MRI Of Vessel Wall Thickness Links Pericardial Fat With CVD

Upper frames show minimal pericardial
fat corresponding to minimal plaque
eccentricity in cross-sectional image of
right coronary artery. Lower frames show 
a large amount of pericardial fat with a 
corresponding high degree of plaque
eccentricity in cross-sectional image of right 
coronary artery. (Images used by permission 
of Radiology)

Using MRI to measure plaque in coronary arteries, researchers have determined that fat around the heart is a better predictor of atherosclerosis than BMI and waist circumference in asymptomatic men but not women.

When the researchers made adjustments for BMI, waist circumference, C-reactive protein level and coronary artery calcium content, the relationship between pericardial fat and coronary atherosclerosis remained significant in men but not in women.  (Link to published site)

Stress Echocardiography Predictive of Heart Attack or Death in HIV Patients

Abnormal results on a stress echo-
cardiogram in HIV patients with
known or suspected heart disease

 predict dramatically higher risk of
heart attack or cardiac death.
(Image courtesy: Wikipedia, taken by

Kjetil Lenes)

HIV patients with abnormal results on a ultrasound stress test have nearly a 10 times higher risk of a heart attack or cardiac death than the normal population, and more than three times the risk of people without HIV who have an abnormal stress echocardiogram a new study shows.

Senior author of the study, Dr. Farooq Chaudhry, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City performed stress echo tests on 311 HIV patients with suspected or known heart disease. They reported their findings online before the July 12, 2011 print issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.

The researchers looked at whether stress echo can help predict risk of heart attack and death in a high-risk population, in this case HIV patients with known or suspected heart disease. HIV infection and the drugs used to treat it have been associated with accelerated coronary artery disease and cardiovascular events in prior research. While stress echocardiography is an accepted method of diagnosis, risk evaluation and prognosis of coronary artery disease, its prognostic value in HIV-positive patients is unknown. (Link to published site)

Stress Echocardiography Predictive of Heart Attack or Death in HIV Patients

Abnormal results on a stress echocardiogram in
HIV patients with known or suspected heart
 disease predict dramatically higher risk of
heart attack or cardiac death.
(Image courtesy: Wikipedia, taken by Kjetil Lenes)

HIV patients with abnormal results on a ultrasound stress test have nearly a 10 times higher risk of a heart attack or cardiac death than the normal population, and more than three times the risk of people without HIV who have an abnormal stress echocardiogram a new study shows.

Senior author of the study, Dr. Farooq Chaudhry, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City performed stress echo tests on 311 HIV patients with suspected or known heart disease. They reported their findings online before the July 12, 2011 print issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. (Link to published site)