Effects of amlodipine and isosorbide dinitrate on exercise-induced and ambulatory ischemia in patients with chronic stable angina pectoris

This study was designed to compare once-daily administration of 5-10 mg amlodipine with two daily doses of 40 mg sustained-release isosorbide dinitrate in 59 patients with stable angina using a randomized, double-blind, crossover study design. Anginal episodes, nitroglycerin consumption, and possible adverse events were recorded in a diary. A maximal symptom-limited bicycle exercise test and 48-hour ambulatory ECG monitoring were performed at baseline and at the end of each 5-week period of therapy. Exercise time, time to angina, time to ST depression, and maximal ST depression were measured during exercise. During ambulatory monitoring, the number of ischemic episodes and the duration per hour of ST depression were assessed. Amlodipine significantly reduced anginal episodes (P < 0.001) when compared with isosorbide dinitrate. Furthermore, amlodipine prolonged time to ST depression (P < 0.001) and time to angina (P < 0.05) when compared with isosorbide dinitrate. The number and duration of ischemic episodes during ambulatory monitoring were significantly reduced with amlodipine when compared with baseline values (P < 0.05), whereas no differences were found between isosorbide dinitrate and baseline. Adverse events were reported more frequently with isosorbide dinitrate than with amlodipine (P < 0.02). Amlodipine appears to be more effective and tolerable than sustained-release isosorbide dinitrate as monotherapy for chronic stable angina.     

Effects of mental and physical stress on platelet function in patients with stable angina pectoris and healthy controls

The effects of mental and physical stress on platelet function in patients with stable angina pectoris and healthy controls were investigated. Platelet function was studied at rest, and during mental stress (colour word test), or after exercise (bicycle ergometry), in 113 angina patients (21 on aspirin) and 50 matched controls. Platelet function was assessed by filtragometry ex vivo (reflecting platelet aggregability), by measuring platelet secretion (beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor 4 levels in plasma), and by Born aggregometry in vitro. At rest, platelet function did not differ between patients and controls. Exercise increased platelet aggregability and secretion similarly in both groups. Aspirin did not attenuate the platelet activating effect of exercise despite inhibition at rest. Mental stress increased heart rate, blood pressure and plasma catecholamines, but platelet responses were highly variable. However, mental stress tended to shorten filtragometry readings in patients but not in controls (P < 0.05 between the groups); plasma beta-thromboglobulin showed a similar difference between patients and controls (P < 0.05 between the groups; aspirin-treated patients included). Physical exercise activates platelets in patients with stable angina pectoris and healthy controls. Aspirin is not an effective inhibitor of exercise-induced platelet aggregation. Platelet responses to mental stress are variable, but more pronounced in angina patients.     

Coronary stenosis progression differs in patients with stable angina pectoris with and without a previous history of unstable angina

OBJECTIVES: To compare the evolution of stenoses responsible for acute coronary events with those not associated with acute coronary syndromes. METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively studied angiographic stenosis progression in 190 stable angina patients, with single vessel disease, who were awaiting non-urgent coronary angioplasty. Sixty four patients had a previous history of unstable angina (Group 1) and 126 patients had no history of unstable angina (Group 2). Culprit stenoses were classified as "complex' or "smooth'. At restudy, 8 +/- 4 months after the first angiogram, 12 of 63 culprit stenoses in Group 1 had progressed and seven of 125 in Group 2 (19% vs 6%, P = 0.0044). Thirteen of 68 complex culprit stenoses had progressed, compared with only 6 of 120 smooth culprit stenoses (19% vs 5%, P = 0.003). Coronary events occurred in 12 Group 1 patients and nine Group 2 patients (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable angina, stenoses associated with previous episodes of unstable angina are more likely to progress than stenoses not associated with previous unstable angina. Unstable coronary atherosclerotic plaques, even those that have been clinically stable for more than 3 months, may retain the potential for rapid progression to total occlusion.     

