Relaxant responses to vasodilators, including nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, prostaglandin I2 sodium salt (PGI2), prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), diltiazem hydrochloride and adenosine, were compared in helical strips of dog coronary arteries of different sizes and in coronary and mesenteric arterial strips. The relaxant responses to nitroglycerin, sodium nitroprusside, diltiazem and adenosine we...

Acetylcholine causes endothelium-dependent dilation of normal arteries in most animal species. The effect of acetylcholine on normal human coronary arteries is controversial. Pathologic studies and epicardial echocardiography have shown that diffuse atherosclerosis is often present despite angiographic evidence of discrete coronary artery disease (CAD). Therefore, we postulated that acetylcholi...

OBJECTIVE The feasibility of a fluoride positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan for imaging atherosclerosis has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to assess fluoride uptake of vascular calcification in various major arteries, including coronary arteries. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the imaging data and cardiovascular history of 61 patients w...

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic coronary arteries are prone to constriction but the underlying causes are incompletely understood. We tested the hypothesis that endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, contributes to the heightened tone of atherosclerotic human coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS In 8 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 8 patients with angiographically smooth ...

For the success of anatomical correction of transposition of the great arteries (TGA) it is essential to transfer the coronary ostia to the posterior vessel without undue tension, torsion, or kinking of the proximal coronary arteries or their early branches. This requires thorough understanding of the different modes of origin and early branching of the coronary arteries in TGA. Based on observ...

The sensory neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) plays a role in primary headaches, and CGRP receptor antagonists are effective in migraine treatment. CGRP is a potent vasodilator, raising the possibility that antagonism of its receptor could have cardiovascular effects. We therefore investigated the effects of the antimigraine CGRP receptor antagonist telcagepant (MK-0974) [N-[(...

The registry contains information collected during 2003 from thirteen Spanish hospitals on the incidence, clinical presentation, initial course, diagnostic imaging, and treatment of anomalous coronary arteries originating in the contralateral coronary sinus. In a total of 23,300 coronary angiograms, 98 anomalous coronary arteries were detected (incidence 0.4%): 46 circumflex coronary arteries (...

Coronary arteries in six children who had Kawasaki disease but lacked coronary arterial aneurysms were examined. Four children died of myocarditis at the acute stage, and two children died of bacterial sepsis or as a result of an occurrence during cineangiography at the healed stage. Twenty-one children without Kawasaki disease were examined as controls. The six children with Kawasaki disease h...

heart failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by the inability of the heart to provide nutrient supply to tissues. in 75% of cases, the underlying pathology causing heart failure in patients with cardiac death is coronary heart disease. a rabbit model of heart failure with coronary ligation was produced to mimic coronary heart disease in humans. after producing the model, two arteries and ...

a double left anterior descending (lad) coronary artery emerging from the left and right coronary arteries is classified among rare coronary anomalies. we herein report a 73-year-old man presenting with acute coronary syndrome (posterolateral myocardial infarction). he was admitted with typical chest pain, and due to his progressive ischemic changes on electrocardiography (ecg) and elevated car...