| 1. |
- Säfström, Kåge, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of the presence and extent of coronary artery disease in postmenopausal women after an episode of unstable coronary artery disease : incremental value of exercise electrocardiography and thallium-201 SPECT
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aims To compare the incremental diagnostic properties of Thallium-201 (201TI) SPECT perfusion imaging with clinical and exercise test variables in a female population with a suspected high prevalence of coronary artery disease.Methods and Results We prospectively studied 121 postmenopausal women admitted to the coronary care unit with symptoms of unstable coronary artery disease and ECG changes suggestive of ischaemia. Incremental diagnostic logistic algorithms were developed. These included pretest variables (age; body mass index; previous myocardial infarction; myocardial markers at inclusion and type of anginal symptoms); exercise test (maximum workload; occurrence of ST-depression ≥ 0.1mV and peak heart rate); and 201TI scintigram (extent of thallium uptake abnormalities during exercise and presence of reversibility). End points were presence of coronary artery disease (250% diameter stenosis) and extent ('severe coronary artery disease' defined as left main, three vessel disease and two vessel disease involving proximal left anterior descending). Diagnostic accuracy and incremental value were assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Incremental curve areas for disease presence were pretest 0.76 ±0.04, post-exercise ECG 0.83 ±0.04 (p<0.02 for the increment), and post-thallium scintigraphy 0.89 ±0.03 (p<0.02) and for disease extent were pretest 0.82 ±0.04, post-exercise ECG 0.89 ±0.03 (p<0.01 for the increment), and post thallium scintigraphy 0.92 ±0.02 (p = ns).Conclusion In postmenopausal women, stable after an episode of unstable coronary artery disease, there is an incremental value of adding 201TI SPECT to clinical parameters and exercise testing in the determination of coronary artery disease. In women with severe coronary artery disease there was no significant additive value of myocardial scintigraphy.
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| 2. |
- Krynska, Aleksandra, et al.
(författare)
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Three-dimensional echocardiography to identify right ventricular dilatation in patients with corrected Fallot anomaly or pulmonary stenosis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging. - : Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.. - 1475-0961 .- 1475-097X. ; 41:1, s. 51-61
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background 3-Dimensional Echocardiography allows measuring volumes and parameters of myocardial deformation (strain). Myocardial strain has been suggested to be superior to conventional echo parameters in the assessment of right ventricular (RV) function. Myocardial strain can be assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) or two- and three-dimensional echocardiography (2D and 3DEcho). We performed a comprehensive assessment of the RV based on 3DEcho and compared the results with those based on CMR and 2DEcho. Methods 36 patients with corrected heart defects underwent CMR and 3DEcho to assess RV volume, strain and cardio pulmonary exercise testing with peak VO2 measurement. 2DEcho was used for reference. Results There was a moderate correlation between 3DEcho and CMR for measuring RV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (r = .82 and .72). 3DEcho tended to underestimate the RV volumes, mean difference EDV 8.5 +/- 33 ml (CI -2.8; 19.7 ml) and ESV 13.2 +/- 29 ml (CI 3.3; 23 ml). According to method-specific reference values for RVEDV, 34/35 (3DEcho) and 29/36 (CMR) were dilated. Among those dilated according to CMR, all were identified by 3DEcho. The coefficient of correlation between RV atrioventricular plane displacement measured by CMR and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion measured by 3D and 2DEcho was r = .6 for both. 2DEcho measured lower LV volumes than CMR. LVEF and GLS were similar in 2DEcho, 3DEcho and CMR. Patients with CMR-determined RV free wall strain <= -14% tended to have lower peak VO2. Conclusions Although 3DEcho underestimated RV volumes, it successfully identified all patients with RV dilatation based on method-specific reference values.
