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Biomedical subjects

P Nicod

Publications and source records attributed to P Nicod.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Tomographic gated blood pool radionuclide ventriculography: analysis of wall motion and left ventricular volumes in patients with coronary artery disease.

The use of planar radionuclide ventriculography to evaluate global and segmental ventricular function is limited by the superimposition of structures in some projections and the gross segmental resolution of the planar technique. Preliminary reports have suggested the feasibility of tomographic gated radionuclide ventriculography with rotating detector systems. This study tested the hypotheses that 1) tomographic radionuclide ventriculography detects segmental dysfunction at rest not identified with multiview planar studies and single plane contrast ventriculography, and 2) ventricular volumes and ejection fraction calculated from these studies provide data similar to those obtained with angiography and planar radionuclide ventriculography. Gated blood pool tomograms were acquired over 180 degrees at 15 frames per cardiac cycle during the initial 90% of the cardiac cycle. Compared with the multiview planar technique tomographic ventriculography showed an increased sensitivity for detecting left ventricular segments with significant coronary artery stenosis (97 versus 74%, p less than 0.025) without any loss in specificity. Compared with both planar radionuclide and contrast ventriculography, tomographic radionuclide ventriculography also detected more noninfarcted left ventricular segments supplied by stenosed coronary arteries (81 versus 39 and 32%, respectively, p less than 0.01). Tomographic radionuclide ventriculographic measurements of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction showed close correlations with angiographic and planar radionuclide determinations. Gated blood pool tomography is a sensitive method for the evaluation of segmental wall motion and an accurate method for the measurement of global left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction.

Adult↗

Assessment of the inotropic and vasodilator effects of amrinone versus isoproterenol.

The hemodynamic effects of graded-dose infusions of amrinone (maximal dose 30 micrograms/kg/min) (10 patients) and isoproterenol (maximum dose 4 micrograms/min) (11 patients) were assessed in patients with a range of left ventricular (LV) function. LV ejection fraction ranged from 0.13 to 0.77 (mean +/- standard deviation 0.47 +/- 0.23) among the patients who received amrinone and from 0.24 to 0.77 (mean 0.52 +/- 0.18) among those who received isoproterenol. Peak-dose amrinone produced a reduction in LV filling pressure (from 15 +/- 10 to 10 +/- 7 mm Hg, p less than 0.001), but no significant change in heart rate, cardiac output, mean aortic pressure, total systemic vascular resistance (TSVR) or LV dP/dt max. In contrast, peak-dose isoproterenol produced a similar reduction in LV filling pressure (from 17 +/- 12 to 13 +/- 13 mm Hg, p less than 0.05), but also caused increases in heart rate, cardiac output and LV dP/dt max and decreases in mean aortic pressure and TSVR (p less than 0.001). The absolute change in cardiac output and stroke volume correlated closely with the change in TSVR in response to amrinone (r = -0.90, p less than 0.001 and r = -0.84, p = 0.002, respectively), but not in response to isoproterenol. Although isoproterenol produced a marked increase in cardiac output and LV dP/dt max (not explained by heart rate changes alone) in all patients, amrinone produced an increase in cardiac output only in those with markedly elevated LV filling pressures (who had a reduction in TSVR), and an increase in LV dP/dt in a minority.

Aminopyridines↗

Measurement of infarct size in acute canine myocardial infarction by single-photon emission computed tomography with technetium-99m pyrophosphate.

