Intravascular ultrasound imaging can detect intimal thickening and is suitable for detection of early atherosclerosis, which cannot be detected by conventional angiography. The aim of the present study was to investigate the epicardial coronary morphology and intracoronary pressure in relation to slow coronary flow (SCF). The study population consisted of 19 patients with SCF [11 (57.9%) female...

Polymorphism of alpha2 integrin (C807T) is shown to be associated with an increased incidence of thrombotic cardiovascular events. However, it is not clear whether this polymorphism is associated with atherosclerotic arterial wall thickening. In this study, we examined the association of C807T polymorphism with arterial wall thickness in 265 control subjects and 272 patients with type 2 diabete...

background: common carotid intima-media thickness (cc-imt) measured by ultrasonography as a non-invasive method is nowadays known as a marker for early atherosclerosis. objectives: survey the relationship between serum uric acid and carotid intima-media thickness considering hypertension. materials and methods: this study was designed as a comparative cross-sectional study in northern iran in 2...

OBJECTIVE Fibronectin is an important regulator of cell migration, differentiation, growth, and survival. Our data show that fibronectin also plays an important role in regulating extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Fibronectin circulates in the plasma and is also deposited into the ECM by a cell dependent process. To determine whether fibronectin affects vascular remodeling in vivo, we aske...

Venous stenosis is a significant problem in arteriovenous fistulae, likely due to anatomical configuration and wall shear stress profiles. To identify linkages between wall shear stress and the magnitude and pattern of vascular stenosis, we produced curved and straight fistulae in a pig model. A complete wall stress profile was calculated for the curved configuration and correlated with luminal...

Understanding how the precise interactions of nerves, immune cells, and adipose tissue account for cardiovascular and metabolic biology is a central aim of biomedical research at present. A long standing paradigm holds that the vascular wall is composed of three concentric tissue coats (tunicae): intima, media, and adventitia. However, large- and medium-sized arteries, where usually atheroscler...

Recently published actively controlled outcome trials in hypertension compared conventional therapy (diuretics and beta-blockers) with newer antihypertensive drug classes, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, alpha-blockers, and angiotensin II antagonists. In a quantitative overview of nine trials including 62,605 randomized patients, it was found that c...

Impaired Hemostasis To the Editor: There is mounting evidence that severely impaired hemostasis is associated with a decreased risk of ischemic cardiovascular disease. In a study with long follow-up, hemophilic patients had an 80% reduction in the risk of fatal ischemic heart disease.1 In clinical practice, occurrence of cardiovascular disease is uncommon in patients with type 3 severe von Will...

Common carotid intima-media thickness was measured by B-mode ultrasound imaging in 46 children (mean age, 7.4 years) with serum cholesterol > or = 6.4 mmol/L (mean, 8.25 mmol/L) and in 48 children (mean age, 6.4 years) with serum cholesterol < 6.4 mmol/L (mean, 4.60 mmol/L). Maximum thickness was significantly higher in hypercholesterolemic children than in control children (0.50 versus 0.47 m...

INTRODUCTION We investigated the relationship between heart rate variability and preclinical carotid intima-media thickening, a putative index of atherosclerosis. METHODS A sample of 350 men and women (mean age 56.8 years) selected for the presence or absence of untreated hypertension was assessed for heart rate variability at rest and separately for carotid intima-media thickness using duple...