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Biomedical subjects

M Leschke

Publications and source records attributed to M Leschke.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Long-term Urokinase Therapy and Isovolemic Hemodilution: A Clinical and Hemodynamic Comparison in Patients with Refractory Angina Pectoris.

Antiischemic effectiveness of long-term urokinase therapy and isovolemic hemodilution therapy has been reported in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease, but both interventions have never been compared. In patients with refractory angina pectoris and end-stage coronary artery disease (clinical functional class III), isovolemic hemodilution (n = 9) (hydroxyethyl starch solution 6%, 1-2 times/week), and urokinase therapy (n = 11) (500,000 U urokinase per i.v. injection, 3 times a week) were performed over a period of 12 weeks, each additionally to maximal conventional treatment. Apart from the assessment of clinical symptoms and rheologic parameters, invasive hemodynamic measurements were carried out at rest and during exercise testing before and after treatment. After treatment with urokinase, patients showed a significant reduction of clinical symptoms (from 19.8 +/- 6.5 to 5.0 +/- 4.3 anginal events/week, p < 0.001), fibrinogen (from 410 +/- 88 to 238 +/- 40 mg/dl, p < 0.001), plasma viscosity (from 1.45 +/- 0.10 to 1.33 +/- 0.03 mPa x s-1, p < 0.01), and no changes of hematocrit (from 0.45 +/- 0.02 to 0.45 +/- 0.02) and whole blood viscosity (from 4.7 +/- 0.5 to 4.4 +/- 0.7 mPa x s-1); however, hemodilution resulted in a decrease of hematocrit (from 0.46 +/- 0.01 to 0.39 +/- 0.01, p < 0.001) and whole blood viscosity (from 4.7 +/- 0.5 to 4.0 +/- 0.3 mPa x s-1, p < 0.001) and no changes of initially comparable levels of clinical symptoms, fibrinogen, and plasma viscosity. Hemodynamic parameters at rest improved after urokinase therapy with a reduction of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (from 9.1 +/- 5.1 to 5.5 +/- 2.8 mmHg, p < 0.05) at comparable levels of systemic vascular resistance (from 1510 +/- 340 to 1420 +/- 510 dyn x s x cm-5). Hemodilution did not result in any significant hemodynamic changes. Apart from clinical symptoms, long-term intermittent urokinase therapy reduces pulmonary capillary wedge pressure at rest. This may reflect an improved diastolic function due to a rheological enhancement of myocardial perfusion at the level of the coronary microcirculation. Isovolemic hemodilution seems to be of no benefit.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

[Angina pectoris in "coronary steal syndrome" caused by a coronary fistula in the left ventricle].

HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS: A 55-year-old female patient reported left-sided chest pain at rest as well as during exercise, which recurred during the last three years before admission. Cardiovascular risk factors included hypercholesterolemia and smoking. The physical examination of the patient was unremarkable. INVESTIGATIONS: The ECG at rest showed T-wave inversions in leads I, aVL, V3-V6 and ergometric exercise testing resulted in angina pectoris and descending ST-segments in leads V3-V6. Stress thallium 201 scintigraphy demonstrated a reversible perfusion deficit of the the anterior wall at peak exercise. The left ventricular angiogram and echocardiogram revealed normal end-diastolic dimensions and regular systolic contractions without signs of left ventricular hypertrophy. Selective coronary arteriography excluded hemodynamically relevant stenosis of the coronary arteries. A coronary artery fistula originating from a large, ectatic first diagonal branch with drainage into the left ventricle was observed. TREATMENT AND COURSE: Because the patient rejected interventional therapy she was treated conservatively and follow-up investigations 3 and 4 years after arteriography revealed unchanged clinical symptomatology. CONCLUSION: In this case a "coronary steal" phenomenon caused by the coronary fistula induced myocardial ischemia. Therefore if present congenital coronary anomalies have to be considered in patients with chest pain and normal coronary angiogram.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1998

