Effect of diltiazem on silent myocardial ischemia]

Thirty-four patients with coronary heart disease who had silent myocardiac ischemic episodes as evidenced by long-term ECG monitoring were examined. Silent ST-segment elevations and depressions were encountered 2.7- and 4.9-fold as compared to manifest ones. The fact that the CHD patients had silent ST-segment depressions and/or prolonged high-amplitude silent ST-segment elevations suggests a grave severity of abnormal myocardial processes. There was a reduction in the number, duration of silent ST-segment elevations and depression episodes and in the amplitude of silent ST-segment depressions. This may indirectly indicate that the agent affects predominantly coronary blood flow and coronary vascular tone.     

Thrombolytic reperfusion of coronary arteries and the function of the left ventricle in acute myocardial infarction

Left-ventricular myocardial contractility was assessed in thrombolytically-treated patients with acute myocardial infarction. General and local left-ventricular activity was shown to deteriorate progressively in patients with "late" or altogether absent recovery of coronary flow, whereas patients with early recovery of coronary flow demonstrated intact general contractility parameters and better contractility in the affected area. Coronary reperfusion within 5-6 hours helps to maintain functional capacity, which is less marked than the one in patients with early reperfusion.     

Integrated photothermal flow cytometry in vivo

The capability of integrated flow cytometry to detect, in real time, moving cells in their natural states in vivo is demonstrated in a study of circulating red and white blood cells in lymph and blood flow of rat mesentery. This system combines dual pump-probe photothermal (PT) techniques, such as PT imaging, the PT thermolens method, and PT velocimetry, with high-resolution (up to 0.3 microm), high-speed (up to 1000 fps) transmission digital microscopy (TDM) and fluorescence imaging. All PT techniques are based on irradiation of cells in rat mesenteric microvessels with a spectrally tunable laser pulse (420 to 570 nm, 8 ns, 0.1 to 300 microJ) and on detection of temperature-dependent variations of the refractive index with a second continuous probe laser beam (633 nm, 1.4 mW). We focus on intravital monitoring of the integral PT response from single, moving, unlabeled cells (from 100 to 500 cells in one measurement). Potential in vivo applications of this new optical tool, called PT flow cytometry (PTFC), are discussed, including identification of selected cells with differences in natural absorptive properties and sizes, determination of laser-induced cell damage, estimation of flow velocity, and monitoring of circulating cells labeled with PT probes.     

Clinico-immunologic parallels of patients with circulatory insufficiency

T cell and lymphocyte subpopulation counts measured by surface markers (T helpers and T suppressors), lymphocyte blast transformation with FHA, IgA, IgM and IgG levels and phagocytosis were evaluated in 45 patients with circulatory insufficiency (CI), including 30 with coronary heart disease (CHD) and 15 with dilatation cardiomyopathy (DCMP). Three patterns of immunologic response were identified: the first one (intact immunity) was found in normal subjects, coronary patients without CI and those with first-stage CI; the second pattern (immune dysfunction) was detected in coronary patients with CI, stage 2A and DCMP patients with CI, stage 2B; the third pattern (immune deficiency) was present in coronary and DCMP patients with CI, stage 2B-3. The extent of immunologic reactivity disturbance is shown to depend on the severity of CI. DCMP was associated with a deficiency of T suppressors that may be useful as an additional diagnostic sign of this condition.