Noninvasive postoperative angiography for internal mammary artery grafts

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in a patient with Behçet's disease

We report the case of a 58-year-old man with Behçet's disease who developed chest pain. Coronary angiography showed severe triple-vessel disease, and the patient was transferred to our department for urgent coronary artery bypass grafting. Because of the risk of anastomotic leakage or pseudoaneurysm formation, we performed off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting with the aortic no-touch technique. Postoperative coronary angiography showed that all the grafts were patent and no anastomotic pseudoaneurysms were observed. Pathological examination of the right internal thoracic artery specimen revealed mild intimal thickening and disruption of elastic fibers in the medial layer, both of which are characteristics of Behçet's disease. These findings indicated that the patient must be monitored carefully for postoperative pseudoaneurysm formation.

Increased levels of low-density lipoprotein oxidation in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and in end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis suffer from accelerated atherosclerosis. Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is crucial in atherogenesis. In the present study, we determined the LDL oxidation level and oxidizability of isolated LDL of 11 male patients with FH, 15 male ESRD patients on hemodialysis, and 15 age-matched male normolipidemic healthy controls. FH patients were without lipid-lowering medication for at least 4 weeks and were reassessed after 2 years of cholesterol-lowering therapy (statins). LDL oxidation level was measured by ELISA using monoclonal antibody 4E6 to oxidized LDL (oxLDL) as the capture antibody and anti-human apoB antibody for detection; results were expressed as percentage oxLDL. In FH patients and in ESRD patients on hemodialysis, both groups having a higher percentage of cardiovascular disease, mean plasma LDL oxidation levels were significantly elevated compared with controls (4.9 +/- 1.3; 3.7 +/- 2.0; 1.7 +/- 0.6%, respectively). Within each group of subjects, LDL oxidation level was not associated with history of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, in neither group was a significant correlation found between plasma concentration of LDL cholesterol and LDL oxidation level. After cholesterol-lowering therapy, LDL oxidation level in FH patients had not changed significantly and remained elevated compared with controls, despite a reduction of LDL cholesterol by 55% on average. Also, absolute plasma oxLDL concentrations, obtained by multiplying LDL oxidation level with plasma LDL cholesterol concentration, were significantly higher in FH patients before and after cholesterol-lowering therapy and in ESRD patients on hemodialysis than in controls (489 +/- 145; 189 +/- 122; 100 +/- 65; and 59 +/- 27 micro moles/L, respectively). No correlation was found between plasma oxLDL concentration and parameters of LDL oxidizability, LDL fatty acids, and LDL alpha-tocopherol content. We conclude that cholesterol-lowering therapy does not normalize elevated LDL oxidation levels in FH patients and elevated LDL oxidation level in FH and in ESRD might mirror atherosclerosis.