Aortic Dimensions Are Larger in Patients With Fibromuscular Dysplasia.

Background Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a disease of unknown etiology that causes stenosis, aneurysmal dilatation, and dissection of vascular beds. Known to affect medium-sized arteries, FMD is not typically considered to affect the aorta. We tested the hypothesis that aortic size in FMD is abnormal compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Methods and Results Medical records and computed tomography angiography images were reviewed in female patients with a diagnosis of FMD who were seen in the vascular medicine clinic at Emory Healthcare. Aortic dimensions were measured at 6 different landmarks. Using 2 sample t tests, the aortic measurements and height-indexed measurements were compared with published normal values in healthy women of a similar age. A total of 94 female patients were included in the study. The median age was 57 (interquartile range, 50-65). FMD involvement was present most commonly in the extracranial carotid (77.7%) and renal (43.6%) arteries. All 6 aortic segments were found to be larger in both absolute measures and height-indexed measures in the FMD population (P<0.001). The largest differences were observed within the absolute measures of the sinotubular junction with mean±SD (mm) (29.9±4.1) versus (27±2.5), ascending aorta (32.7±4.4) versus (30.0±3.5), and descending aorta (24.7±3.0) versus (22.0±2.0) (P<0.001). Conclusions Aortic diameters in female patients with FMD are larger when compared with published age- and sex-matched normal values. These findings suggest that FMD may also affect the large-sized arteries.

Berries and Their Polyphenols as a Potential Therapy for Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction: A Mini-Review.

Ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA) is a common diagnosis with a higher prevalence in women compared to men. Despite the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease and no structural heart disease, INOCA is associated with major adverse cardiovascular outcomes as well a significant contributor to angina and related disability. A major feature of INOCA is coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), which can be detected by non-invasive imaging and invasive coronary physiology assessments in humans. CMD is associated with epicardial endothelial-dependent and -independent dysfunction, diffuse atherosclerosis, and left-ventricular hypertrophy, all of which lead to insufficient blood flow to the myocardium. Inflammatory and oxidative stress signaling, upregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and adrenergic receptor signaling are major drivers of CMD. Treatment of CMD centers around addressing cardiovascular risk factors; however, there are limited treatment options for those who do not respond to traditional anti-anginal therapies. In this review, we highlight the ability of berry-derived polyphenols to modulate those pathways. The evidence supports the need for future clinical trials to investigate the effectiveness of berries and their polyphenols in the treatment of CMD in INOCA patients.

Quantitative high-efficiency cadmium-zinc-telluride SPECT with dedicated parallel-hole collimation system in obese patients: results of a multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a common source of artifact on conventional SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We evaluated image quality and diagnostic performance of high-efficiency (HE) cadmium-zinc-telluride parallel-hole SPECT MPI for coronary artery disease (CAD) in obese patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: 118 consecutive obese patients at three centers (BMI 43.6 ± 8.9 kg·m(-2), range 35-79.7 kg·m(-2)) had upright/supine HE-SPECT and invasive coronary angiography > 6 months (n = 67) or low likelihood of CAD (n = 51). Stress quantitative total perfusion deficit (TPD) for upright (U-TPD), supine (S-TPD), and combined acquisitions (C-TPD) was assessed. Image quality (IQ; 5 = excellent; < 3 nondiagnostic) was compared among BMI 35-39.9 (n = 58), 40-44.9 (n = 24) and ≥45 (n = 36) groups. ROC curve area for CAD detection (≥50% stenosis) for U-TPD, S-TPD, and C-TPD were 0.80, 0.80, and 0.87, respectively. Sensitivity/specificity was 82%/57% for U-TPD, 74%/71% for S-TPD, and 80%/82% for C-TPD. C-TPD had highest specificity (P = .02). C-TPD normalcy rate was higher than U-TPD (88% vs 75%, P = .02). Mean IQ was similar among BMI 35-39.9, 40-44.9 and ≥45 groups [4.6 vs 4.4 vs 4.5, respectively (P = .6)]. No patient had a nondiagnostic stress scan. CONCLUSIONS: In obese patients, HE-SPECT MPI with dedicated parallel-hole collimation demonstrated high image quality, normalcy rate, and diagnostic accuracy for CAD by quantitative analysis of combined upright/supine acquisitions.