[Effect of design of standard metallic stents on neointimal hyperplasia and restenosis].

Coronary stents became an integral part of treatment of ischemic heart disease (IHD). Number of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in patients with IHD in Russia constantly growing. At a certain stage of development of interventional cardiology drug eluting stents (DES) were created and became actively used. Compared with metallic stents (MS) drug eluting stents allow to substantially reduce risk of restenosis. However DES did not replace MS and the latter are still used in about 50% of PCI in Russia. Design of standard MS and thickness of struts might affect extent of neointimal proliferation which develops after stent implantation and eventually determines remote outcomes of IHD treatment. Thereby choice of optimal MS remains an actual problem. In this review we present results of clinical studies which compared MS with different design and thickness of struts.

Coronary arterial anomalies in a large group of patients undergoing coronary angiography in southeast Turkey.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of coronary artery anomalies (CAA) are reported between 0.6-1.3% in the literature. CAA are usually asymptomatic incidental findings, but they may deteriorate coronary circulation, cause symptoms and lead to sudden cardiac death; especially in young athletes. Since interventional procedures are increasing rapidly for treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the modern era, comprehensive understanding of CAA is becoming progressively critical element in dealing with CAD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the database of the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory of Sani Konukoglu University Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey. All patients who were subjected to coronary angiography from 1998 to 2006 were included. RESULTS: Among 53,655 coronary angiographies performed, CAA were found in 653 patients (incidence of 1.21%); 590 (90.3%) patients had anomalies of origin and distribution and 63 (11.7%) had coronary fistulae. Separate origins of left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery from the left sinus of Valsalva was the most common anomaly (64.1%). Coronary arteries branching from anomalous aortic origin was the second most common anomaly(16.5%). Right coronary artery (RCA) originating from left sinus of Valsalva or left main coronary artery (LMCA) was observed in 55 (8.4%) patients, LCX arising from RCA or right sinus of Valsalva (RSV) was seen in 52 (7.9%) patients and LMCA orLAD originating from RSV was seen in 14 (0.2%) patients. There were 16 (2.45%) patients with single coronary artery and 1 (0.15%) patient with LMCA originating from pulmonary artery. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence and the pattern of CAA in our patient population were similar with previous studies. Angiographic recognition of these vessels is important because of their clinical significance and importance in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty or cardiac surgery.