The location and extent of myocardial infarction (MI) are important predictors of patient course. The current study tests the hypothesis that MI size could be measured accurately using rotating gamma camera single-photon emission computed tomography ( SPECT ) and technetium-99m pyrophosphate (PPi) and that the accuracy of these measurements was independent of MI location and transmural or nontransmural distribution. SPECT was performed in 38 dogs 48 hours after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (14 dogs) or left circumflex coronary artery (LC) (24 dogs) at the mid-level or below. Projection images were corrected for center-of-rotation and field nonuniformity and processed with a 1-dimensional low-pass filter to diminish rib activity. Sixteen 0.5-cm-thick transverse sections, including the entire left ventricle, were reconstructed by filtered backprojection , low-pass filtered, contrast enhanced and processed with a 3-dimensional boundary enhancement operator. The boundary of PPi uptake in each slice was marked automatically using an algorithm that combined a directional derivative and a threshold, and required continuity of the boundary in 3 dimensions. The total number of volume elements that showed abnormal tracer uptake were summed, corrected to absolute volume, and multiplied by the specific weight of cardiac muscle. Scintigraphic MI weight was compared with pathologic MI weight. There was an excellent correlation between scintigraphic and pathologic MI weight. The poorer correlation for nontransmural compared with transmural MIs is most likely a function of size alone, since MIs that weighed less than 10 g (n = 12, range 1.3 to 9.5 g), both transmural and nontransmural, showed a similar correlation: S = 1.07 X P + 0.56 (r = 0.81, standard error of the slope = 0.245).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Limitations of qualitative angiographic grading in aortic or mitral regurgitation.

This study was performed to assess the accuracy of qualitative angiographic grading in persons with aortic regurgitation (AR) or mitral regurgitation (MR) and to determine the factors that may influence the reliability of such grading. In 230 patients (152 men, 78 women, aged 52 +/- 14 years) with AR or MR, forward cardiac index was measured by the Fick and indicator dilution techniques and left ventricular (LV) angiographic index by the area-length method, from which the regurgitant volume index was calculated. In 124 other patients (89 men, 35 women, aged 52 +/- 11 years) without regurgitation, there was good agreement between forward and angiographic cardiac indexes (r = 0.87, p less than 0.001). In the 83 patients with AR, the regurgitant volume indexes in those with 1+ (0.87 +/- 0.57 liters/min/m2) and 2+ (1.72 +/- 1.19 liters/min/m2) angiographic regurgitation were not significantly different from one another, but were significantly different from those with 3+ (3.0 +/- 1.42 liters/min/m2) and 4+ (4.80 +/- 2.25 liters/min/m2) regurgitation; at the same time, the regurgitant volume indexes of patients with 3+ and 4+ AR were not significantly different from one another. In the 147 patients with MR, the regurgitant volume indexes in patients with 1+ regurgitation (0.61 +/- 0.64 liters/min/m2) were significantly lower than other grades, but the regurgitant volume indexes of 2+ (1.14 +/- 0.85 liters/min/m2) vs 3+ (2.14 +/- 1.37 liters/min/m2) and of 3+ vs 4+ (4.60 +/- 2.31 liters/min/m2) were not significantly different. With AR and MR, regurgitant flow within each angiographic grade varied widely, especially in grades 3+ and 4+, and there was considerable overlap of regurgitant volume indexes between grades.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Comparison of the influence of acute transmural and nontransmural myocardial infarction on ventricular function.

In order to assess the relative impact on left and right ventricular function of nontransmural and transmural acute myocardial infarction (AMI), we performed radionuclide ventriculography in 86 patients (54 men and 32 women) within 16 hours after a first infarct. Nontransmural infarction was present in 19 patients (11 anterior and 8 inferior). Transmural infarction was found in 67 patients (30 anterior and 37 inferior). Left ventricular ejection fractions were higher (0.57 +/- .014 vs 0.46 +/- 0.14, p less than 0.005) and left ventricular end-systolic volume lower (29 +/- 11 vs 42 +/- 20 ml/m2, p = 0.013) in patients with nontransmural infarction compared to those with transmural infarction. Right ventricular ejection fraction also may have been different in the two groups (0.63 +/- 0.15 vs 0.55 +/- 0.13, p = 0.057). In patients with inferior infarction, left and right ventricular ejection fractions were similar in patients with nontransmural and transmural infarction (0.60 +/- 0.09 vs 0.55 +/- 0.10, p = 0.119 and 0.58 +/- 0.14 vs 0.51 +/- 12, p = 0.226). On the other hand, patients with anterior transmural infarction had lower left ventricular ejection fractions (0.36 +/- 0.12 vs 0.54 +/- 0.17, p = 0.003) but similar right ventricular ejection fractions (0.60 +/- 0.13 vs 0.66 +/- 0.14, p = 0.14) compared to those with nontransmural anterior infarction. In 29 additional patients with a history of previous infarction, no differences in any of the parameters studied were found between those with transmural and those with nontransmural infarcts.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Electrocardiography↗