A comparative study of eccentric and concentric coronary stenosis vasomotion in patients with Prinzmental''s variant angina and patients with stable angina pectoris

HPV is the commonest sexually transmitted viral infection in the United Kingdom and as such poses a major public health problem. In addition to the potential physical morbidity associated with genital warts, abnormal cervical cytology, and anogenital dysplasia and neoplasia, the associated psychological morbidity should not be forgotten. Although our knowledge of viral function and disease pathogenesis has advanced appreciably in recent years, we are still some way from developing an in vitro method of viral propagation. Vaccination against HPV infection will hopefully be achieved within the next 10 years, but a prevention and treatment strategy which is appropriate for both developed and developing nations must be our major long term goal.     

Effect of supplemental oral L-arginine on exercise capacity in patients with stable angina pectoris

To determine if microscopic urinalysis is needed in all pediatric emergency room patients screened for urinary tract infections (UTI), we compared the dipstick urinalysis and complete urinalysis (dipstick and microscopy) with urine cultures in 236 children, aged 3 weeks to 21 years. The ability to detect UTI by dipstick only and by complete urinalysis was the same, however microscopic evaluation added many false-positive results without detecting additional UTIs. Because the ability to detect UTI (sensitivity) is maintained, we now offer a dipstick only urinalysis to our emergency room for children 2 years of age or older, with a microscopic analysis performed automatically if dipstick results are positive. If no microscopic urinalysis is required, testing turn-around time is reduced by 12.3 min/test and the hospital charge is reduced from U.S. $32 to U.S. $12.     

Selection of drug therapy in stable angina pectoris

Given a strong match between regions of two sequences, how far can the match be meaningfully extended if gaps are allowed in the resulting alignment? The aim is to avoid searching beyond the point that a useful extension of the alignment is likely to be found. Without loss of generality, we can restrict attention to the suffixes of the sequences that follow the strong match, which leads to the following formal problem. Given two sequences and a fixed X > 0, align initial portions of the sequences subject to the constraint that no section of the alignment scores below -X. Our results indicate that computing an optimal alignment under this constraint is very expensive. However, less rigorous conditions on the alignment can be guaranteed by quite efficient algorithms. One of these variants has been implemented in a new release of the Blast suite of database search programs.     

Effects of sublingual nitroglycerin on the gas exchange response to exercise in stable angina pectoris

To quantitate changes in gas exchange variables that occur after administration of sublingual nitroglycerin in patients with stable angina pectoris, a randomized double-blind 2-period crossover study was performed with continuous expired gas exchange analysis and progressive exercise using individualized ramp treadmill protocols. Significant reductions in minute ventilation and respiratory rate were observed at 5 minutes of exercise during nitroglycerin therapy. Gas exchange variables i.e., minute ventilation, carbon dioxide production and oxygen uptake were significantly increased at the onset of angina after nitroglycerin administration. When techniques for optimizing the assessment of cardiopulmonary function were used, significant improvements in gas exchange variables were demonstrated in stable angina pectoris after administration of sublingual nitroglycerin.     

Acute heavy alcohol intake increases silent myocardial ischaemia in patients with stable angina pectoris

PURPOSE: The purpose was to determine tumor neovascularisation via colour-coded Doppler (duplex) sonography and the "power mode", both visually and quantitatively, by means of videodensitometry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 6 VX2 tumours of 4 to 11 mm size were implanted in 4 rabbits at various sites. The colour-coded duplex sonography and the new sonographic power technique were tested before and after having injected a new contrast medium (SH U 616A). RESULTS: If no contrast medium was injected, tumour neovascularisation was identified in only 50% of the cases. Injection of contrast medium increased signal intensity three to fourfold with all examined tumors. Combined use of the sonographic method by the power technique with injection of contrast medium is outstandingly suitable for tumor vessel imaging even of small tumors, as these initial results seem to show. CONCLUSION: If these results are corroborated by further studies, contrast-medium supported sonographic technique may possibly become established as an alternative method to other imaging procedures.     