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| 3. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Fibrinolytic Variables in Postmenopausal Women with Unstable Coronary Artery Disease
- 2001
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Ingår i: Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis. - 0929-5305 .- 1573-742X. ; 12:3, s. 217-223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Many women with typical anginal chest pain have normal coronary angiograms. The pathogenetic mechanisms behind the chest pain in these patients is unknown but may be due to altered fibrinolytic function enhancing thrombosis formation. We evaluated the two key components of the fibrinolytic system, tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in women with clinical signs of unstable coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods and results: 158 patients with unstable CAD and 101 controls were examined. Of the patients 16% had normal vessels and 84% coronary atherosclerosis at coronary angiography. Mean plasma concentration of t-PA-ag, but not of PAI-1-act was higher in patients than in controls (t-PA-ag: 2.12 (2.05;2.19) vs. 1.98 (1.89;2.07), p<0.05; PAI-1-act: 1.55 (1.35;1.74) vs. 1.49 (1.24;1.73), p¼n.s.). Patients with coronary atherosclerosis had significantly higher mean plasma levels of both t-PA-ag and PAI-1-act than patients with normal coronary vessels (t-PA-ag: 2.16 (2.08;2.33) vs. 1.94 (1.78;2.10), p<0.05; PAI-1-act: 1.68 (1.47;1.90) vs. 0.82 (0.43;1.21), p<0.01), and these differences were seen whether markers of myocardial damage were elevated or not. Mean plasma levels of PAI-1-act in patients with normal coronary vessels were even lower than in the control group (p<0.05). Almost all significant differences in mean plasma t-PA-ag and PAI-1-act disappeared after adjustments for known covariates.Conclusion: Our results indicate, regardless of myocardial marker elevation or not, an activated fibrinolytic system in postmenopausal women with unstable CAD and coronary atherosclerosis, but not in the same group of patients with normal coronary vessels. This argues against reduced fibrinolytic capacity in the latter patients and therefore against thrombosis formation as the cause of chest pain in these women. However, we cannot exclude that the differences can be an effect of inequality among some common risk factors between the groups.
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| 4. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Markers of hypercoagulation and von Willebrand factor in postmenopausal women with unstable coronary artery disease. Discriminatory ability regarding unstable coronary artery disease and coronary atherosclerosis using receiver operating characteristics
- 2000
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : Wiley. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 248:2, s. 151-158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives. Many women with typical anginal chest pain have normal coronary angiograms. The pathogenetic mechanisms behind the chest pain in these patients are unknown but may be due to increased thrombogenicity. We evaluated markers of hypercoagulation and thrombosis in women with clinical signs of unstable coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods and results. A total of 158 patients with unstable CAD and 101 controls were examined: 16% of the patients had normal vessels and 84% had coronary atherosclerosis at coronary angiography. Mean plasma concentrations of von Willebrand factor antigen, soluble fibrin (SF), thrombin–antithrombin complex and d-dimer were significantly higher, whereas there was no difference regarding prothrombin fragment 1+2 between patients and controls. Patients with coronary atherosclerosis had higher mean plasma levels for most variables compared with those with normal coronary vessels, although only significantly higher for SF. d-Dimer was significantly higher in patients with normal coronary vessels compared with the control group. Although multivariate analyses showed strong significant correlations of the haemostatic variables to the diagnosis of unstable CAD, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) revealed that none of the variables represented high diagnostic accuracy in separating patients with unstable CAD. Likewise, none of the variables was particularly good at identifying coronary atherosclerosis.Conclusion. Our results are in favour of a hypercoagulable state in postmenopausal women with unstable CAD and coronary atherosclerosis, whereas this does not seem to be the case in patients with normal vessels. ROC revealed no variable to be particularly clinically useful in separating patients from controls or patients from those without coronary atherosclerosis.
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| 5. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Markers of hypercoagulation, von Willebrand factor and anticardiolipin antibodies in postmenopausal women with unstable coronary artery disease : Discriminatory Ability Regarding Unstable Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Atherosclerosis Using Receiver Operating Characterstics
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aims - Many women with typical anginal chest pain have normal coronary angiograms. The pathogenetic mechanisms behind the chest pain in these patients are unknown but may be due to increased thrombogenecity. We evaluated markers of hypercoagulation and thrombosis in women with clinical signs of unstable coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods and results - 158 patients with unstable CAD and 101 controls were examined. 16% of the patients had nonnal vessels and 84% had coronary atherosclerosis at coronary angiography. Mean plasma concentrations of von Willebrand factor-antigen, soluble fibrin (SF), thrombin-antithrombin complex and Ddimer were significantly higher, whereas there was no difference regarding prothrombin fragment 1 +2 between patients and controls. Patients with coronary atherosclerosis had higher mean plasma levels for most variables compared to those with normal coronary vessels, but the only significant difference was for SF. D-dimer was significantly higher in patients with nonnal coronary vessels compared to the control group. Anticardiolipin antibody (ACA) levels were significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) showed that none of the variables represented high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing patients with unstable CAD from healthy controls, or patients with from those without coronary atherosclerosis.Conclusion - Our results are in favour of a hypercoagulable state in postmenopausal women with unstable CAD and coronary atherosclerosis, even in the absence of myocardial marker elevation, whereas this does not seem to be the case in patients with nonnal vessels. ROC revealed no variable to be particularly clinical useful in separating patients and control or patients with and without coronary atherosclerosis.
