• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.268-277
• /
• 2009

Ginsenosides are among the most well-known traditional herbal medicines frequently used for the treatment of cardiovascular symptoms in South Korea. The anti-ischemic effects of compound K (CK), a metabolite of ginsenoside Rb1, on ischemia-induced isolated rat hearts were investigated through the analyses of the changes in the hemodynamics (blood pressure, aortic flow, coronary flow, and cardiac output) and the measurement of the infarct region. The subjects in this study were divided into four groups: the normal control, the CK-alone group, the ischemia-induced group without any treatment, and the ischemia-induced group treated with CK. No significant differences in perfusion pressure, aortic flow, coronary flow, and cardiac output were found between the groups before ischemia was induced. The oxygen and buffer supply was stopped for 30 min to induce ischemia 60 min after reperfusion in the isolated rat hearts, and the CK was administered 5 min before ischemia induction. The CK treatment significantly prevented decreases in perfusion pressure, aortic flow, coronary flow, and cardiac output under ischemic conditions. In addition, the hemodynamics (except for the heart rate) of the group treated with CK significantly recovered 60 min after reperfusion, unlike in the control group. CK significantly limited the infarct. These results suggest that CK treatment has distinct anti-ischemic effects in an exvivo model of an ischemia-reperfusion-induced rat heart.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.283-293
• /
• 2009

Ginsenosides, one of the most well-known traditional herbal medicines, are used frequently in Korea for the treatment of cardiovascular symptoms. The effects of ginseng saponin on ischemia-induced isolated rat heart were investigated through analyses of hemodynamic changes including perfusion pressure, aortic flow, coronary flow, and cardiac output. Isolated rat hearts were perfused and then subjected to 30 min of global ischemia followed by 60 min of reperfusion with modified Kreb's Henseleit solution. Myocardial contractile function was continuously recorded. Ginseng saponin administered before inducing ischemia significantly prevented decreases in perfusion pressure, aortic flow, coronary flow, and cardiac output. The ginseng saponin administered group significantly recovered all of the hemodynamic parameters, except heart rate, after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) compared with ischemia control. The intracellular calcium ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) content in rat neonatal cardiomyocytes was quantitatively determined. Administration of ginseng saponin significantly prevented $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase that had been induced by simulated I/R in vitro (p<0.01) in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that the cardioprotection of ginseng saponin is mediated by the inhibition of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increase. Overall, we found that the administration of ginseng saponin has cardioprotective effects on the isolated rat heart after I/R injury. These results indicate that ginseng saponin has distinct cardioprotective effects in an I/R-induced rat heart.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.288-297
• /
• 2002

Purpose: Soft tissue attenuation and scattering are major methodological limitations of myocardial perfusion SPECT. To overcome these limitations, algorithms for attenuation, scatter correction and resolution recovery (ASCRR) is being developed, while quantitative myocardial SPECT has also become available. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of an ASCRR-corrected quantitative myocardial SPECT method for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Materials and Methods: Seventy-five patients (M:F=51:24, $61.0{\pm}8.9$ years old) suspected of CAD who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) within $7{\pm}12$ days of SPECT(Group-I) and 20 subjects (M:F=10:10, age $40.6{\pm}9.4$) with a low likelihood of coronary artery disease (Group-II) were enrolled. Tl-201 rest/ dipyridamole-stress Tc-99m-MIBI gated myocardial SPECT was performed. ASCRR correction was peformed using a Gd-153 line source and automatic software (Vantage-Pro; ADAC Labs, USA). Using a 20-segment model, segmental perfusion was automatically quantified on both the ASCRR-corrected and uncorrected images using an automatic quantifying software (AutoQUANT; ADAC Labs.). Using these quantified values, CAD was diagnosed in each of the 3 coronary arterial territories. The diagnostic performance of ASCRR-corrected SPECT was compared with that of non-corrected SPECT. Results: Among the 75 patients of Group-I, 9 patients had normal CAG while the remaining 66 patients had 155 arterial lesions; 61 left anterior descending (LAD), 48 left circumflex (LCX) and 46 right coronary (RCA) arterial lesions. For the LAD and LCX lesions, there was no significant difference in diagnostic performance. In Group-II patients, the overall normalcy rate improved but this improvement was not statistically significant (p=0.07). However, for RCA lesions, specificity improved significantly but sensitivity worsened significantly with ASCRR correction (both p<0.05). Overall accuracy was the same. Conclusion: The ASCRR correction did not improve diagnostic performance significantly although the diagnostic specificity for RCA lesions improved on quantitative myocardial SPECT. The clinical application of the ASC-RR correction requires more discretion regarding cost and efficacy.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.67-72
• /
• 1997

Myocardial scintigraphy is a widely used noninvasive procedure with high sensitivity for the detection of patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic value of a normal myocardial scintigraphy in 292 patients (150 males, 142 females, mean age $53{\pm}12$ years) with chest pain who were followed from 7 to 58 (mean 25) months. Myocardial SPECT was performed with Tc-99m MIBI in 173 patients, with Tc-99m tetrofosmin in 74 patients and with T1-201 in 45 patients. During the follow-up period, there were 2 cardiac deaths and 2 nonfatal myocardial infarctions resulting in cardiac event rate of 1.37% (0.66% Per Year). The cardiac event rate was not different in patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (1/30, 3.3%) and in those who had significant coronary artery disease (2/27, 7.4%) (p=0.60). In conclusion, patients with chest pain and normal myocardial scintigraphy have a low cardiac event rate, and there was no significant difference of. cardiac event rates between patients with normal and abnormal coronary angiograms.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.15-23
• /
• 2009