[Diastolic function parameters and atrial arrhythmias in patients with arterial hypertension].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate in patients with arterial hypertension (HT) the extent of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and diastolic function in relation to atrial arrhythmias. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 112 hypertensive patients (40 women, 72 men; mean age 50 +/- 6.6 years) with a mean systolic blood pressure for the cohort of 170 +/- 5 mmHg, their first invasive coronary angiography was performed between July 1995 and October 1997 because of angina pectoris and/or an abnormal stress electrocardiogram. After excluding coronary heart disease LV dimensions and diastolic function were measured by echocardiography; in 59 of the 112 patients LV hypertrophy was demonstrated. In addition, long-term blood pressure monitoring, exercise and long-term electrocardiography, late-potential analysis and measurement of heart rate variability were undertaken. The control group consisted of 51 patients without arterial hypertension after exclusion of coronary heart disease. RESULTS: Even in the hypertensive patients without LV hypertrophy diastolic LV function and ergometric exercise capacity were reduced. The risk of LV arrhythmias was significantly higher in patients with LV hypertrophy than those without and in the control group, as measured by the complexity of atrial arrhythmias (P < 0.001), the incidence of abnormal late potentials (P < 0.001) and reduction in heart rate variability (29.3 +/- 5.3 ms vs 47.8 +/- 12.1 ms vs 60.7 +/- 6.6 ms; P < 0.001). There were similar results regarding severe complex atrial arrhythmias (38.5 vs 15.0 vs 0%; P < 0.001). The incidence of atrial arrhythmias correlated with the LV diameter (r = 0.68, P < 0.001), LV morphological dimensions and diastolic function (isovolumetric relaxation time r = 0.44, P < 0.001) and the ratio of early to late diastolic inflow (r = 0.46; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hypertensive patients have a higher risk of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, depending on the degree of LV hypertrophy. But atrial arrhythmias, in contrary to ventricular arrhythmias, are also closely related to abnormalities in LV diastolic function.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Duplex ultrasound risk stratification of percutaneous puncture of the brachial artery for diagnostic and interventional coronary angiography].

Diagnostic and interventional heart catheterization in peripheral vascular disease often requires due to iliacal disease additional methods of arterial approach besides the Judkin's technique. The percutaneous catheterization of the brachial artery finds widespread use. A major complication linked with this method is an increased rate of thrombotic occlusions at the puncture site. Thus, we investigated in a prospective set-up the ability of duplex ultrasound to identify predictive risk factors for vascular complications. Over a period of 20 months, 8000 patients referred to heart catheterization were studied. Routine catheterization via the femoral route was contraindicated in 34 out of 8000 mostly due to severe peripheral vascular disease with multiple vascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, and smoking). 53 patients who had a comparable low risk-profile served as the control group. The brachial artery was examined by ultrasound duplex for vessel anatomy and diameter at the puncture site before coronary angiography. Both groups (patient and control group) showed in 15% a variable anatomy with a premature division of the brachial artery in 6% proximal of the elbow and in 9% already distal to the axillary artery. Because of reduced diameters of these variable vessels no procedure was carried out at these arms. In all cases the opposite arm was successfully used instead, because the variants were always located only at one arm. The diameter of the brachial artery measured in average 5.0 +/- 0.8 mm and 4.8 +/- 0.7 mm in patients and controls, respectively. Women had a significantly smaller vessel diameter than men, measuring a difference of 0.4 and 0.6 mm, respectively (p < 0.05). For coronary angiography 6F and 7F arterial sheats were used equally, and in 32% of all cases a coronary intervention was performed. 31 (91%) procedures were carried out without complications; there was a false aneurysm in 1 patient (3%) and an occlusion of the brachial artery at the puncture site in 2 patients (6%). The occluded vessels of two diabetic women had a reduced diameter at the level of 10% of the standard distribution and an unfavorable ratio of sheat-to-vessel-diameter which lead initially to an obstruction of nearly 50% of the vessel lumen during catheterization. Screening of the brachial artery by ultrasound duplex before a percutaneous catheterization for coronary angiography and intervention showed reproducibly the variable anatomy and differences in vessel diameter, which can be risk factors for thrombotic occlusion. Important details for the location of the puncture site and the possible size of the arterial sheat can be obtained, so that coronary interventions with 7F catheter systems are still practicable. This technique is a simple and efficient method to estimate the relative risk of arterial occlusion prior to percutaneous puncture of the brachial artery, especially in a group of patients with severe atherosclerosis and elevated vascular risk-factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Internal thoracic artery bypass--basic principles of Doppler ultrasound for pre- and postoperative diagnosis].

During the last 25 years the internal thoracic artery has become a well established conduit for coronary revascularization. Next to angiography, duplex-sonography is increasingly used as a non-invasive imaging procedure for the evaluation of this graft vessel. Preoperative investigation in 117 patients has yielded a high level of agreement between angiography and duplex-sonography. While the preoperative flow-pattern is dominated by systolic flow as it is typical for vessels supplying skeletal muscle, the postoperative findings show an adaptation to the coronary vascular bed as the diastolic flow increases. These non-invasive measurements are well matched with invasive intravascular recordings. Coronary angiography and duplex-sonography of the internal thoracic artery yielded comparable findings in respect to the procedural result. Considering the increasing use of the internal thoracic artery in coronary artery bypass surgery, this non-invasive method should gain increasing relevance.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed1998

[Antithrombotic therapy in chronic coronary syndromes--value of thrombocyte aggregation inhibition, anticoagulation and chronic thrombolysis].

