ABSTRACT
THE EFFECT OF GALANTAMINE ON CARDIAC CONDUCTION TIME BACKGROUND: Galantamine, one of the acethylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI), is used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. However AChEI have been associated with adverse events, including cardiac events. The objective of this prospective, observational study is to evaluate the association between galantamine and incident cardiac conduction abnormalities. METHODS: A total of 64 patients, who visited an out - patient clinic of a geriatric department were enrolled in the study. All patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and started with a capsule containing 8 mg of galantamine. Subsequently, if galantamine was well tolerated, the dosage was raised every 4 weeks, to an eventual dosage of 24 mg/ day. The mean follow - up period was 4 months. ECG parameters were evaluated at baseline and after start of galantamine at each galantamine dose level (8, 16, 24 mg / day). RESULTS: No significant differences in electrocardiographic measurements before and during treatment with galantamine were found. CONCLUSION: No significant changes in ECG parameters relative to baseline were found with galantamine treatment. Also after adjustment for concomitant cardioactive medications and cardiovascular comorbidity, no significant changes were found.
ABSTRACT
Magnetization reversal was studied in square arrays of square Co/CoO dots with lateral size varying between 200 and 900 nm. While reference nonpatterned Co/CoO films show the typical shift and increased width of the hysteresis loop due to exchange bias, the patterned samples reveal a pronounced size dependence. In particular, an anomaly appears in the upper branch of the magnetization cycle and becomes stronger as the dot size decreases. This anomaly, which is absent at room temperature in the patterned samples, can be understood in terms of a competition between magnetostatic interdot interaction and exchange anisotropy during the magnetic switching process.