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

Because atherosclerosis may be reversible, a routine noninvasive screening test for the reliable diagnosis of mild coronary arterial lesions would allow potential prevention of coronary events in specific patients through intensive dietary management, drug therapy and physical training. To determine the minimal coronary stenosis detectable with myocardial perfusion imaging techniques, standardized stenoses ranging from 31.4 to 72.5 percent diameter narrowing were applied to the left circumflex coronary artery of 12 open chest dogs. Indium-113m-labeled human albumin microspheres were injected into the left atrium under control conditions and technetium-99m human albumin microspheres during maximal coronary vasodilatation induced with intravenous dipyridamole. Hearts were removed, sliced into 1 cm thick cross sections and imaged under a gamma camera. The results demonstrate that 40 percent diameter coronary stenoses can be identified by imaging relative subendocardial underperfusion during pharmacologic coronary vasodilatation. An imaging technique sensitive enough to identify mild coronary lesions for diagnostic screening purposes requires (1) a potent stimulus for coronary vasodilatation, such as intravenous dipyridamole; (2) an imaging agent taken up by the myocardium in proportion to coronary flow at flow rates up to four or more times resting coronary flow so that differences in regional maximal flows caused by mild stenoses can be identified; and (3) cross-sectional tomographic myocardial imaging to visualize relative endocardial-epicardial perfusion, the most sensitive indicator of the hemodynamic effects of coronary stenoses, and to exclude from the imaging field the interfering activity of lung, background and overlying heart structures.
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PMID:Assessment of coronary stenoses with myocardial perfusion imaging during pharmacologic coronary vasodilatation. IV. Limits of detection of stenosis with idealized experimental cross-sectional myocardial imaging. 70 89

Authors examine the forensic usefulness and scope of angiometric studies in cases of sudden death that are presumably caused by coronary heart disease (CHD). Hearts of 35 men aged between 40 and 59 years who died of CHD are studied angiographically, morphologically and microscopically. The control group consists of 34 men of the same range of age who died of unnatural causes. Following to a schematic model with special regard to hemodynamic aspects and the degree of the stenosis a stenosis score is made up for each heart and correlated on a diagram with the corresponding heart weight. It appears that the cases of both groups are different areas but are showing a certain degree of overlap. The variation within both groups is discussed. With regard to the CHD group it is presumed that the factors causing death are too variable as to be defined by the deviced methods exclusively. The causal role of factors other than atherosclerosis in the occurrence of CHD is discussed. Authors conclude that the methods examined could be useful in special forensic problems.
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PMID:[Forensic usefulness of coronarometric studies (author's transl)]. 96 Oct 72

Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, a direct link between these two states is difficult to establish, since obesity frequently occurs with other disease states such as diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis. Clinical studies have clearly shown that uncorrected obesity is associated with cardiac hypertrophy and compromised ventricular function. A number of rodent models of obesity have been studied in terms of cardiovascular adaptations. Cardiac function of the obese Zucker rat appears to be normal at a younger age. Only after several months is depression in cardiac function discernable. These animals are mildly hypertensive, but do not exhibit the characteristic increase in cardiac output associated with human obesity. A unique characteristic of JCR:LA-cp rat is that they develop atherosclerotic and myocardial lesions. Hearts from these animals will maintain normal function when perfused with physiological levels of calcium. At higher calcium concentrations, however, mechanical function becomes impaired. Dietary-induced obese rats exhibit many of the hemodynamic alterations associated with human obesity, but there is no evidence to-date that these animals will develop severe cardiac depression. Short-term weight reduction apparently has beneficial cardiovascular effects, but weight cycling may be harmful. Given the widespread occurrence of obesity, further studies are warranted to characterize the cardiac manifestations of this condition.
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PMID:Cardiovascular abnormalities associated with human and rodent obesity. 143 63

