RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Single coronary artery (SCA) originating from a solitary ostium in the aorta and perfusing the entire myocardium is a very rare congenital anomaly of the coronary artery. Furthermore, a right coronary artery (RCA) arising from the mid segment of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) is an extremely uncommon variation of SCA. CASE SUMMARY: A 76-year-old woman presented a 5-mo history of exertional angina. Selective coronary angiography revealed an SCA, with severe ostial stenosis that originated from the left sinus of Valsalva and bifurcated normally into the LAD and circumflex coronary artery. In addition, an anomalous RCA originated from the mid segment of the LAD as a separate branch. Successful balloon angioplasty and stenting for the SCA ostial stenosis were performed on the patient. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the main trunk for SCA is very similar to PCI of an unprotected left main coronary artery. Although technical difficulties and risks do exist, PCI for severe ostial stenosis of the main trunk is safe and efficacious in selected SCA patients.
RESUMEN
The lack of social support in elderly populations incurs real societal costs and can lead to their poor health. The aim of this study is to investigate the self-rated health (SRH) and social support among older people as well as its associated factors.We conducted a cross-sectional study among 312 urban community-dwelling elderly aged 65 to 90 years in Tainan Taiwan and Fuzhou Fujian Province from March 2012 to October 2012. A Spearson correlation test, independent t test, a Pearson χ test, a linear regression analysis, and a multiple-level model were performed to analyze the results.The participants identified children as the most important source of objective and subjective support, followed by spouse and relatives. Tainan's elderly received more daily life assistance and emotional support, showed stronger awareness of the need to seek help, and maintained a higher frequency of social interactions compared with the elderly in Fuzhou. The mean objective support, subjective support, and support utilization scores as well as the overall social support among Tainan's elderly were significantly high compared with the scores among Fuzhou's elderly. Further, Tainan's elderly rated better SRH than Fuzhou's elderly. Correlation analysis showed that social support was significantly correlated with city, age, living conditions, marital status, and SRH. Multiple linear regression analysis, with social support as a dependent variable, retained the following independent predictors in the final regression model: city (4.792, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.068-6.516, P = 0.000), age (-0.805, 95% CI: -1.394 to -0.135, P = 0.013), marital status (-1.260, 95% CI: -1.891 to -0.629, P = 0.000), living conditions (4.069, 95% CI: 3.022-5.116, P = 0.000), and SRH -1.941, 95% CI: -3.194 to -0.688, P = 0.003). The multiple-level model showed that city would impact older people's social support (χ = 5.103, Pâ<â0.001). Marital status (-2.133, 95% CI: -2.768 to -1.499, P = 0.000), education (1.697, 95% CI: 0.589-2.805 P = 0.003), living conditions (4.20, 95% CI: 1.762-6.638, P = 0.000), and SRH (-3.144, 95% CI: -4.502 to -1.727, P = 0.000) were the associated factors. Thus, city, age, marital status, education, living conditions, and SRH might be the associated factors for social support among older people.This study presents some feasible implications for social support improvement in China and in other nations worldwide.