BACKGROUND Histamine, a product of mast cells, is an effective vasoconstrictor of atherosclerotic coronary arteries. Because it has been suggested that coronary spasm plays a role in acute coronary syndromes such as myocardial infarction (MI), we quantified and characterized the mast cells in the adventitia of infarct-related coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS In a series of 17 autopsied ...

OBJECTIVE To illustrate the utility of CT coronary angiography in the assessment of patients with anomalous coronary arteries. METHODS A 65-year-old woman who presented with a clinical history of unstable angina was investigated with both computerised tomography and invasive coronary angiography. RESULTS Coronary angiography demonstrated aberrant coronary arteries all arising from separate ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant atherosclerotic disease in the carotid arteries predicts significant atherosclerotic disease in the coronary arteries, vertebral arteries, or aorta in patients with symptoms of acute ischemic stroke. METHODS Atherosclerotic disease was imaged using CT angiography in a prospective study of 120 consecutive pat...

BACKGROUND There is a high incidence of anomalous coronary arteries in subjects with congenital heart disease. These abnormalities can be responsible for myocardial ischemia and sudden death or be damaged during surgical intervention. It can be difficult to define the proximal course of anomalous coronary arteries with the use of conventional x-ray coronary angiography. Magnetic resonance coron...

Background—Adrenergic regulation of coronary vasomotion is balanced between 1-adrenergic–mediated ( 1-AR) constriction and 2-adrenergic–mediated ( 2-AR) relaxation. This study aimed at assessing the role of 2-ARs in normal, mildly atherosclerotic, and stenotic human coronary arteries. Methods and Results—During intracoronary (IC) infusion of increasing doses of the 2-AR agonist salbutamol (0.15...

BACKGROUND Adrenergic regulation of coronary vasomotion is balanced between alpha1-adrenergic-mediated (alpha1-AR) constriction and beta2-adrenergic-mediated (beta2-AR) relaxation. This study aimed at assessing the role of beta2-ARs in normal, mildly atherosclerotic, and stenotic human coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS During intracoronary (IC) infusion of increasing doses of the beta2-A...

Intercoronary communications between normal distal coronary arteries and obstructed coronary arteries are rare findings on coronary angiography. The clinical significance of these communications is uncertain. In this article, we describe a series of cases demonstrating communications between different coronary arteries in the absence as well as presence of obstructive coronary artery disease. T...

BACKGROUND Hypertension is associated with arterial hyperreactivity, and endothelin (ET) receptors are involved in vascular pathogenesis. The present study was performed to examine the hypothesis that ET receptors were altered in cerebral and coronary arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Cerebral and coronary arteries were removed from SHR. Vascula...

BACKGROUND The cardiovascular effects of sildenafil are important because of the frequent presence of underlying cardiac disease in men with erectile dysfunction and reports indicating serious cardiac events temporally associated with the use of this drug. METHODS We assessed the systemic, pulmonary, and coronary hemodynamic effects of oral sildenafil (100 mg) in 14 men (mean [+/-SD] age, 61+...

conclusions the scf phenomenon is relatively frequent, particularly among patients with acute coronary syndrome who are scheduled for coronary angiography. hypertension, a low hdl-c level, and high hemoglobin level can be considered independent predictors of this phenomenon. results among the 3600 patients scheduled for selective coronary angiography, 75 (2%) met the scf criteria. scf and neca ...