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| 6. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma levels of cyclic GMP and endothelin in postmenopausal women with unstable coronary artery disease
- 1999
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5513 .- 1502-7686. ; 59:5, s. 325-334
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many women with typical anginal chest pain have normal coronary angiograms, which may be due to altered endothelial function. We evaluated the endothelial markers cyclic GMP (cGMP) and immunoreactive endothelin (ir-ET) regarding presence of coronary atherosclerosis in women with clinical signs of unstable coronary artery disease (CAD). Plasma levels of cGMP and ir-ET were determined in 118 patients and 84 controls. Ischaemia was evaluated at an exercise test. Of the patients 20% had normal vessels, 14% insignificant CAD and 66% significant stenosis at coronary angiography. Mean (95% CI) concentration of cGMP (nmol/l) was higher in patients than in controls (5.05 (4.53; 5.58) vs. 3.79 (3.34; 4.23)). Separating patients according to daily intake of nitroglycerin, only patients with this medication had significantly higher cGMP level (5.73 (4.88; 6.58)), whereas the difference between those without (4.35 (3.76; 4.94)) and controls disappeared. Patients with ischaemia at exercise test had higher cGMP level than those without (6.01 (5.13; 6.88) vs. 4.30 (3.66; 4.94)), even after adjusting for nitroglycerin treatment. ir-ET (pmol/l) was lower in patients with normal vessels than patients with coronary atherosclerosis (0.83 (0.78; 0.88) vs. 0.98 (0.92; 1.04)) and than the control group (0.91 (0.87; 0.94)). The difference between the control group and patients with atherosclerosis was also significant. Patients with unstable CAD and long-term nitroglycerin treatment have increased cGMP level. Patients with exercise-induced ischaemia have higher cGMP level than those without, irrespective of nitroglycerin treatment, which may reflect a general compensatory mechanism. Patients with normal vessels have low level of ir-ET, indicating different mechanisms for ischaemia/angina in these patients compared with patients with atherosclerosis.
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| 7. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma lipoprotein particle concentrations in postmenopausal women with unstable coronary artery disease : Analysis of diagnostic accuracy using receiver operating characteristics
- 2000
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : Wiley. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 247:1, s. 43-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background.The contribution of plasma lipids to cardiovascular risk is usually evaluated by measuring plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol, and calculating LDL cholesterol concentration. We investigated plasma concentrations of apolipoproteins and lipoprotein particles in women with unstable coronary artery disease (CAD) to evaluate whether these, better than the routine lipid status, could differentiate women with and without coronary atherosclerosis.Methods. Blood samples for lipid analyses were collected from 119 angiographically examined postmenopausal 49–79-year-old women with unstable CAD, and from 101 age-matched controls. Mean plasma concentrations were compared and the discriminatory ability of the different variables were tested using receiver operating characteristics (ROC).Results. At coronary angiography 19% had normal vessels and 81% had coronary atherosclerosis. A disturbed triglyceride metabolism was the most pronounced lipid abnormality in women with unstable CAD and coronary atherosclerosis. ROC showed that none of the evaluated variables had a particularly high discriminatory power regarding unstable CAD or coronary atherosclerosis. The ratio cholesterol/HDL cholesterol was best with an ROC area of 0.79. Furthermore, the newer lipid variables, i.e. lipoprotein particles and apolipoproteins, were no better than the traditional variables.Conclusion. Lipoprotein changes reflecting a disturbed triglyceride metabolism are most pronounced in women with unstable CAD and coronary atherosclerosis. Lipoprotein particles and apolipoproteins alone were no better than lipids and lipoproteins in separating women with from those without coronary atherosclerosis. Our study does not support the measurement of apolipoproteins and lipoprotein particles on the basis of diagnostic accuracy alone.
