Lack of postextrasystolic potentiation in a normal heart is described. The phenomenon might be attributed to calcium channel blocker treatment. We could not find a previous description of such a phenomenon in the English literature.

Cardiac Catheterization↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The course of pregnancy in patients with artificial heart valves treated with dipyridamole.

Continuing improvements in cardiac surgery and a wider selection of young patients for prosthetic valve replacement mean that an increasing number of women of childbearing age will undergo such procedures and will also subsequently become pregnant. At present, most patients with prosthetic heart valves are treated with anticoagulant drugs for life. The main problem with anticoagulant therapy during pregnancy is fetal and maternal hemorrhage. Congenital anomalies have been described in infants born to mothers treated with coumarin derivatives during the first trimester of pregnancy. Dipyridamole is known to decrease the adhesiveness of platelets or their ability to aggregate. We report the successful outcome of four pregnancies in patients with Starr-Edwards prostheses who were treated with dipyridamole during their pregnancies.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Determination of dinucleoside 5', 5"'-P1, P4- tetraphosphates by 31P and 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Spontaneous closure of a traumatic ventricular septal defect after blunt trauma documented by serial echocardiography.

A ventricular septal defect (caused by blunt chest trauma) that closed spontaneously over a period of 5 years was documented by serial echo-Doppler examinations. The shunt was relatively small and the patient was without symptoms from the time the lesion was discovered until its closure. In the absence of cardiac decompensation or pulmonary hypertension, a conservative approach, including serial echo-Doppler examinations, can be justified.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Exercise stress testing in a community clinic: experience with 38,970 patients.

BACKGROUND: Exercise testing is an important diagnostic and prognostic procedure in the assessment of patients with ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia and hypertension. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons for referral and the safety of exercise testing in the community. METHODS: The records of 38,970 patients who underwent stress testing in a community clinic were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The majority of the tests (24,153) were performed by family physicians and the rest by cardiologists. The mean age of the patients was 54 +/- 12 years (range 12-81 years). Sixty-eight percent were males, and the majority were referred by family physicians (50%). The main reason for referral was chest pain evaluation (59%); none of the patients died during testing, two patients sustained myocardial infarction during the recovery period and ischemia was detected in 14% of patients. Persistent tachyarrythmia was observed in five patients (0.01%). A vasovagal reaction was observed during the recovery period in 36 patients (0.1%). CONCLUSION: This report emphasizes that stress tests can be performed safely in a community clinic with a very low rate of complications by family physicians or cardiologists.

Adolescent↗