Acute systemic and coronary hemodynamic and serologic responses to cigarette smoking in long-term smokers with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Previous studies suggested that cigarette smoking 1) inhibits an increase in coronary blood flow that should occur with increased myocardial oxygen demands, and 2) alters thromboxane and prostacyclin production, causing vasoconstriction and platelet aggregation. In 38 smokers (26 men and 12 women, aged 50 +/- 8 years [mean +/- standard deviation] ) with coronary artery disease, systemic and coronary hemodynamic and serologic variables were measured before and after smoking two cigarettes (in 8 to 10 minutes) (21 patients) or 8 to 10 minutes without smoking (17 patients; control group). No variable changed in the control group. Smoking increased (p less than 0.05) heart rate-systolic pressure product, cardiac output and maximal first derivative of left ventricular pressure (dP/dt) without significantly changing the coronary sinus concentrations of thromboxane B2 or 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (the stable metabolites of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin, respectively). Smoking did not increase coronary flow in 6 of 11 patients with greater than 70% stenosis of the proximal left anterior descending or circumflex coronary artery, or both, whereas it caused an increase in coronary flow in all 10 patients without proximal stenoses (p = 0.006). To determine if smoking altered the response of coronary flow to increased myocardial oxygen demands, 10 smokers (5 men and 5 women, aged 48 +/- 9 years) underwent atrial pacing for 5 minutes followed 15 minutes later by atrial pacing for 5 minutes during smoking. In the five patients without proximal left coronary artery stenoses, coronary flow increased 26 +/- 29 ml/min with pacing and 45 +/- 21 ml/min with pacing/smoking (p = 0.018).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

Prognostic value of submaximal exercise radionuclide ventriculography after myocardial infarction.

Submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography (RVG) was performed in 117 patients before hospital discharge 17 +/- 7 days (+/- standard deviation) after an acute myocardial infarction (MI). The hypothesis tested in these studies was that submaximal exercise testing coupled to RVG allows the identification of patients at risk for future ischemic events in the subsequent 6 months, irrespective of MI location and type. The sites of MI were characterized as anterior transmural in 33, inferior transmural in 39, limited nontransmural in 18, extensive nontransmural in 24 and indeterminant in 3. During 6 months of follow-up, 9 patients died, 14 had recurrent MI, 18 had refractory angina pectoris, 16 had limiting angina and 17 had congestive heart failure. Discriminant function analysis ranked exercise changes in left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and end-systolic volume the most important of all clinical, exercise and scintigraphic variables for predicting future cardiac events. The predictive accuracy of changes in LV ejection fraction and end-systolic volume were 93 and 91%, respectively, for the entire group, and were significantly more sensitive than any degree of ST-segment depression or elevation (p less than 0.001). These findings were generally independent of MI location and type. Thus, submaximal exercise RVG after MI is an accurate means of identifying patients at risk for major cardiac events in the 6 months after hospital discharge.

Angina Pectoris↗

Noninvasive recognition of the parchment right ventricle (Uhl's anomaly arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia) syndrome.

The case of a 53-year-old man with right heart failure, selective enlargement of the right-sided cardiac chambers, and recurrent sustained ventricular tachycardia is presented. Echocardiographic, radionuclide ventriculographic, and angiographic studies were typical of the right ventricular abnormalities in Uhl's anomaly; electrocardiographic and electrophysiologic findings were those of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. Features of this unusual cause of cardiac failure and ventricular arrhythmias in the adult are reviewed, and compared to previous reports of both Uhl's anomaly and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. We postulate that these two syndromes are manifestations of a single, presumably congenital, pathophysiologic process--the "parchment right ventricle" syndrome.

