Development of a coronary aneurysm 6 months after stent implantation assessed by intracoronary ultrasound.

The utility of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A for determination of prognosis in a cohort of patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) is discussed as a biomarker representing unstable plaques in coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: In this study 927 patients with CAD (534 with stable angina and 393 with acute coronary syndrome [ACS]) and 217 patients without CAD and measured PAPP-A levels were included. Follow-up for a median of 5 years was documented. Results: Rising quartiles of PAPP-A concentration had a higher cardiovascular mortality in the overall cohort of patients with CAD (p = 0.002) and the cohort with ACS (p = 0.01). Patients with suspected ACS below the LOD for troponin I but elevated PAPP-A levels had an increased cardiovascular mortality. A cut-o…

Activity of superoxide dismutase copper/zinc type and prognosis in a cohort of patients with coronary artery disease.

Aim: Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is important to control reactive oxygen species, but the relevance to human disease like coronary artery disease (CAD) and underlying ischemia/reperfusion injury is not clarified. Methods: For this study, 2239 patients with known CAD were prospectively followed with a median follow-up time period of 3.6 years and a maximum of 6.9 years. During follow-up cardiovascular death was reported in 103 cases. Results: SOD activity (log-transformed) was investigated as continuous and categorical variable, showing a significant influence on outcome in the fully adjusted model (p = 0.045). Conclusion: Increased SOD activity beyond the normal range in the human physiolog…

Cardiovascular Mortality in Chest Pain Patients: Comparison of Natriuretic Peptides With Novel Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Stress.

Natriuretic peptides are the standard biomarker for risk stratification in cardiovascular disease. Novel biomarkers of cardiovascular stress might allow refinement in risk stratification for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We tested the performance of these novel biomarkers for cardiovascular risk stratification in patients who presented with ACS.In the AtheroGene study, 873 patients presented with ACS in the emergency department. Biomarkers measured were: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro BNP (NT-proBNP), midregional proatrial natriuretic peptide, midregional proadrenomedullin (MR-proADM), copeptin, and troponin I. The median follow-up time was 4 years and durin…