BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE While it has been widely reported that the vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is prevented/reversed by endothelin (ET) receptor antagonists selective for the ET(A) receptor and by nonselective ET receptor antagonists, ie, antagonists of both the ET(A) and ET(B) receptors, there are no reports on the possible attenuation of the spasm by selective ET(B) recep...

I a CMAJ research letter, Norman Epstein described 8 patients with acute muscle spasm. The diagnosis appears to have been based on subjective measurements of range of motion and pain; Epstein did not state how range of motion and tenderness were measured. There is no proof that pain symptoms or decreased range of motion result directly from abnormality or spasm of muscles. There is no gold stan...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statin) suppresses coronary spasm. BACKGROUND Coronary spasm is associated with endothelial dysfunction. Statins have been shown to improve endothelial function. METHODS This was a prospective, randomized, open-label, end point study. Sixty-four patients who had no sign...

PURPOSE To evaluate the costs and efficacy of type A botulinum toxin in the treatment of essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm. METHODS Pacients with essential blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm had their files analyzed. All patients were treated with type A botulinum toxin (Dysport) between April 2002 and May 2004 at the Oculoplastic Clinics of "Santa Casa de São Paulo". Twenty-seven ...

OBJECTIVES We aimed to test the hypothesis that coronary microvascular spasm (MVS) alone causes myocardial ischemia in patients with angina attributable to epicardial coronary spasm, and to determine whether there is a difference in clinical characteristics between those with and without microvascular spasm. BACKGROUND Patients with "vasospastic angina" have epicardial coronary artery spasm, ...

BACKGROUND Hemifacial spasm is usually diagnosed by inspection which mainly identifies involuntary movements of orbicularis oculi. Assessing abnormal muscle responses (AMR) is another diagnostic method. CASE DESCRIPTION We report a case of left hemifacial spasm without detectable involuntary facial movements. The patient was a 48-year-old man with a long history of subjective left facial twit...

Forty-six patients with typical hemifacial spasm had CT. Thirty-eight (83%) were abnormal, including two with surgically documented tumors. Thirty-six had a characteristic dolichoectatic vertebrobasilar artery, with the convexity pointing to the side of the spasm in 92% of the scans. This study suggests that CT is worthwhile procedure in the evaluation of hemifacial spasm and that dolichoectati...

Coronary spasm is an important and often overlooked etiology of chest pain. Although coronary spasm, or Prinzmetal's angina, has been thought of as benign, contemporary studies have shown serious associated adverse outcomes, including acute coronary syndrome, arrhythmia, and death. Definitive diagnosis of coronary spasm can at times be difficult, given the transience of symptoms. Numerous agent...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is the standard of reference for detecting cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). CT angiography (CTA) is a relatively recent method for depicting the intracranial arterial vasculature. The purpose of this study was to compare CTA and DSA in the detection and quantification of cerebral vasospasm. METHODS Seventeen p...

BACKGROUND Coronary spasm plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease and it may be associated with low-grade inflammation. METHODS AND RESULTS Intracoronary injection of acetylcholine was done in 199 patients (99 men, 100 women, mean age, 64.5+/-11.0 years) with chest pain and normal coronary angiograms. According to the results of the provocation test, the study su...