AIMS We sought to determine the prevalence of overt and subclinical LV dysfunction in patients with critical left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis but without a history of myocardial infarction and to compare diagnostic value of routine echocardiographic parameters with myocardial strain analysis for detection of critical LAD stenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively ...

AIMS We investigated whether the addition of left atrial (LA) size determined by echocardiography improves cardiovascular risk prediction in young adults over and above the clinically established Framingham 10-year global CV risk score (FRS). METHODS AND RESULTS We included white and black CARDIA participants who had echocardiograms in Year-5 examination (1990-91). The combined endpoint after...

PURPOSE The aim of this paper is to investigate the association between suicide and Lyme and associated diseases (LAD). No journal article has previously performed a comprehensive assessment of this subject. INTRODUCTION Multiple case reports and other references demonstrate a causal association between suicidal risk and LAD. Suicide risk is greater in outdoor workers and veterans, both with ...

OBJECTIVE To determine the magnitude of potentially causal relationships among vascular risk factors (VRFs), large-artery atheromatous disease (LAD), and cerebral white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in 2 prospective cohorts. METHODS We assessed VRFs (history and measured variables), LAD (in carotid, coronary, and leg arteries), and WMH (on structural MRI, visual scores and volume) in: (a) com...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine whether the increasing difficulty of assessing wall motion (WM), Doppler coronary flow reserve on the left anterior descending coronary artery (CFR-LAD), and myocardial perfusion (MP) during stress echocardiography (SE) was justified by increasing prognostic information in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. BACKGROUND The use of...

A 50‐year‐old gentleman was referred to our department for computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography with complaints of pain on the left side of the chest and cold sweats since 4 days. CT coronary angiography, done on a 64‐slice CT (Somatom Sensation‐64, Erlangen, Germany), showed evidence of dual LAD. The short LAD was arising from the left main coronary artery and coursing in the proximal...

BACKGROUND The effect of regression of myocardial hypertrophy on coronary artery dimensions was evaluated in patients with aortic valve disease who underwent valve replacement. METHODS AND RESULTS Cross-sectional area (CSA) of the three major coronary arteries (left anterior descending [LAD], left circumflex [LCx], and right coronary artery) was determined by quantitative coronary arteriograp...

PURPOSE Several alternative procedures have been proposed to achieve complete revascularization in the presence of diffuse left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) disease. With the extensive use of internal thoracic artery grafts in coronary artery bypass procedures, sequential anastomosis of the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) to LAD has gained popularity in these challenging cases...

Diffuse atherosclerosis of the anterior descending artery may require unconventional surgical treatment to increase graft flow. A 74-year-old man with severe, diffuse 3-vessel-coronary artery disease was presented to our institution with progredient angina pectoris symptoms. Intraoperatively, the revascularization of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was technically challenging...

BACKGROUND Increased left atrial diameter (LAD) is associated with elevated risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) and cardiovascular disease. Information is limited regarding the short- or long-term correlates of LAD. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated clinical correlates of LAD for a 16-year period in 4403 Framingham Study participants (mean age, 45 years; 52% women; median observations/participant...