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| 8. |
- Nielsen, Niels Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma total homocysteine levels in postmenopausal women with unstable coronary artery disease
- 2000
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Ingår i: Atherosclerosis. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 151:2, s. 423-431
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) level is considered a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), but the relationship between plasma tHcy and well-defined CAD in women is still unclear. Plasma tHcy concentrations and the covariates serum folate, vitamin B12, and creatinine were analysed in 157 angiographically examined postmenopausal women with unstable CAD and in 101 healthy controls. At coronary angiography, 16% had normal vessels and 84% had coronary atherosclerosis. Mean plasma tHcy concentration (μmol/l, 95% confidence interval) did not differ in patients compared to controls (13.1 (12.3–13.8) vs. 12.5 (11.6–13.5)) or in patients with or without coronary atherosclerosis (13.3 (12.4–14.1) vs. 12.0 (10.8–13.2)). A trend to an increasing plasma tHcy with increasing degree of coronary atherosclerosis was attenuated after adjustment for age and the previous mentioned covariates. Odds ratio for the risk of coronary artery disease and coronary atherosclerosis in hyperhomocysteinemic patients (≥90th percentile in controls) was approximately 3. However, the confidence interval included unity in half of the groups and the significance was therefore difficult to judge. Receiver operating characteristics showed age to be the only variable with a significant discriminatory ability regarding the presence of coronary atherosclerosis (area 0.77). Mild hyperhomocysteinemia seems not to be related to the risk of unstable CAD in postmenopausal women. The trend towards higher plasma tHcy with increasing degree of coronary atherosclerosis may be a marker of the disease. In future studies adjustment for age and the other three covariates should be considered.
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| 9. |
- Rönning, Helén, et al.
(författare)
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Description and initial evaluation of an educational and psychosocial support model for adults with congenitally malformed hearts
- 2011
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Ingår i: Patient Education and Counseling. - : Elsevier. - 0738-3991 .- 1873-5134. ; 83:2, s. 247-251
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Various programmes for adults with congenitally malformed hearts have been developed, but detailed descriptions of content, rationale and goals are often missing. The aim of this study was to describe and make an initial evaluation of a follow-up model for adults with congenitally malformed hearts, focusing on education and psychosocial support by a multidisciplinary team (EPS). METHODS: The model is described in steps and evaluated with regards to perceptions of knowledge, anxiety and satisfaction. RESULTS: The EPS model included a policlinic visit to the physician/nurse (medical consultation, computer-based and individual education face-to-face as well as psychosocial support) and a 1-month telephone follow-up. Fifty-five adults (mean age 34, 29 women) with the nine most common forms of congenitally malformed hearts participated in the EPS model as well as the 3-months follow-up. Knowledge about congenital heart malformation had increased in 40% of the participants at the 3-months follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study describes and evaluates a model that combines a multidisciplinary approach and computer-based education for follow-up of adults with congenitally malformed hearts. The EPS model was found to increase self-estimated knowledge, but further evaluations need to be conducted to prove patient-centred outcomes over time. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The model is now ready to be implemented in adults with congenitally malformed hearts.
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| 10. |
- Rönning, Helén, et al.
(författare)
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Development and evaluation of a computer-based educational program for adults with congenitally malformed hearts
- 2013
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 12:1, s. 78-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: There is a lack of educational material for adults with congenitally malformed hearts. Computer-based education has shown to have significant effects on knowledge and management of chronic diseases. AIM: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a computer-based educational program for adults with congenitally malformed hearts. METHODS: The program was developed by a multidisciplinary team. Data were collected by questionnaires, observations, and structured interviews. RESULTS: The final product was a computer-based educational program consisting of ten separate modules, one for each particular malformation. The program was experienced as stimulating and easy to use. The appearance and quantity of the text was graded as good and the content as relevant and very useful. CONCLUSION: This is the first computer-based program developed for adults with congenitally malformed hearts. The evaluation found the program to have great potential as an important tool for improving care. Further studies are needed to test the outcomes of the program on knowledge, perceived control over the heart condition, anxiety/depression. and health-related quality of life. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The program may be used as a complement to verbal information and every adult with a congenitally malformed hearts can receive individualized information from a personal CD.
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