[Assessment of possible correlations between endogenous androgens and the extent of coronary heart disease and left ventricle function]. / Badanie korelacji stezenia meskich hormonów plciowych ze stanem zaawansowania choroby wiencowej i funkcja lewej komory serca.

In men, androgens and especially testosterone are considered responsible for the much higher rate of coronary artery disease. The male gender is an independent coronary artery disease risk factor. An adverse correlation between endogenous testosterone levels and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis has been demonstrated in just one study. In our study, we investigated the associations between endogenous sex hormone levels and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis, ejection fraction of the left ventricle and coronary heart disease risk factors.

[Ischemic heart disease and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease--simultaneous 24 monitoring of ECG and oesophageal pH]. / Choroba niedokrwienna serca a choroba refluksowa przelyku-ocena za pomoca jednoczasowego 24-godzinnego monitorowania EKG i pH w przelyku.

AIM: To determine the correlation between episodes of ischaemia in ECG recordings with pathologic gastro-esophageal reflux during simultaneous 24 hour monitoring of ECG and oesophageal pH. METHODS: Simultaneous 24 hour monitoring of ECG and oesophageal pH was performed in 30 patients (p) (26 M/4F, aged 39-74) with coronary artery disease of CCS class II-III, CAD was confirmed in coronary angiography. Analysis of the oesophageal pH was performed by using the Polygram programme (PW-version 2.04 Esophogram-version 2.01). ST depression > 1 mm and lasting at least 1 min was regarded as significant in ECG monitoring. Pathologic gastro-esophageal reflux was defined as a drop in pH < 4 lasting more than 5 min. Gastrooesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was diagnosed when a drop in pH < 4 lasted for more than 5% of the monitoring period. Gastro-oesophageal reflux dependent ST depression was defined as an ST depression that occurred during reflux episode and lasted up until 10 min from the end of the reflux. RESULTS: 26 patients (87%) had a total of 116 episodes of ST depression and 21 out of the 116 episodes (18%) were Gastro-oesophageal reflux time dependent. Fifteen patients (50%), had at least one episode of ST depression, depending on the time of reflux. Pathologic gastro-esophageal reflux was present in 25 patients (85%). In 14 patients (46.6%), the GERD pH criteria were fulfilled. In this group of patients, there was a significantly longer time of total ST depression (total ischaemic burden). CONCLUSIONS: 1. GERD is a frequent disease in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease. 2. Pathological gastroesophageal reflux can induce myocardial ischaemia, which can be determined by analysis of ST depression during 24 hour monitoring of ECG.