Echocardiography↗

Alterations in left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction during atrial pacing in patients with coronary artery disease: assessment with radionuclide ventriculography.

The present study was performed to determine the utility of radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) in conjunction with atrial pacing in the identification of individuals with coronary artery disease. Accordingly, left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, end-systolic volume index, ejection fraction, and regional wall motion were measured with radionuclide ventriculography before and during atrial pacing in 37 patients: 27 with and 10 without (control subjects) coronary artery disease. In the control subjects, pacing caused a decrease in end-diastolic volume index (77 +/- 19 [mean +/- SD] ml/M2 at rest, 50 +/- 18 ml/M2 at peak pacing; p less than 0.001), a decrease in end-systolic volume index (34 +/- 14 ml/M2 at rest, 19 +/- 9 ml/M2 at peak pacing; p less than 0.001), an increase in ejection fraction (0.61 +/- 0.11 at rest, 0.66 +/- 0.11 at peak pacing; p = 0.006); and no deterioration in wall motion. In 16 patients with coronary artery disease who developed ECG and/or metabolic evidence of ischemia during pacing, end-diastolic volume index decreased (87 +/- 26 ml/M2 at rest, 69 +/- 24 ml/M2 at peak pacing; p less than 0.001), end-systolic volume index was unchanged (43 +/- 20 ml/M2 at rest, 44 +/- 21 ml/M2 at peak pacing; p = NS), ejection fraction decreased (0.55 +/- 0.12 at rest, 0.40 +/- 0.14 at peak pacing; p less than 0.001), and new wall motion abnormalities developed in 14. In 11 patients with coronary artery disease but no ECG or metabolic evidence of ischemia, pacing caused a decrease in end-diastolic volume index (80 +/- 26 ml/M2 to 61 +/- 31 ml/M2; p less than 0.001), a decrease in end-systolic volume index (36 +/- 17 ml/M2 to 28 +/- 20 ml/M2; p = 0.002), no change in ejection fraction (0.60 +/- 0.11 to 0.60 +/- 0.13; p = NS), and new wall motion abnormalities in four. Although the specificity of these scintigraphic measurements for the identification of patients with coronary artery disease was excellent (1.0), the combined sensitivity of all scintigraphic measurements was high only if ECG or metabolic evidence of ischemia was present: 0.94 in patients with evidence of ischemia but only 0.36 in those without ischemia. Thus radionuclide ventriculography during incremental atrial pacing is useful in the identification of patients with coronary artery disease only if ischemia is induced.

Cardiac Output↗

Prognostic value of resting and submaximal exercise radionuclide ventriculography after acute myocardial infarction in high-risk patients with single and multivessel disease.

In patients who survive the acute phase of myocardial infarction, those with multivessel coronary artery disease generally have a worse prognosis than those with single-vessel disease. However, some patients with significant multivessel stenoses have a good prognosis, whereas some with a significant single-vessel stenosis have a poor prognosis. Thus, although definition of coronary anatomy may be helpful, it is a not a fail-safe prognosticator. In this retrospective analysis, the association of abnormalities at rest and during submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography after acute myocardial infarction with major cardiac complications (death, recurrent infarction, severe angina or congestive heart failure) in the ensuing 6 months was assessed in patients with single and multivessel disease. Coronary angiography and submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography were performed within 3 months of each other in 42 patients. Eleven of the 16 patients with single-vessel coronary stenosis had major cardiac complications. The subsequent course of these 16 patients was correctly predicted by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) less than or equal to 0.40 in 8 patients, by LVEF less than 0.55 in 7 patients, by failure of LVEF to increase by 0.05 units in 13 patients, and by an increase in left ventricular end-systolic volume index (LVESVI) during exercise greater than 5% above baseline in 11 patients. Of the 26 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, 24 had major cardiac complications. The subsequent course of these 26 patients was correctly predicted in 13 by LVEF less than or equal to 0.40, in 20 by LVEF less than 0.55, in 25 by a failure of LVEF to increase by 0.05 units during exercise, and in 20 by an increase in LVESVI by greater than 5% during exercise. Thus, submaximal exercise testing with radionuclide ventriculography may provide valuable prognostic information concerning the occurrence of major cardiac events after myocardial infarction not only in patients with multivessel disease, but also in those with single-vessel disease. Exercise-induced abnormalities of left ventricular function may have greater prognostic importance than the delineation of coronary arterial anatomy or the assessment of residual left ventricular function at rest.

