BACKGROUND: Exercise-induced coronary spasm is occasionally recognized in patients with variant angina, but the patterns of exercise-induced coronary spasm and its relation to clinical features are still not clear. METHODS: Eight consecutive patients with variant angina without significant stenosis of the coronary artery performed serial treadmill exercise tests during early morning, late morning, and in the afternoon. The subjects repeated the tests after administration of atropine and doxazosin or phentolamine. RESULTS: (Upon drug administration), anginal episodes with ST-segment changes (elevation 5, depression 1) Occurred repeatedly in 6 of the 8 patients during early morning; the episodes occurred in only 2 patients during the afternoon exercise test. Four patients showed exercise-induced angina and ST-segment changes during early morning but not in the afternoon, and 2 of them showed mild episodes of exercise-induced angina and ST-segment changes during late morning. Three of the four patients had the characteristic clinical history of angina in early morning during usual activities but not during daytime activities despite the activities being more strenuous. Another 2 patients showed both exercise-induced ST-segment elevation and angina in early morning and afternoon, and they had the characteristic history of more episodes at night and in early morning but only occasionally in the daytime with or without relation to activity. One of the two patients showed intermittent ST-segment elevation during the exercise test. The other two patients had exercise-induced episodes neither in the early morning nor in the afternoon; they had a characteristic history of episodes only at night during sleep but never in the early morning nor in the daytime. Atropine did not suppress the exercise-induced angina in 4 of 5 patients studied. Doxazosin or phentolamine suppressed the exercise-induced episodes in 3 of 5 patients studied but aggravated spontaneous episodes in 3 patients. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that there's possibility of presence of different patterns of exercise-induced coronary spasm, which may be induced by different mechanisms from those in spontaneous episodes in patients with variant angina.
Atropine ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Vessels ; Depression ; Doxazosin ; Exercise Test ; Humans ; Phentolamine ; Spasm*

Anisakiasis is a rare finding in the colon in comparison with its involvement in the stomach. Also, anisakiasis of the colon is usually incidentally diagnosed during either endoscopy or on operation for intestinal obstruction due to the fact that anisakiasis of the colon does not have typical clinical features. In other words, the diagnosis of colonic anisakiasis is usually made after surgical exploration. We herein report on two cases of anisakiasis of the colon that were treated successfully by colonoscopic removal of the worm without any surgery. A review of the related literature is included.
Anisakiasis* ; Colon* ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Stomach

BACKGROUND: The prediction of the postoperative cardiac complications is important in the medical management of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Several indices have been developed to predict the outcome, but their usefulness has neither been evaluated nor been widely used. The purpose of this study was to assess the NT-proBNP as a prognostic factor for the prediction of the postoperative cardiac risk as compared with the existing cardiac indices in elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. METHODS: From September 2003 to January 2004, we examined 50 patients older than 60 years, who were scheduled to undergo orthopedic surgery. The plasma NT-proBNP concentration, clinical cardiac indices and left ventricular ejection fraction were measured prior to the operation. The postoperative outcomes were followed and predictors for postoperative cardiac risk were identified. RESULTS: Cardiac complications occurred in 22% of the patients. A statistically significant increase in the cardiac complications was observed in the patients with higher plasma concentration of NT-proBNP (p<0.001), higher original cardiac index score (p<0.001), higher revised cardiac index score (p=0.004) and that fell into the major group of the American college of cardiology/American heart association guidelines (p=0.018). The NT-proBNP concentrations were positively correlated with the original cardiac index score (r=0.666, p<0.001), revised cardiac index score (r=0.429, p=0.002) and grouping by the ACC/AHA guidelines (r=0.497, p<0.001). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for the plasma NT-proBNP (0.946, 95% CI) was superior to the other cardiac indices. The optimal cut-off point for the prediction of postoperative cardiac complications occurred at a plasma NT-proBNP, concentration of 539.3 pg/mL and provided a 90.9% sensitivity, 92.3% sensitivity, 79.9% positive predictive value and 97.3% negative predictive value. The independent predictors for postoperative adverse cardiac event were age and Goldman index. CONCLUSION: The plasma NT-proBNP level may be a useful parameter for the prediction of postoperative cardiac complications.
Aged* ; Heart ; Humans ; Orthopedics ; Plasma* ; Risk Assessment ; Stroke Volume