Suppressed anti-aggregating and cGMP-elevating effects of sodium nitroprusside in platelets from patients with stable angina pectoris

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) in the newborn results in limited intestinal absorptive capacity, leading especially to fatty acid (FA) malabsorption. It is unknown whether adaptation occurs in time in FA absorption, and whether this adaptation is chain-length dependent. The aid of the present study was to prospectively evaluate FA absorption and excretion during SBS in the newborn. Twenty-one neonates who underwent small bowel resection (of variable length) for various reasons (necrotizing enterocolitis, intestinal atresia, meconium peritonitis, cloacal extrophy, etc) were studied. Eight neonates had SBS, defined as a small bowel remnant of less than 50% of the original small bowel length related to gestational age. The mean remaining small bowel length in the SBS group was 34% (24% to 42%). The non-SBS control group consisted of 13 neonates who had only minor small bowel resections. The mean remaining bowel length for the non-SBS group was 95% (70% to 100%). The results show that the total fractional excretion of FA (FE-FA) at 2 weeks and 1, 2, 3, and 4 months postsurgery was 51% +/- 37%, 33% +/- 24%, 51% +/- 65%, 53% +/- 27%, and 7% +/- 2% in patients with SBS, versus 12% +/- 8%, 24% +/- 10%, 9% +/- 3%, 8% +/- 3% and 17% +/- 14% in the non-SBS controls, respectively (P < .05 by ANOVA). There appeared to be an amelioration in time in FA absorption, especially in the SBS group, after 3 months. FE-FA was chain-length related, being considerably less for C10 and C12 than for C14 and longer amounts. An amelioration of absorption occurred in the SBS patients, especially with the longer-chain FA. On the basis of the study data, the authors conclude that in the initial adaptation phase shorter chain lengths are better absorbed than longer chain lengths; however, in the latter FA group, substantial adaptation occurs with time.     

Effects of cholesterol reduction on BP response to mental stress in patients with high cholesterol

Rotating instruments are becoming increasingly significant in the scaling and planing of the root surface. The objective of this in vitro study was to test various root-planing instruments on extracted teeth and then to compare the treated surfaces using scanning electron microscopy. Two manual instruments (scaler and curette) and five mechanically rotating instruments (Desmo-Clean; Perio-Set; Viking-Set; and 40-microns and 15-microns diamond finishers) were investigated. From a total of 42 teeth, six root surfaces were treated with each instrument. The results confirm the clear superiority of the manual instruments (especially the curette). The manual instruments permit good root planing with minimum ablation from the root surface and only a thin smear layer (a compound of grinding dust, dentinal fluid, and water). The best planing results by rotating instruments were achieved with the Desmo-Clean and the 15-microns diamond finisher, whose performance was almost equal to that of the manual instruments. The rotating instruments, however, were associated with higher ablation and a marked smear layer. Manual instruments remain the media of choice on easily accessible root surfaces; however, rotating instruments are of advantage in inaccessible areas (eg, furcations) because of their handling properties.     

Transmyocardial laser revascularization in stable and unstable angina pectoris]

The importance of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with spinal cord injury cannot be understated. Many patients with significant bacteriuria are considered to be colonised rather than infected, and treatment should be reserved for those with clinical symptoms or other signs of infection. Published research on the prevention and management of UTI in patients with spinal cord injury often has limitations due to differences in definitions of UTI, studies on groups using different urinary drainage appliances, the mixture of newly injured and longstanding injured patients and studies being carried out predominantly on male patients. The complications due to UTI and the difficulties in treating established infection mean that prevention is essential. Close urological follow-up is crucial in ensuring that adequate bladder drainage is achieved avoiding the use of long term indwelling urinary catheters if at all possible. For those patients who require long term urinary appliances patient education and strict attention to hygiene and catheter care policies is important. The role of antiseptic/ antibiotics is strictly limited in preventing UTI in patients with spinal cord injury and may even be harmful. Further study into which groups of patients may benefit from the use of antiseptics or antibiotics is urgently required. Continued research into different methods of prevention eg by vaccination, immunotherapy, the use of receptor analogues and bladder interference should also be encouraged.     