The shortage of ideal donor hearts had led to an increasing number of would-be heart transplant recipients who die while on the waiting list. Therefore analogous to kidney and liver transplantation, an extension of the classical donor criteria became necessary, especially for high-urgency recipients. In a series of 121 orthotopic heart transplantations in 117 patients with a 1-year survival of 77%, the criteria for the selection of donor hearts have been gradually extended. Hearts from donors over 40 years of age but not exceeding 50 years were accepted without coronary angiography for 25 patients. There was no immediate graft failure, and the mean postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction, as assessed by radionuclide ventriculography, was normal. The incidence of late postoperative graft atherosclerosis was slightly but not significantly higher. Donor hearts with severe chest trauma, including bilateral hemothorax, rib fractures, and aortic hematoma were accepted for 11 patients. Immediate graft function was normal in all organs. In seven donors the body weight difference was more than 20%. Three patients with smaller grafts with more than 30% body weight difference had a highly complicated postoperative condition. In one patient acute graft failure was reversible with the administration of high dosages of catecholamines. In the other two patients, however, retransplantation was required because of irreversible failure. Episodes of hypotension that did not exceed 30 minutes had no substantial influence on postoperative graft function. The 1-year survival of recipients with donor grafts not complying with standard criteria was not significantly worse than the survival of patients whose grafts were selected according to the standard (76% versus 79%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Extended donor criteria for heart transplantation. 305

Copper deficiency has been shown to result in severe cardiovascular lesions in several species of animals. The principal carbohydrate in the copper-deficient diet most often used with rats is sucrose, which is known to have adverse effects on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and thus may contribute to cardiovascular disorders. These observations prompted experiments in which starch and fructose were substituted for sucrose in a copper-deficient diet, to see if the effects of the copper deficiency might be modified. In the hearts from rats fed copper-deficient diets with fructose or sucrose, there was marked, mostly ventricular hypertrophy, and mild to severe myocardial inflammation, degeneration, and fibrosis. Aneurysm of the left ventricle and pericarditis also were common. Hearts from the starch, copper-deficient groups were much less hypertrophic, and very few were affected by myocardial inflammation, degeneration, or fibrosis. Defects of elastin or other structures were not observed in the aortas or pulmonary or coronary arteries of any specimens.
Atherosclerosis 1988 Dec
PMID:Dietary fructose exacerbates the cardiac abnormalities of copper deficiency in rats. 324 Mar 32

Hearts of 38 men dying suddenly of acute coronary insufficiency and autopsied within 3 hours after death were examined. Foci of acute ischemic injuries in different parts of the myocardium were studied by histochemical methods for which the activity of succinate dehydrogenase and phosphorylase were determined. Early ischemic lesions in the myocardium were found in 22 fatalities, of them 5 had acute myocardial infarction, in 9 foci of ischemia were combined with the presence of postinfarction scars and fine focal cardiosclerosis, in 8 cases foci of early ischemia were the only changes in the myocardium. The majority of the decreased had stenosing atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. Localization of ischemia foci in the myocardium did not always correspond to the severity of stenosing or the presence of thrombosis of the artery supplying the corresponding parts of the heart muscle. No foci of ischemia in the myocardium were found in 16 decreased who also had quite marked coronary atherosclerosis.
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PMID:[Early ischemic injuries of the myocardium in sudden cardiac death]. 742 69

Compensatory arterial enlargement in response to atherosclerosis has been demonstrated for the left main coronary artery. Only limited data is available on the interaction of patient characteristics and atherosclerosis with coronary artery dimensions. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of age, race, body habitus, heart weight and atherosclerosis on coronary artery dimensions of young males. Hearts from 137 young men (age 32 +/- 8 years; 78 black, 59 white) with unnatural deaths (homicide, suicide, accident, drug overdose) were perfusion-fixed, and histologic sections were obtained from the left main, proximal left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary arteries. Computerized planimetry was performed on Movat stained sections. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the relative contribution of plaque size, age, race, heart weight and body surface area on coronary dimensions and compensatory enlargement in response to atherosclerosis. In the left anterior descending and left main coronary arteries, black race, body surface area and age were independent predictors of increased lumen area. In the left circumflex, age was a predictor of lumen area. Plaque area, black race and body surface area independently predicted increased area enclosed by the internal elastic lamina area. There was compensatory enlargement of internal elastic lamina with increasing plaque size in both races in the three arteries, but the percent luminal stenosis was greater in whites due to smaller artery size. Luminal narrowing did not develop until plaques occupied 30% of internal elastic lamina area. Among a population of young men with non-cardiac deaths, blacks have larger lumen and area enclosed by internal elastic lamina than whites. Age and body surface area are major determinants of lumen areas, and compensatory arterial enlargement was seen in all examined arteries in the present study.
Atherosclerosis 1996 Jun
PMID:Effect of age, race, body surface area, heart weight and atherosclerosis on coronary artery dimensions in young males. 878 55

