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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Each hyperlipidemia patient requires individual management. Treatment choices are thus made for each patient on the basis of evaluation of their overall cardiovascular risk. This evaluation involves four types of characteristics: those which cannot be changed (age, gender), classical lipid and non-lipid risk factors, and finally cardiovascular status with two types of evaluation (clinical status and sub-clinical, atherosclerosis). Three examples are presented here, enabling more precise assessment of lipid risk: syndrome X which shows to what extent risk factors are often associated, combined familial hyperlipidemia which emphasises the importance of family history, and lipoprotein (a). The latter is a risk factor relatively inaccessible to treatment but which enables better evaluation of the risk of the patient and choice of a stricter treatment goal when it is very high.
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PMID:[New lipid factors of cardiovascular risk]. 782 48

Unusual forms and causes of ischemic heart disease include angina pectoris in the presence of normal coronary arteries (syndrome X), congenital coronary abnormalities, vasculitic disorders, and graft atherosclerosis after cardiac transplantation. There is now evidence that endothelial dysfunction of coronary resistance vessels can account for abnormalities of the coronary microvasculature and possibly, myocardial ischemia and chest pain. The incidence of syndrome X appears to be higher in women, particularly those who have undergone hysterectomy. An intriguing hypothesis is that low estrogen levels may be associated with reduced expression of nitric oxide (reflecting endothelial dysfunction). The presence of coronary abnormalities in the young should not be underestimated. Syncope and arrhythmias are observed frequently in this patient population and warrant vigorous exploration. Worldwide, cardiac transplantation is now carried out in approximately 4500 patients yearly, with excellent (80% to 90%) 1-year survival due to improved immunosuppression. However, accelerated atherosclerosis develops rapidly postoperatively and is the main cause of late death. The link between cellular rejection of the myocardium and transplant coronary artery disease is not clear. The process of transplant coronary artery disease is believed to be due to chronic immune injury followed by intimal smooth-muscle proliferation and lipid deposition in the vascular wall. By the time it is detected by coronary angiography, the disease is far advanced and not susceptible to routine revascularization procedures. A prospective, randomized study of diltiazem versus no calcium blocker started early after transplantation has documented highly significant reductions in transplant atherosclerosis as measured by lumen narrowing, clinical events, and rates of retransplantation or death due to the process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Unusual forms of ischemic heart disease. 791 90

The endothelium plays a major role in modulating vascular smooth muscle tone by synthesizing and metabolizing a number of vasoactive substances. Since the endothelium is both a target for and a mediator of vascular disease, functional alterations in coronary vascular reactivity due to endothelial dysfunction might play an important integral part in the clinical presentation of coronary artery disease. Recent advances in interventional techniques including intracoronary instrumentation by Doppler catheters to measure blood flow velocities and 2-D-ultrasound catheters to evaluate arterial wall architecture during coronary angiography provided the diagnostic tools to assess endothelial vasodilator function and its relation to atherosclerotic disease. The current weight of evidence suggests that disturbances of vasomotor function of epicardial conductance vessels are fundamental to the development of atherosclerosis, and impaired endothelial vasodilation is the predominant mechanism underlying inappropriate vasoconstriction in atherosclerosis. However, endothelial vasodilator dysfunction is not only confined to atherosclerotic epicardial vessels, but may also extend into the coronary microcirculation, which does not develop overt atherosclerotic lesions, but determines coronary blood flow in the absence of hemodynamically significant stenoses. The most important factors associated with impaired endothelium-mediated dilation of the coronary microcirculation are hypercholesterolemia and advanced age. With respect to the clinical presentation of coronary artery disease, endothelial vasodilator dysfunction appears to play a causative role for triggering myocardial ischemia in stable angina pectoris, to aggravate the sequelae of acute ischemic syndromes, and might be the primary underlying mechanism in some patients with syndrome X, whereas variant angina appears to be related to a hyperreactivity of the vascular smooth muscle layer. Thus, the assessment of endothelium-mediated modulation of coronary vasomotor tone in the clinical setting offers unique and important insights into mechanisms leading to ischemic manifestations of coronary artery disease.
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PMID:Assessment of endothelial modulation of coronary vasomotor tone: insights into a fundamental functional disturbance in vascular biology of atherosclerosis. 794 66

Several studies have shown evidence of the key role of the endothelium in modulating the tone of epicardial coronary vessels, in the different manifestations of coronary artery disease. Recently, the role of endothelium-dependent vasodilation has been focused, because clinical observations have suggested that myocardial ischemia might be caused or aggravated by inappropriate vasoconstriction of resistance vessels. An abnormal endothelium-dependent vasodilation, either of epicardial and of coronary microvasculature, has been documented in patients with syndrome X and in patients with history of hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy. Vasoconstriction of the small coronary vessels is probably the mechanism underlying the impaired increase of coronary blood flow during atrial pacing and the wide variations of the ischemic threshold in some patients with chronic stable angina. In patients with variant angina, the endothelial function seems abnormal only in the conductance vessels. It is likely that the endothelial dysfunction of the small coronary arteries be present in many clinical situations in which a discrepancy between a mild atherosclerosis of epicardial coronary artery and signs of ischemia exists, as it has been observed early after successful angioplasty and after coronary artery reperfusion during acute myocardial infarction.
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PMID:[Endothelial dysfunction in ischemic syndromes]. 802 14

The review summarizes data about interconnection between atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus. Special attention is paid to their joint developmental factors such as hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. It is shown that hyperinsulinemia may form an independent risk factor. At the same time both factors can lead (during both diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis) to changes in lipid metabolism and development of atheroms. Mechanisms of the development of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are analyzed. The so-called syndrome X is described in detail. It is characterized by a triad of changes: insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, changes in lipid metabolism and hypertension. Some methods of treatment of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia during atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus are described.
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PMID:[Pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in diabetes mellitus. The role of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia]. 804 24