New approaches to resolving diagnostic problems in patients with angina pectoris

Several new noninvasive techniques are now available to evaluate the patient with chest pain to determine if myocardial ischemia is present. Continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring can detect myocardial ischemia in some patients who have normal ECG responses to graded exercise tests. Defects in myocardial perfusion can be visualized by radionuclide imaging at rest and after exercise. Also, abnormal left ventricular wall motion due to myocardial ischemia can be detected by gated blood pool scanning at the same time. Other techniques can olso be valuable in evaluating wall motion. Standard M-mode echocardiography can detect anteroseptal and posteroinferior wall motion abnormalities with remarkable anatomic detail, and newer echo techniques are promising for delineating the motion of other parts of the left ventricle. Finally, abnormal contractile areas can be assessed by videotracking the fluoroscopic cardiac silhouette and by a new noninvasive technique, the displacement cardiograph, which does not involve radiation exposure. Although none of these tests are both highly sensitive and highly specific for myocardial ischemia, their combined application in a symptomatic patient may provide considerable useful information which will help to determine who should be subjected to the risk and expense of coronary arteriography.     

Relation of heart rate variability and serum lipoproteins in type 1 diabetes mellitus and chronic stable angina pectoris

Extended trochanteric osteotomies have been recommended to facilitate femoral component removal, femoral cement removal, and acetabular exposure in cases of difficult revision hip arthroplasty. Complications due to the osteotomy have been rare and no nonunions have been reported when this osteotomy has been used in conjunction with extensively porous-coated implants. It has been suggested that the osteotomy should also work well with impaction grafting revisions. This is a report of two cases of nonunion of extended trochanteric osteotomies in which the impaction grafting technique was used.     

Beneficial effects of atrial natriuretic peptide on exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with stable effort angina pectoris

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), an endogenous vasodilator, dilates coronary arteries and decreases coronary vascular resistance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether an intravenous administration of ANP attenuated exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in 14 patients with stable effort angina pectoris. METHODS AND RESULTS: The first 12 patients (patients 1-12) who had exercise-induced ST segment depression underwent treadmill exercise testing and the last seven patients (patients 8-14) underwent the exercise 201Tl-single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) study while synthetic 28-amino acid alpha-human ANP (0.1 micrograms/kg per minute) or saline was intravenously infused in a double-blind, cross-over manner. The duration of exercise testing was the same during ANP and saline infusion, which was determined in preliminary exercise testings in each patient to cause a transient perfusion defect and/or ischemic ST segment depression. During saline infusion, all 12 patients developed exercise-induced ischemic ST segment depression, whereas no significant ST segment depression appeared during ANP infusion. Average ST segment depression during ANP infusion was significantly less (p < 0.01) than that during saline infusion (0.0 +/- 0.0 versus 0.2 +/- 0.1 mV, mean +/- SD). The averaged extent and severity scores assessed by 201Tl-SPECT were smaller (p < 0.05) during ANP infusion than during saline infusion (extent score: 0.22 +/- 0.20 versus 0.42 +/- 0.20; severity score: 18.77 +/- 23.45 versus 38.24 +/- 24.04, respectively). ANP decreased resting systolic blood pressure from 125 +/- 15 to 110 +/- 15 mm Hg (p < 0.01) but did not alter resting heart rate. At peak exercise, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and the rate-pressure products did not differ during ANP and saline infusion. At peak exercise, plasma ANP increased from 98 +/- 45 to 4,383 +/- 2,782 pg/ml and cGMP increased from 3.6 +/- 1.7 to 34.5 +/- 16.1 pmol/ml during ANP infusion; values were significantly higher than those during saline infusion (from 96 +/- 42 to 133 +/- 66 pg/ml and from 3.4 +/- 1.8 to 4.6 +/- 1.8 pmol/ml, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: An intravenous administration of ANP attenuated exercise-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with stable effort angina pectoris. Although the mechanism by which ANP attenuated myocardial ischemia was not defined, increased myocardial perfusion to the ischemic region might be an important factor.     

