use these conditions to elucidate the effects of a transdermal glyceryl trinitrate patch on platelet aggregation in normal volunteers. METHODS An open prospective crossover study. The effects of nitric oxide on platelet aggregation in whole blood and platelet rich plasma as sti...

Priapism is a prolonged penile erection without sexual stimulation. Two forms of priapism are recognized: veno-occlusive or low-flow priapism and arterial or high-flow priapism. High-flow (arterial) priapism is usually the result of straddle injury. Treatment of high-flow priapism may be elective Low-flow priapism is usually related to sickle cell disease, haemoglobinopathies, neoplastic syndro...

Ten patients with stable angina pectoris and obstructed coronary arteries (greater than 75% reduction in diameter) were studied before and during two periods of pacing, the second of which was preceded by sublingual administration of glyceryl trinitrate (mean dose 0.78 mg). Coronary sinus blood flow measurements and aortocoronary sinus blood sampling for metabolite determinations were carried o...

Inappropriate percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty of the anterior descending artery was avoided in a 52-year-old woman when the intracoronary administration of glyceryl trinitrate immediately before the angioplasty disclosed the organic component of the supposedly fixed, critical (80%) stenosis to be less than 50% of the lumen diameter. The spastic component of the stenosis had not b...

A chronic anal fissure is a common perianal condition. This review aims to evaluate both existing and new therapies in the treatment of chronic fissures. Pharmacological therapies such as glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), Diltiazem ointment and Botulinum toxin provide a relatively non-invasive option, but with higher recurrence rates. Lateral sphincterotomy remains the gold standard for treatment. Ana...

The potential adverse effects of glyceryl trinitrate on myocardial ischaemia were studied using low and high dose infusions in 10 patients with coronary heart disease. Cardiac venous flow was measured by the thermodilution technique and blood was sampled for metabolic studies. Angina pectoris was provoked by atrial pacing before drug infusion and the same heart rate was regained with low and hi...

Coronary haemodynamic and metabolic effects of propranolol and glyceryl trinitrate were studied in 12 patients with coronary artery disease and 5 without coronary heart disease, at rest and during tachycardia stress. Propranolol-associated reductions in indices of myocardial oxygen demand, left ventricle work, tension time, and left ventricle oxygen utilisation (LVVO2) were reversed when heart ...