Antithrombotic therapy is a basic part in the treatment of acute as well as chronic coronary syndromes. The rationale is an enhanced platelet activity with predomination of procoagulatory mechanisms in coronary artery disease. The current status of antiplatelet drugs, anticoagulation, and chronic thrombolysis used in the treatment of chronic coronary syndromes is discussed. It is concluded that low-dose aspirin is the current drug of choice for long term oral treatment in patients with stable chronic coronary artery disease. In contrast, oral anticoagulation with coumadin should be considered in patients with higher risk for atrial or ventricular thrombosis. The impact of long-term intermittent urokinase therapy in patients with end-stage coronary artery disease and refractory angina pectoris leads to a marked improvement of clinical symptoms. Oral blockade of platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor and clinical trials regarding antiischemic effects of low-molecular weight heparins in chronic coronary syndromes are expected for the future.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed1998

[Assessment of the anti-ischemic effect in patients with therapy refractory angina pectoris in end-stage coronary heart disease--results of chronic intermittent urokinase therapy].

Patients with refractory angina pectoris and end-stage coronary artery disease represent an increasing clinical problem. Numbers of these patients will increase in the future for improved survival due to effective secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. Next to the evaluation of clinical symptoms non-invasive objective parameters of myocardial ischemia are of major relevance before initiation of alternative treatment modalities and for verification of antiischemic effectiveness. Based on our own experience it can be shown that in these patients testing which is mainly based on the patients physical exercise capacity is only of limited value due to the early occurrence of clinical symptoms. Furthermore diffuse perfusion abnormalities reduce the sensitivity of electrocardiographic and scintigraphic detection of ischemic changes. In contrast indirect measures of ischemia relating to the systolic or diastolic function of the left ventricle like doppler-echocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography seem to be promising approaches. This is confirmed by the results from the application of long-term intermittent urokinase therapy. Long-term intermittent urokinase therapy leads to an absolute enhancement of myocardial perfusion, which makes this approach superior to other medical interventions which are mainly based on a reduction of cardiac work-load.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1998

Haemolytic-uraemic syndrome and thrombotic-thrombocytopenic purpura in adults: clinical findings and prognostic factors for death and end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND: Left untreated, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic-thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) in adults have a poor prognosis with mortality rates reaching 90%. Patients who survive often develop end-stage renal disease. Because of similarities in clinical and morphological findings, both diseases are considered as one entity referred to as HUS-TTP syndrome. METHODS: From 1974 to January 1995, 45 adult patients received treatment for HUS-TTP at our clinic. By stepwise logistic regression analyses, we examined how known risk factors and plasma exchange with fresh-frozen plasma (PE) influenced mortality and end-stage renal disease. RESULTS: Three of 45 patients died (7%). Though we were not able to find significant predictors of mortality, low haemoglobin levels (5.93 +/- 0.32 vs 9.10 +/- 2.16 g/dl) and high leukocyte counts on admission (15.830 +/- 3.690 vs 11.150 +/- 4.580 microliters-1) appeared to indicate an unfavourable outcome. Regarding the development of end-stage renal disease, PE proved to be the only favourable indicator (P = 0.0001). PE was performed in 30 patients 3-20 times (9.2 +/- 4.8, mean +/- SD). Of 28 surviving patients treated with PE, only four developed end-stage renal disease, whereas dialysis was necessary in 11 of 14 patients not treated with PE. Application of PE led to an 81.8% reduction of the relative risk of developing end-stage renal disease. An additional prognostic influence of other potential risk factors such as age, sex, platelet count on admission, lactate dehydrogenase serum levels, serum creatinine, blood pressure, prodromal disease, and renal histology was not found. CONCLUSION: This retrospective clinical study confirms the therapeutic value of plasma exchange with fresh-frozen plasma to maintain renal function in patients with HUS-TTP.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

[Results and complications of fiber bronchoscopy in HIV positive patients].

Fibreoptic bronchoscopy is an established diagnostic procedure for HIV-associated pulmonary infections. We retrospectively evaluated the diagnostic effectivity and safety of fibreoptic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsy (TBB) in 153 patients with late-stage HIV infection and clinical signs of pulmonary infection or abnormal chest radiograph. Bronchoscopy leads to diagnosis in 82.4% and changed therapy in 54%. 45 patients (30%) were found to have pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), the most common bronchoscopic finding, followed by bacterial lung disease (29.3%). BAL had a sensitivity of 78% for PCP. Diagnostic yield of BAL for PCP was higher in patients without previous treatment (positive results in 82%) with regard to PCP independend of the prior treatment. Serious complication occurred in 22 cases (pneumothorax: 6 (3.9%), bleeding: 12 (7.8%), hypoxaemia: 4 (2.6%)). High serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) correlated with pulmonary complications like pneumothorax. Age, sex and kind of pulmonary infection did not influence complication rates. 6 (3.9%) episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax occurred in the further course, 3 of them concurrently with PCP or prior history of PCP. We conclude that fibreoptic bronchoscopy is of great value for diagnosing pulmonary infection in HIV-seropositive patients. TBB provides incremental diagnostic information not available from BAL, especially in patients pretreated with cotrimoxazol or pentamidin. For that reason we believe that TBB should be performed in these patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1997

Long-term survival of recipients of allogeneic bone-marrow transplantation after mechanical ventilation.

