0000000000187970
AUTHOR
Ivo Martinovic
Elevated monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 serum levels in patients at risk for coronary artery disease.
Background Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is involved in the recruitment of monocytes into the arterial vessel wall as one of the major events leading to atherosclerotic vascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results The study group comprised 263 volunteers aged between 18 and 85 years who were admitted to hospital or clinic for scheduled invasive and non-invasive diagnostic procedures. MCP-1 serum levels were determined using a sandwich-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In each patient, the coronary risk factors (CRF), such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, obesity, positive family history, and smoking were evaluated. Low-dens…
Assessment of the distal anastomosis of coronary artery bypass grafts with a 2D T2-weighted turbo spin echo sequence and correlation to conventional coronary angiography
Abstract Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the patensies of the distal anastomoses of coronary artery bypass grafts and to detect graft stenoses and occlusions with a magnetic resonance (MR) spin echo sequence. Patients and methods One hundred and eighty-five patients with 481 distal anastomoses were examined with a 1.5 T MR scanner and coronary angiography. A 2-dimensional T2-weigthed breath-hold half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo sequence (Haste) was performed. All images were evaluated independently by a radiologist and cardiologist and compared to the conventional coronary angiography. The observers were blinded to the coronary angiography findings, but in…