Coronary stent on the move

Abstract Over the past three decades, the implantation of coronary stents has revolutionized the management of coronary artery disease. We present a rare case of coronary stent migration in an asymptomatic 72-year-old male, incidentally discovered 9 years after revascularization of the left anterior descending coronary artery for unstable angina. Although a linear echodensity within the aortic root is highly suggestive of an aortic dissection flap, a coronary stent “on the move” should be considered in the differential diagnosis.

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Elevated plasma levels of human urotensin-II immunoreactivity in congestive heart failure

AJP Heart and Circulatory Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpheart.00217.2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 285 (4) ◽

pp. H1576-H1581 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

Fraser D. Russell ◽

Deborah Meyers ◽

Andrew J. Galbraith ◽

Nick Bett ◽

Istvan Toth ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Coronary Artery Disease ◽

Congestive Heart Failure ◽

Coronary Artery ◽

Pulmonary Artery ◽

Femoral Artery ◽

Aortic Root ◽

Femoral Vein ◽

Urotensin Ii ◽

Artery Disease

Human urotensin-II (hU-II) is the most potent endogenous cardiostimulant identified to date. We therefore determined whether hU-II has a possible pathological role by investigating its levels in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Blood samples were obtained from the aortic root, femoral artery, femoral vein, and pulmonary artery from CHF patients undergoing cardiac catheterization and the aortic root from patients undergoing investigative angiography for chest pain who were not in heart failure. Immunoreactive hU-II (hU-II-ir) levels were determined with radioimmunoassay. hU-II-ir was elevated in the aortic root of CHF patients (230.9 ± 68.7 pg/ml, n = 21; P < 0.001) vs. patients with nonfailing hearts (22.7 ± 6.1 pg/ml, n = 18). This increase was attributed to cardiopulmonary production of hU-II-ir because levels were lower in the pulmonary artery (38.2 ± 6.1 pg/ml, n = 21; P < 0.001) than in the aortic root. hU-II-ir was elevated in the aortic root of CHF patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (142.1 ± 51.5 pg/ml, n = 10; P < 0.05) vs. patients with nonfailing hearts without coronary artery disease (27.3 ± 12.4 pg/ml, n = 7) and CHF patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (311.6 ± 120.4 pg/ml, n = 11; P < 0.001) vs. patients with nonfailing hearts and coronary artery disease (19.8 ± 6.6 pg/ml, n = 11). hU-II-ir was significantly higher in the aortic root than in the pulmonary artery and femoral vein, with a nonsignificant trend for higher levels in the aortic root than in the femoral artery. The findings indicated that hU-II-ir is elevated in the aortic root of CHF patients and that hU-II-ir is cleared at least in part from the microcirculation.

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The differential diagnosis of coronary artery disease and gastrointestinal disorders∗

The American Journal of Cardiology ◽

10.1016/0002-9149(63)90228-5 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 354-357 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Donald Berkowitz

Keyword(s):

Coronary Artery Disease ◽

Differential Diagnosis ◽

Coronary Artery ◽

Gastrointestinal Disorders ◽

Artery Disease

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Assessment of the Effect of Coronary Occlusion on Aortic Valve Dynamics Using a Global 3D FSI Model

ASME 2012 Summer Bioengineering Conference, Parts A and B ◽

10.1115/sbc2012-80395 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Soroush Nobari ◽

Rosaire Mongrain ◽

Richard Leask ◽

Raymond Cartier

Keyword(s):

Coronary Artery Disease ◽

Blood Flow ◽

Coronary Artery ◽

Coronary Blood Flow ◽

Aortic Root ◽

Calcific Aortic Stenosis ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

Valve Dynamics ◽

Artery Disease ◽

Aortic Stiffening

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is considered to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the developing world. It has recently been shown that aortic root pathologies such as aortic stiffening and calcific aortic stenosis can contribute to the initiation and progression of this disease by affecting coronary blood flow [1,2]. Such pathologies influence the distensibility of the aortic root and therefore the hemodynamics of the entire region. As a consequence the coronary blood flow and velocity profiles will be altered [3,4,5] which could accelerate the development of an existing coronary artery disease. However, it would be very interesting to see if an occluded coronary artery would have a mutual impact on valvular dynamics and aortic root pathologies. This bi-directionality could aggravate and contribute to the progression of both the coronary and aortic root pathology.

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