To evaluate the prognostic significance of mechanical ventilation for outcome of intensive care therapy for pulmonary complications after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (aBMT) we analysed the clinical course of ten patients requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation after aBMT for pulmonary complications. Ten out of eighty-five patients (12%) undergoing aBMT between 1989 and 1995 required mechanical ventilation for pulmonary complications at our university adult intensive care unit (ICU). Ventilation could be discontinued in four patients after pulmonary function improved. Three of these patients are long-term survivors after two to five years (median 37 months) of follow-up. Significant differences between the two groups of survivors (n = 4 patients) and non-survivors (n = 6 patients) which could have an impact on prognosis exist for graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD), (p < 0.04) and the time between aBMT and intubation (p < 0.05). There were no differences for age (median: 36 and 34 years of age respectively), laboratory values, duration of mechanical ventilation (median: 7 days for both groups) and APACHE-scores. In survivors, mechanical ventilation became necessary because of atelectasis or obstruction by mucositis in two cases, septicemia with concomitant ARDS in one case and bacterial pneumonia in one case. In non-survivors, pulmonary complications were caused by infections. Causes of death were septicemia or septic shock in five cases and GvHD-induced bronchiolitis obliterans in one case. In conclusion patients at risk for fatal outcome after intensive-care therapy for pulmonary complications following aBMT show a higher degree of GvHD, more infectious complications and a later onset of ventilation after aBMT. With an overall longterm-survival of 3 out of 10 patients, mechanical ventilation seems to be live-saving in a selected subset of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Conservative therapeutic approaches in terminal coronary heart disease. Chronic intermittent urokinase therapy].

Despite progress in the invasive revascularization procedures and even though conventional antianginal treatment has improved the quality of life in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease considerably, an increasing number of patients suffers from end-stage coronary artery disease and refractory angina pectoris. For these refractory patients long-term intermittent urokinase therapy was developed as an antithrombotic intervention, which is based on its capacity to enhance thrombolysis and blood rheology, and may possibly lead to plaque regression. The coronary syndrome of refractory angina pectoris is characterized by a mismatch of severe coronary insufficiency and a relatively large amount of viable myocardium as indicated by an only moderately impaired left ventricular function. Prior to initiation of long-term intermittent urokinase therapy all potential measures to improve myocardial perfusion have to be considered in each patient. These supportive measures include rigorous reduction of LDL-cholesterol, which has proven antiischemic properties due to an improved endothelial function of epicardial conductance vessels possibly resulting in an antianginal effect. Apart from the proven antiischemic properties of long-term intermittent urokinase therapy in patients with refractory angina pectoris, objective signs of ischemic myocardial heart failure improve. Follow-up studies demonstrated a significant increase of left ventricular ejection fraction as evaluated with multi-gated blood pool analysis. Furthermore, left ventricular diastolic function normalized after a treatment period of 12 weeks. As the clinical effects last well beyond the actual treatment period and as they are accompanied by a remarkable increase in the quality of life, a complex approach as this one is justified in this highly symptomatic patient group.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1997

[Incidence and therapy of peripheral arterial vascular complications after heart catheter examinations].

We analyzed the incidence and management of major vascular complications at the arterial puncture site following diagnostic or interventional cardiac catheterization. 27387 cardiac catheterization procedures were performed for diagnostic (n = 19581) or interventional (n = 7806) purposes at our institution during a 7-year study period. A total number of 114 major vascular complications (0.42%) were identified. In 36 (0.13%) patients an arterial occlusion at the puncture site was detected, 34 patients (0.12%) had severe hematoma (blood transfusion or surgical repair necessary), 32 patients (0.12%) developed false aneurysms, 9 patients (0.03%) with av-fistulas and 3 patients (0.01%) had other complications. The following factors were predictive for a significant increase in the incidence of major vascular complications: Female gender, interventional catheterization using larger introducer sheaths and necessitating effective perioperative doses of heparine, and peripheral vascular disease. Operative repair was necessary in 62 patients (54%), 34 patients (30%) were treated conservatively. In 18 patients (17%) acute vascular occlusion could be managed by percutaneous transluminal balloon dilatation and intravascular thrombolysis of the obstruction, in 3 patients additional stent-implantation was necessary in the presence of a large occlusive dissection. Overall the rate of clinically significant major vascular complications is low. In the future a greater number of vascular complications at the entry site for cardiac catheterization will be treated with nonoperative methods (e.g. manual compression of pseudoaneurysms or catheter-based techniques for recanalization of acutely occluded vessels.

Adult↗