A literature review on the endothelial functions and endothelial dysfunction/lesion, as well as the atherosclerosis role in this process is performed. The several physiological explanations of both acute and chronic coronary syndromes are also reviewed, with particular emphasis to the recent studies on vasospasm mechanisms and its role in the physiopathogeny of variant angina and syndrome X. The role of the endothelial dysfunction/lesion as a common physiopathological basis to all coronary syndromes, is discussed.
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PMID:[The role of the vascular endothelium and vasospasm in different coronary syndromes. A common physiopathological base for distinct entities?]. 821 54

Hypertension has two main effects on the heart; it increases afterload, causing left ventricular hypertrophy, and precipitates the risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis. Left ventricular hypertrophy is an independent risk factor, but hypertension is a clustering of cardiovascular risks with many metabolic abnormalities, one of which is the recently described endocrinological Syndrome X (hyperinsulinaemia, resistance to insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, glucose intolerance, high triglyceride levels, low HDL and hypertension, which is apparently unrelated to the cardiological Syndrome X (angina with normal coronary arteries). However, the link between both Syndromes X may be the derangement of microvasculture, particularly endothelial dysfunction of nitric oxide (NO) production.
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PMID:Global and regional ischaemia in left ventricular hypertrophy reactive to hypertension. 828 58

In western societies cardiovascular disease accounts for approximately one of every three deaths, and is a major contributor to chronic debiliation. During the last years our knowledge of factors that contribute to the development and progression of this disease has increased markedly. Elevated serum total cholesterol, hypertension and cigarette smoking are "traditional", well-known risk factors. In addition, low serum levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol predispose to development of disease, whereas in epidemiological studies the role of increased triglycerides is more controversial. During the last years derangements in several haemostatic components in persons who develop cardiovascular disease have been observed. Such alterations include increased plasma concentrations of fibrinogen, Factor VII coagulant activity and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Furthermore, interactions between lipoproteins and haemostatic factors are gradually being disclosed. Serum triglycerides have been shown to correlate both to PAI-1 and to Factor VII. The lipoprotein (a), first described by Berg in 1963, also appears to be a link between lipoprotein metabolism and fibrinolytic function. In addition, linkages are observed between high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, reduced glucose tolerance, hyperinsulinemia, obesity, low physical activity, reduced fibrinolytic capacity and increased Factor VII. This clustering of risk factors has been suggested to be a coronary risk syndrome and has been called Reavens syndrome, syndrome X and insulin-resistance syndrome. A more descriptive name, athero-thrombogenic syndrome (ATS), has recently been suggested, thereby indicating that both atherosclerosis and thrombosis contribute to its development.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Cardiovascular risk factors: interactive effects of lipids, coagulation and fibrinolysis. 832 48

Hyperinsulinemia, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and obesity are all risk factors for atherosclerosis. The clustering of these risk factors in the same individual greatly increases the risk for atherosclerosis and has been termed 'Syndrome X' or 'The Deadly Quartet' The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of diet on these risk factors in inbred, female Fischer 344 rats. Animals were raised on ad lib diets consisting of high-fat, sucrose (HFS) or low-fat, complex-carbohydrate (LFCC). After 2 years, the HFS rats were obese (38% +/- 1% vs. 15% +/- 1% body fat), hypertensive (140 +/- 3 vs. 123 +/- 3 mmHg), hyperinsulinemic (439 +/- 118 vs. 98 +/- 10 pmol/l), and hypertriglyceridemic (1.1 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.4 +/- 0.07 mmol/l). The HFS rats also exhibited enhanced clotting and impaired fibrinolytic response to streptokinase. All these differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Insulin was significantly correlated with body weight (r = 0.71), triglycerides (r = 0.48), and systolic blood pressure (r = 0.70). Total cholesterol was slightly, but not significantly higher, in the HFS group (2.8 +/- 0.3 vs 2.2 +/- 0.1 mmol/l) while HDL-cholesterol was unchanged. These results show that many risk factors for atherosclerosis can be induced in inbred rats by feeding a HFS diet. Aggregation of risk factors was found in the HFS group but not in the LFCC group. In fact, most of the rats on the LFCC diet developed no risk factors after 2 years, indicating that the development of risk factors is not an aging phenomenon.
Atherosclerosis 1993 May
PMID:Effects of a high-fat, sucrose diet on serum insulin and related atherosclerotic risk factors in rats. 835 55

Recent trends in the American lifestyle, such as a high-fat diet and inactivity, have promoted the emergence of a metabolic disorder titled syndrome X. Although originally linked to non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and characterized by insulin resistance, syndrome X is now better described as a cascade of disorders encompassing not only NIDDM, but also hypertension, atherosclerosis, centrally distributed obesity, and dyslipidemia. Further pathology has been linked to syndrome X, such as polycystic ovary disease, microvascular angin, and the presence of acanthosis nigricans. Recognition and appropriate management of syndrome X will prevent deleterious patient outcomes that might occur without continuity of care in treating associated disorders. Pharmacological management of syndrome X includes the use of insulin-sparing antihyperglycemic agents and/or combination therapy and avoidance of several frequently prescribed medications. Clinicians need to initiate renewed efforts to provide lifestyle counselling to promote ideal body weight, since interpretation of research data concerning syndrome X reinforces that serious health consequences will result from obesity and inactivity.
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PMID:Syndrome X. Recognition and management of this metabolic disorder in primary care. 878 76


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