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Endothelial dysfunction (ED) occurs early in the development of atherosclerosis. Predictors of vascular risk including obesity, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension are associated with both vascular endothelial and ED. Endocan is a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. Raised endocan levels (usually measured by ELISA assays) were reported in some cardiovascular diseases and related conditions. Increased endocan levels may represent the endothelial and inflammatory components of the pathogenesis of ED and may, therefore, prove useful in clinical practice.

Systematic inflammation, enhanced oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction are important for evolution and progression of renal damage, and they cause an increase in red cell distribution width (RDW). Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patients who are in the attack-free period and its relation with albuminuria and performance on assessment of microalbuminuria. One hundred and seventy-seven patients who had been diagnosed in accordance with Tel-hoshmer criteria and were in the attack-free period, and 143 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were enrolled in our study. RDW values of FMF patients were higher compared with those of the controls (13.85 ± 1.07 and 13.15 ± 0.91, respectively; p

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is characterized by recurrent and self-limiting attacks with peritonitis, pleuritis, arthritis, and erysipelas-like erythema. We aimed to investigate the red cell distribution width (RDW) level as an inflammatory marker in FMF patients compared with normal subjects. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: A retrospective study of FMF patients at the Department of Gastroenterology, Cumhuriyet University, between November 2011-February 2013. METHODS: A total of 249 FMF patients and 131 age- and sex-matched control participants were included in the currrent study. RDW levels were also analyzed by standard methods. Each patient was given 2 mL of blood sample to obtain genomic DNA. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were observed in RDW values between the FMF patients and the control group. Also, RDW levels were higher in the FMF patients with the homozygous M94V mutation compared with those with other mutations. The receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis suggested that the optimum RDW cutoff point for the FMF patients was 13.95, with a sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of 70%, 64%, 68%, and 66%, respectively (area under the curve: 0.711, 95% confidence interval 0.627–0.795, P

Background: Ivabradine is a novel specific heart rate (HR)-lowering agent that improves event-free survival in patients with heart failure (HF). Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of ivabradine on time domain indices of heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with HF. Methods: Forty-eight patients with compensated HF of nonischemic origin were included. Ivabradine treatment was initiated according to the latest HF guidelines. For HRV analysis, 24-h Holter recording was obtained from each patient before and after 8 weeks of treatment with ivabradine. Results: The mean RR interval, standard deviation of all normal to normal RR intervals (SDNN), the standard deviation of 5-min mean RR intervals (SDANN), the mean of the standard deviation of all normal-to-normal RR intervals for all 5-min segments (SDNN index), the percentage of successive normal RR intervals exceeding 50 ms (pNN50), and the square root of the mean of the squares of the differences between successive normal to normal RR intervals (RMSSD) were low at baseline before treatment with ivabradine. After 8 weeks of treatment with ivabradine, the mean HR (83.6 ± 8.0 and 64.6 ± 5.8, p < 0.0001), mean RR interval (713 ± 74 and 943 ± 101 ms, p < 0.0001), SDNN (56.2 ± 15.7 and 87.9 ± 19.4 ms, p < 0.0001), SDANN (49.5 ± 14.7 and 76.4 ± 19.5 ms, p < 0.0001), SDNN index (24.7 ± 8.8 and 38.3 ± 13.1 ms, p < 0.0001), pNN50 (2.4 ± 1.6 and 3.2 ± 2.2 %, p < 0.0001), and RMSSD (13.5 ± 4.6 and 17.8 ± 5.4 ms, p < 0.0001) substantially improved, which sustained during both when awake and while asleep. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that treatment with ivabradine improves HRV in nonischemic patients with HF.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiac syndrome X is characterized by angina-lke chest pain, a positive stress test, and normal coronary arteries. A patient's mean platelet volume, which potentially reflects platelet function and activity, is associated with coronary atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the mean platelet volumes of patients with cardiac syndrome X, those with coronary artery disease and normal subjects. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-six subjects (76 patients with cardiac syndrome X, 78 patients with coronary artery disease, and 82 controls) were enrolled in the study. All of the subjects were evaluated with a detailed medical history, physical examination, and biochemical analyses. The mean platelet volumes were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: The mean platelet volumes in the patients with cardiac syndrome X and with coronary artery disease were significantly higher than those that were observed in the control group. There were no significant differences in the mean platelet volumes between the cardiac syndrome X and the coronary artery disease groups. CONCLUSION: We have established that patients with cardiac syndrome X and coronary artery disease exhibit higher mean platelet volumes compared to controls. Patients with cardiac syndrome X exhibited higher mean platelet volumes compared to the controls, reflecting the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. These findings suggest that, in addition to endothelial dysfunction, the presence of atherosclerosis may also contribute to the etiopathogenesis of cardiac syndrome X.

Abstract Background: Epicardial fat is an upper body visceral fat depot that may play a significant role in the development of adverse metabolic and cardiovascular risk profiles. There is a significant direct relationship between the amount of epicardial fat and general body adiposity (body mass index, BMI), but data regarding subcutaneous adiposity is limited. Objective: We conducted a study to determine the association between neck circumference and epicardial fat thickness in healthy young male individuals, and assess their individual correlations with general body adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods: One hundred consecutive male patients aged 18 years or older with no known major medical conditions were included in the study. All participants underwent detailed physical examination including measurement of blood pressure, weight, height, waist/hip ratio, and neck circumference. Blood was collected to determine fasting glucose and lipid parameters. A standard echocardiographic examination was performed with additional epicardial fat thickness determination. Results: Among 100 study participants, neck circumference correlated significantly with weight, waist circumference, BMI, blood glucose, serum total cholesterol, low-density (LDL)-cholesterol, and triglycerides levels. No significant correlation was found between neck circumference and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels. Neck circumference correlated moderately and positively with echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness. Conclusion: Among patients with low cardiometabolic risk, increased neck circumference was associated with increased epicardial fat thickness.

Dual left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery anomaly is traditionally classified as four types anomaly by classical coronary angiogram. Nowadays, coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) allows clinicians to understand other variants of dual LAD anomaly. Up to date, 9 types of dual LAD variants detected from not only classical coronary angiogram but also CCTA imaging have been reported. In the present case, we aimed to show a novel dual LAD anomaly, which is demonstrated by CCTA during preoperative evaluation and it has not been previously reported.

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We read the article ''Intracardiac thrombosis in Behçet's disease: a rare complication'' by Ghita Saghi et al with interest. The authors reported a case with mobile thrombus in the right ventricle and a massive pulmonary embolism by a magnetic resonance Imaging scan (MRI), which was successfully treated conservatively.

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