Short-term effects of captopril on exercise tolerance in patients with chronic stable angina pectoris and normal left ventricular function

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study was carried out to evaluate the short-term effects of captopril on exercise tolerance in 18 normotensive patients with chronic stable angina pectoris and normal left ventricular function. Captopril 25 mg (or placebo) was given twice, i.e. in the evening (10 p.m.) and the following morning (8 a.m.), prior to a maximal symptom-limited bicycle exercise test (11 a.m.). Captopril reduced the systolic and diastolic blood pressures at rest (p < 0.01) without causing any reflex tachycardia. The time to onset of S-T depression was prolonged (p < 0.05), and the maximal S-T depression was reduced (p < 0.02). No differences were found between captopril and placebo in total exercise duration or time to onset of angina. The effects of captopril on exercise-induced ischemia were demonstrated most clearly in patients who responded with a greater than 10 mm Hg fall in the resting systolic blood pressure. In conclusion, this study suggests that captopril has anti-ischemic properties, which may be of importance in the treatment of patients with chronic stable angina and normal left ventricular function. These beneficial effects probably relate to a reduction in afterload and myocardial wall stress and therefore a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand.     

Platelet aggregability in vivo is attenuated by verapamil but not by metoprolol in patients with stable angina pectoris

One of the most widely studied simple sequences in the mammalian genome is the (TG)n dinucleotide sequence. Because these microsatellites are highly polymorphic, we chose to study microsatellites from cosmids to provide genetic markers for the porcine genome. After screening a porcine cosmid library with a (CA)10 probe, 20 cosmids containing microsatellites were subcloned and 17 microsatellites identified by sequencing. Oligonucleotide primers flanking the repeat were designed for seven (TG)n microsatellites with n > 14. These seven microsatellites revealed polymorphism and were regionally assigned to chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization of initial cosmids. These seven loci will be useful for both the construction of the genetic map and as landmark loci on the physical map of the porcine genome.     

Initial results and long-term outcome of coronary angioplasty in chronic mild angina pectoris

To analyze the clinical and anatomic findings of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty for mild angina, and determine the short- and long-term outcome, a retrospective data bank analysis of 3,729 patients who underwent coronary angioplasty at the Mayo Clinic between July 31, 1980 and January 30, 1991 was performed. Of these patients, 217 (6%) had stable Canadian Heart Association class I or II angina at the time of the procedure and constitute the study population. Patients were followed for a median of 37 months after the procedure. The mean age of patients was 60 years; 82% were men. Prior myocardial infarction occurred in 22% of patients. Multivessel disease was present in 68% of patients, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 65 +/- 11%. Angioplasty was clinically successful in 196 patients (90%), 271 of 318 lesions (85%) were successfully dilated. There were no in-hospital deaths. Coronary artery bypass was performed during hospitalization in 12 patients (5.5%), and myocardial infarction occurred in 3 (1.4%); bypass or infarction occurred in 13 patients (5.9%). During follow-up of the 196 successfully treated patients, there were 9 deaths (4.5%), 16 patients (7%) developed myocardial infarction, 30 (15%) underwent coronary artery bypass surgery, and 36 (17%) developed severe angina. The probability of having any of these adverse cardiac events after 6-year follow-up was 39%; an additional 24% of patients developed recurrent mild angina during follow-up. It is concluded that mild stable angina was an infrequent indication for coronary angioplasty at the Mayo Clinic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)