Adult↗

Symptomatic, electrocardiographic, metabolic, and hemodynamic alterations during pacing-induced myocardial ischemia.

Atrial pacing has been used to assess the physiologic impact of coronary artery disease (CAD). Several variables have served as markers of pacing-induced myocardial ischemia, but their specificities and sensitivities are unknown. Accordingly, in 28 patients, incremental atrial pacing was performed. Of the 28, 10 had no CAD. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (by gated equilibrium blood pool scintigraphy) increased in this group (0.60 +/- 0.11 [mean +/- standard deviation] before pacing to 0.67 +/- 0.13 at peak-pacing, p = 0.002). In no patient did left ventricular end-diastolic pressure increase by greater than 5 mm Hg. No patient had lactate production, and 2 (20%) had electrocardiographic S-T segment depression greater than or equal to 0.1 mV. Four (40%) had chest pain with atrial pacing. In the remaining 18 patients with CAD, atrial pacing caused a decrease in LVEF greater than or equal to 0.05 (0.46 +/- 0.10 to 0.33 +/- 0.09, p less than 0.001) and new segmental wall motion abnormalities in all, indicating pacing-induced myocardial ischemia. Only 8 (44%) had an increase in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure of greater than 5 mm Hg, and only 9 (50%) had lactate production. Ten (56%) had ischemic electrocardiographic changes, and 12 (67%) had chest pain. Thus, the electrocardiographic, metabolic, and hemodynamic alterations that may accompany pacing-induced ischemia are specific but relatively insensitive markers of ischemia. In contrast, chest pain during atrial pacing is a nonspecific occurrence, appearing with similar frequency in normal subjects and patients with CAD and pacing-induced ischemia.

Adult↗

Treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension with nifedipine. A hemodynamic and scintigraphic evaluation.

To evaluate the potential value of nifedipine treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension, hemodynamic and scintigraphic measurements were made before and 15 to 30 minutes after nifedipine, 10 to 20 mg, was given sublingually to nine patients. Nifedipine treatment increased cardiac output (mean +/- SD, 3.6 +/- 1.7 to 5.3 +/- 2.8 L/min, p less than 0.001) and decreased mean aortic pressure (99 +/- 19 to 85 +/- 12 mm Hg, p less than 0.001) and total pulmonary and total systemic resistances (1605 +/- 787 to 1025 +/- 540 dyn X s X cm-5 and 2761 +/- 1557 to 1591 +/- 823 dyn X s X cm-5, respectively; p less than 0.005). Heart rate and mean pulmonary arterial pressure did not change significantly. Right ventricular end-diastolic volume decreased 10% (p = 0.01), end-systolic volume decreased 15% (p less than 0.01), and right ventricular ejection fraction increased 18% (p less than 0.05) in eight patients. After 4 to 14 months (mean, 7.3 +/- 3.8) of treatment with nifedipine, 40 to 120 mg/d, in six patients, cardiac output increased (3.6 +/- 2.0 to 5.0 +/- 1.8 L/min, p less than 0.01) and total pulmonary resistance decreased (1572 +/- 730 to 987 +/- 586 dyn X s X cm-5, p = 0.025), whereas pulmonary arterial pressure remained unchanged (59 +/- 23.2 to 55 +/- 28.6 mm Hg, p greater than 0.05) compared with baseline values. We conclude that nifedipine therapy may be useful in the chronic management of patients with primary pulmonary hypertension.

Adolescent↗