Search

Objectives: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is associated with coronary atherosclerosis. There is a significant relation between coronary artery wall calcification and coronary artery disease (CAD). The measure of coronary artery calcification is an indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis. In some studies, it has been shown that coronary artery calcification is independent from conventional cardiovascular risks, which suggests data about prognosis. Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is an important protective modulator against calcification since it is an inhibitor of tissue calcification. In this respect, we aimed to establish the relationship between the distributions of nucleotide alterations found in promoter and coding regions of the MGP gene in patients with CAD and patients with normal coronary. Methods: DNA samples (n=115) were obtained from 58 patients with CAD and 57 healthy controls. The DNA samples obtained were analyzed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method using three sets of primer pairs, which cover the coding (Thr83Ala in exon 4) and promoter regions (T-138C and G-7A) of the MGP gene. Amplified regions were analyzed by a Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) method for possible polymorphisms. Results: The chi-square analysis of the results revealed that there is no relationship between the observed polymorphisms and CAD. Conclusions: In this study, we investigated the relationship between MGP gene polymorphism and CAD. However, according to our findings, there was no statistically significant difference between the CAD and the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to investigate short term effects of oral and infusion dosages of amiodarone on thyroid function. Methods: A hundred and fifty-five prospectively consecutive patients with a diagnosis of atrial or ventricular arrhythmias admitted to our clinic whom amiodarone were applied enrolled to our study. 134 patients received 16 mg/kg amiodarone iv infusion for 24 hours and oral 500±100 mg/day amiodarone as the maintenance dose for one month. 21 patients received only oral 500±100 mg/day amiodarone dose for one month. Follow up visit was performed in the first month of amiodarone therapy. Results: In this study 68% of patients were male and the average age of the patients was 62.8±13.5. The indications for amiodarone treatment were atrial fibrillation (41%), ventricular tachycardia (41%), and preoperative (5%), supraventricular tachycardia (5%), atrial flutter (5%), and ventricular fibrillation (3%). At the first month of follow up 83% of patients were in euthyroid state, 17% of the patients had amiodarone induced thyroid dysfunction (TD), 5% of patients had subclinical hyperthyroidism, 5% of patients had manifest hypothyroidism, 7% of patients had subclinical hyperthyroidism, and 1% of the patients developed overt hyperthyroidism. Conclusion: In this study we showed that amiodarone can cause adverse effects on thyroid function in a short time of period. For this reason patients should be followed in the first, third, sixth and twelfth months of amiodarone therapy and thyroid function should be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to assess relationship between the severity of coronary atherosclerosis assessed by SYN­TAX score (SS) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STE­MI. Methods: After accounting for exclusion criteria, a total of 291 patient with STEMI in whom primary percutaneous coronary intervention was performed were retrospective­ly included (216 male, 75 female; mean age 61.6+14.0 years). Total and differential leukocyte counts and other biochemical markers were measured at admission. Pa­tients were categorized into tertiles on the basis of SS. Monitoring for major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) was performed during the in hospital follow-up period. Results: The SS high group leukocyte (p=0.009), neutro­phil (p=0.008), NLR (p=0.048), peak troponin (p<0.001), peak CK-MB (p=0.001) lactate dehydrogenase (p=0.005), aspartate aminotransferase (p=0.004) values were signif­icantly higher compared with SSlow and SSmid groups. SS was increased, left ventricular ejection fraction was decrease (p<0.001) and left ventricular systolic diameter was increased (p=0.007). The in-hospital death rate and MACEs were greater in the high SS group than in the other groups (p<0.001 both of). Conclusion: We found that high NLR was significantly and correlated increased with SS. In addition, high SS were significantly associated with increased in-hospital MACE and in-hospital death. Further prospective studies assessing the predictive role of both SS and NLR in con­junction for risk stratification might improve risk predic­tion in patients with STEMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Clinical & Experimental Investigations is the property of Modestum Publications and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a case study of a 69-years-old male patient chronic smoker with complaints on orthopnea who has a history of hypertension and myocardial infarction. It mentions that the man was diagnosed with acute pulmonary edema where chest radiography and tomography revealed a spherical mass in the middle lobe of the right lung. It notes that the patient's echocardiographic evaluation showed preserved left ventricular systolic function and restrictive type of diastolic dysfunction.