Thoracic Key

Background and aim Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is routinely used for coronary lesion assessment. Maximal coronary vasodilatation can be accomplished by intracoronary (IC) and intravenous (IV) adenosine (the gold standard),…

Background Late stent thrombosis remains a major concern with drug-eluting stents (DES). Retrospective analysis of such cases has shown a clustering of such events post sudden stoppage. Prior studies have…

Background The association between early discontinuation of clopidogrel after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation and an increase risk of adverse cardiovascular events is well documented. However, little is known about the…

Background Cardiogenic shock (CS) is one of the most important causes of death in patients hospitalized in coronary care units. The primary aim was to evaluate the predictive effect of…

Introduction and aim Coronary artery disease (CAD) in Saudis is reaching epidemic levels; type II diabetes (DM) is the highest in the region. The pattern and extent of coronary atherothrombosis…

Background When bivalirudin (BIV) is used as an intraprocedural anticoagulant for PCI in lieu of heparin (HEP), the risk of post-PCI bleeding appears to be smaller. This benefit may be…

Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) and depression are both highly prevalent diseases. However, little is known about the effect of depression on patients in the Veterans Administration (VA) system. Our…

Introduction The purpose of this study was to compare a new measurement method (Shin’s method) and the conventional measurement method for necrotic core and calcium content in atherosclerotic lesions using…

Background Stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC) is a novel syndrome increasingly recognized worldwide. Because the clinical presentation of SIC is very similar to acute coronary syndromes, the diagnosis is most frequently made…