Background-Effective immunosuppression is a critical determinant of organ and patient survival in cardiac transplantation. The present study was designed to determine the potency of FTY720, a new synthesized immunosuppressant, and examine its clinical potential as an immunosuppressant. Methods and Results-Hearts of DBA/2 mice were transplanted heterotopically in C57BL/6 mice. Recipients were treated with oral FTY720 in doses of 0.3, 1, 3, or 10 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) or with 40 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) of cyclosporin A (CsA) as a comparative treatment. The median graft survival time (MST) was significantly prolonged by treatment with FTY720 10 mg. kg(-1). d(-1). MST was not prolonged by FTY720 1 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) or CsA. However, FTY720 1 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) combined with CsA 40 mg. kg(-1). d(-1) resulted in a significant prolongation of MST. Histopathological studies performed 5 days after transplantation demonstrated remarkable suppression of inflammatory response by treatment with FTY720 10 mg. kg(-1). d(-1). Interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-gamma production was not suppressed; however, cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity was strongly suppressed in vitro. In addition, IL-2-stimulated T-cell proliferation and class I and class II MHC antigen expression on IFN-gamma-stimulated macrophages were strongly inhibited by FTY720. Histopathological studies 60 days after transplantation (DBA/2-B10.D2) demonstrated a beneficial effect on graft atherosclerosis. Conclusions-FTY720 promoted long-term cardiac graft survival and strongly inhibited the progression of graft atherosclerosis. These observations suggest that FTY720 has a promising clinical potential in cardiac transplantation.
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PMID:FTY720, a new immunosuppressant, promotes long-term graft survival and inhibits the progression of graft coronary artery disease in a murine model of cardiac transplantation. 1049 78

Nitric oxide (NO) may play an essential role for maintenance of cardiac function and perfusion, while endothelial dysfunction of atherosclerotic vessels may aggravate ischaemia/reperfusion injury. This paper investigates the role of nitric oxide in ischaemia/reperfusion injury in hearts with coronary atherosclerosis. Hearts of apolipoprotein E/LDL receptor double knockout (ApoE/LDLr KO) mice fed an atherogenic diet for 7-9 months were isolated and Langendorff-perfused with 40 minutes of global ischaemia and 60 minutes reperfusion, and funtion and infarction compared with hearts of C57BL/6 controls in the prescence or abscence of the NO-donor SNAP or the NOS inhibitor L-NAME. Hearts of animals with atherosclerosis were more susceptible to ischaemia/reperfusion injury than hearts of animals with healthy vessels, evident as more impaired left ventricular performance. SNAP protected function and reduced infarct size in atherosclerotic hearts, but the same concentration of SNAP was detrimental in normal hearts, perhaps due to NO-overproduction and peroxynitrite formation demonstrated immunohistochemically as increased formation of nitrosylated tyrosine. A low concentration of SNAP protected against ischaemia/reperfusion dysfunction in normal hearts. L-NAME decreased left ventricular performance in atherosclerotic hearts. These findings suggest that impaired endothelium dependent function contributes to reperfusion injury in coronary atherosclerosis.
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PMID:The role of nitric oxide in ischaemia/reperfusion injury of isolated hearts from severely atherosclerotic mice. 1158 21

To investigate if spontaneous ischemic events in mice with severe multi-organ atherosclerosis could adapt to ischemia, apolipoprotein E/LDL receptor knockout mice were fed an atherogenic diet for 7 to 9 months. Signs of spontaneous ischemia occurred. One to two days later, hearts were excised, Langendorff-perfused with induced global ischemia, and compared with mice without signs of disease. In vivo heart or brain infarctions were verified by heart histology and/or increased serum levels of cardiac troponin T and S100B. Hearts of mice with spontaneous ischemic events had improved function and reduced Langendorff-induced infarctions. To investigate the remote preconditioning effect of brain ischemia, bilateral ligation of the internal carotid arteries was performed in C57BL6 mice. Twenty-four hours later, their isolated hearts were protected against induced global ischemia. A possible role of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) was studied in iNOS knock out mice, who were not preconditioned by induced brain ischemia. Cardiac iNOS was unchanged 24 hours after preconditioning, suggesting that NO is a trigger rather than a mediator of protection. These findings suggest that spontaneous ischemic events in the brain and heart adapt the heart to ischemia. This can be mimicked by induced brain ischemia, with iNOS as a key factor of protection.
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PMID:Spontaneous ischemic events in the brain and heart adapt the hearts of severely atherosclerotic mice to ischemia. 1206 10


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