OBJECTIVETo investigate the effectiveness and safety of various agents on paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the elderly over 75 years old.

METHODSTotally 264 in-patients (75-91 years old, 185 males and 79 females) with atrial fibrillation history of less than 7 days were enrolled in this study. A total of 611 atrial fibrillation episodes were recorded, but 130 episodes (22.3%) of atrial fibrillation were auto-converted to sinus rhythm. The rest 481 episodes of atrial fibrillation were divided into six groups based on the drug used.

RESULTSThe cardioversion ratio of atrial fibrillation were 9.5%, 46.9%, 71.7%, 55.9%, 32.7%, and 73.6% in control, cedilanid, amiodarone, propafenone, verapamil, and quinidine groups, respectively. Ventricular rate control were 5.4%, 83.6%, 84.9%, 77.9%, 78.8%, and 11.3% in those groups, respectively. The total effective rates of amiodarone and cedilanid groups were the highest. When the ventricular rate was controlled to below 90 bpm, the patients would almost complain of no discomfort. No severe side-effect was observed in each group.

CONCLUSIONAmiodarone and cedilanid may be the proper drugs for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the elderly. The above antiarrhythmics in each therapeutic group were relatively safe and effective.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Amiodarone ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Arrhythmia Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Atrial Fibrillation ; drug therapy ; Bradycardia ; chemically induced ; Cardiac Glycosides ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Heart Rate ; drug effects ; Humans ; Lanatosides ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Nausea ; chemically induced ; Propafenone ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation between serum resistin level, cardiovascular risk factors and severity of coronary disease in acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODSAfter evaluated by clinical history, electrocardiography, exercise tolerance tests, laboratory tests, and coronary angiography, 220 consecutive patients with suspected chest pain were divided into normal control group, stable angina pectoris (SAP) group, and ACS group, respectively. Baseline clinical characteristics, including height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, white blood cell count, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, were compared among three groups. ELISA was used to detect serum resistin levels. Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis was used to assess association between resistin and other traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to define the relationship between serum resistin level and SAP or ACS.

RESULTSSerum resistin level in ACS group (1.18+/-0.48 microg/L) was significantly higher than that in normal control and SAP groups (0.49+/-0.40 and 0.66+/-0.40 microg/L; P<0.01). Only in ACS group, increased serum resistin level was significantly correlated with hsCRP (r=0.262, P=0.004) and white blood cell count (r=0.347, P=0.001). Furthermore, serum resistin levels showed a stepwise increase with the number increase of > 50% stenosed coronary vessels. Multinomial logistic regression test demonstrated that serum resistin was a strong risk factor for ACS (OR=29.132, 95 % CI: 10.939-77.581, P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONThese findings suggested the potential role of resistin in atherosclerosis and especially its involvement in ACS.

Acute Coronary Syndrome ; blood ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Aged ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Resistin ; blood ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo investigate the variation of sex hormone and its receptor level in elderly male patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and to evaluate the correlations between CHD and sex hormone as well as sex hormone receptor.

METHODSAltogether 139 male CHD patients (CHD group) aged 60-92 years and 400 healthy men (control group) aged 60-90 years were included in this cross sectional study. The plasma concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT), estradiol (E2), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured. The androgen receptor (AR) was tested by flow cytometry. Correlations between CHD and levels of sex hormones and AR were analyzed.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the levels of DHEAS, TT, FT, SHBG, and the fluorescence intensity of AR in the CHD group significantly reduced (P < 0.05), while the levels of FSH and E2 significantly increased (P < 0.01). Age was negatively correlated with TT (r = -0.28, P = 0.00) and FT (r = -0.17, P = 0.01), while it was positively correlated with SHBG (r = 0.14, P = 0.04) and E2 (r = 0.33, P = 0.00). AR fluorescence intensity was negatively correlated with systolic blood pressure (r = -0.12, P = 0.01). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that TT, SHBG, and AR were all negatively correlated with CHD (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSElderly male patients with CHD are found to have low levels of DHEAS, TT, FT, SHBG, and AR, while high concentrations of E2 and FSH. Low levels of TT and SHBG may be the potential risk factors of CHD in elderly men.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; blood ; physiology ; Anthropometry ; Coronary Disease ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, Androgen ; metabolism ; Risk Factors