Atherosclerosis is a lifelong process involving artery wall thickening. Increased wall thickness has been widely adopted as a preclinical surrogate marker of atherosclerosis. A prerequisite for such a surrogate marker is that it is a structural characteristic of the vessel wall that is not subject to acute changes. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of vasodilator drug a...

In a study designed to investigate potential non-parenteral treatment for chronic heart failure, hydrallazine, 225 to 300 mg per day, was given orally to 9 patients. There was no significant change in heart rate or mean arterial pressure as cardiac output increased. Left ventricular stroke work increased significantly and pulmonary artery wedge pressure fell. Systemic and pulmonary vascular res...

The effects of the commonly employed systemic vasodilators phentolamine, nitroprusside, and intravenous glyceryl trinitrate on cardiac performance, peripheral resistance, and vascular capacitance, as judged by changes in left ventricular filling pressure, were compared in 29 patients studied within 24 hours after the onset of acute myocardial infarction. To provide a common basis for comparison...

It has been suggested that in systemic sclerosis (SSc) the primary fault is in the microcirculation.' If this were so, then topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) might favourably influence skin blood flow and elasticity in areas of sclerodermatous skin change. Ten patients (three men, seven women; median age 48 years, range 24-70) fulfilling the American Rheumatism Association criteria for SSc2 wer...

It has been suggested that in systemic sclerosis (SSc) the primary fault is in the microcirculation.' If this were so, then topical glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) might favourably influence skin blood flow and elasticity in areas of sclerodermatous skin change. Ten patients (three men, seven women; median age 48 years, range 24-70) fulfilling the American Rheumatism Association criteria for SSc2 wer...

AIM To compare surgical and chemical sphincterotomy for treatment of chronic anal fissure. METHODS The 160 patients studied were randomly divided into four equal groups, treated by lateral internal sphincterotomy (group S), local diltiazem ointment (group D), local glyceryl trinitrate ointment (group GTN), or injection of botulinum toxin into the internal anal sphincter (group BT). Anal manom...

1. Haemodynamic responses to exercise, posture and nitrates were measured before and after 8 weeks of therapy with an arteriolar smooth muscle specific calcium antagonist, nicardipine, in eight patients with congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association class II or III). 2. The acute haemodynamic effects of intravenous nicardipine before and after 8 weeks of oral therapy confirmed its va...

SEE DREIER DOI 101093/AWW112 FOR A SCIENTIFIC COMMENTARY ON THIS ARTICLE: For many decades a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier has been postulated to occur in migraine. Hypothetically this would facilitate access of medications, such as dihydroergotamine or triptans, to the brain despite physical properties otherwise restricting their entry. We studied the permeability of the blood-brain bar...

Dermal nitrate preparations are claimed to be useful in the treatment of angina, as their slow absorption by-passing the liver leads to a sustained action. Ten patients with angina were exercised on a treadmill after dermal application of 16.64 mg glyceryl trinitrate or 100 mg isosorbide dinitrate or placebo. Exercise duration was significantly increased at one and three hours for both nitrate ...