Constant technological developments in coronary artery disease have contributed to the assessment of both the presence of coronary stenosis and its hemodynamic consequences. Hence, noninvasive imaging helps guide therapeutic decisions by providing complementary information on coronary morphology and on myocardial perfusion and metabolism. This can he done using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) and multidetector CT (MDCT). Advances in image-processing software and the advent of SPECT/CT and PET/CT have paved the way for the combination of image datasets from different modalities, giving rise to hybrid imaging. Three dimensional cardiac hybrid imaging helped to confirm hemodynamic significance in many lesions, add new lesions such as left main coronay artery disease, exclude equivocal defects, correct the corresponding arteries to their allocated defects and identify culprit segment. Cardiac hybrid imaging avoids the mental integration of functional and morphologic images and facilitates a comprehensive interpretation of coronaty lesions and their pathophysiologic adequacy by three dimensional display of fused images, and allows the best evaluation of myocardial territories and the coronary-artery branches that serve each territory. This integration of functional and morphological information were feasible to intuitively convincing and might facilitate development of a comprehensive non-invasive assessment of coronary artery disease.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.72-81
• /
• 1992

Pharmacologic coronary vasodilation in conjunction with myocardial scintigraphy has become an accepted alternative to dynamic exercise testing for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Although dipyridamole has traditionally been used for this purpose, it causes frequent side effect, which at times can be life-threatening. Moreover, dipyridamole dose not elicit maximal coronary vasodilation in a substantial number of patients receiving the usual i.v. dose. Adenosine is an endogenously produced compound that has significant effects as a coronary vasodilator and rapid onset action and extremely short half-life (< 10 seconds). The diagnostic accuracy and safety profile of adenosine $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ myocardial scintigraphy were evaluated and comparison with exercise $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ was performed. Twenty-eight subjects underwent $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ imaging after adenosine infusion and exercise $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ imaging. Adenosine was infused intravenously at a dose of 0.14mg/kg/body weight per minute for 6 min and MIBI was injected at 3 minute. Adenosine caused an incerease in heart rate ($64{\pm}12$ at baseline versus $74{\pm}16$ beats/min at peak effect, p<0.001), a mild decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and a slightly increase in PR interval(p; NS). Side effects were reported in 92% of patients and were mostly mild in nature and promptly resolved within 1 or 2 minutes of termination of adenosine infusion. Facial flushing (53%), chest pain (36%), mild dyspnea (39%), headache (21%), throat discomfort (21%) were frequent symptoms. ST segment depression (> 1 mm) and second degree AV block in electrocardiography occured in 11% of the patients, respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity for individual coronary stenoses in 16 patients underwent coronary angiography were 88% and 95%, respectively. The agreement ratio of segmental perfusion between adenosine and exercise images was 92% (Kappa index=0.82). In conclusion, $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with intravenous adenosine is a feasible, safe and highly accurate noninvasive technique for the detection of coronary artery disease and results are at least comparable with those of exercise $^{99m}Tc-MIBI$ scintigraphy.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.49-53
• /
• 2016

Purpose Recently, Cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) semiconductor myocardial SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) has been used myocardial scintigraphy. In this study, the performance of Semiconductor SPECT and conventional SPECT systems was compared by a comprehensive analysis of phantom SPECT images. Materials and Methods Methods: We evaluated the DSPECT CZT SEPCT (Spectrum-dynamic) and INFINA conventional (GE). Physical performance was compared on reconstructed SPECT images from a phantom. Results For count sensitivity on cardiac phantom images ($counts{\cdot}sec^{-1}{\cdot}MBq^{-1}$), DSPECT had a sensitivity of conventional SPECT. This classification was similar to that of myocardial counts normalized to injected activities from phantom images (respective mean values, $counts{\cdot}sec^{-1}{\cdot}MBq^{-1}$: 195.83 and 52.83). For central spatial resolution: DSPECT, 9.47mm; conventional SPECT, 16.90mm. For contrast-to-noise ratio on the phantom: DSPECT, 4.2; conventional SPECT, 3.6. Conclusion The performance of CZT cameras is dramatically higher than that of conventional SPECT. However, CZT cameras differ in that spatial resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio are better with conventional SPECT, whereas count sensitivity is markedly higher with the DSPECT.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.970-978
• /
• 1988

There is tendency of increasing number and decreasing age of patients who are indicated for Rastelli operation for their cyanotic congenital heart disease. So there is the need to find the criterion which saves the patients from early postoperative hemodynamic disturbances. We reviewed the 26 patients who had been performed Rastelli operation at Seoul national University Hospital from January 1981 to June 1988. mean age of the patients was 7.8*3.4 years[range 2.5-15years], mean body surface area[BSA] 0.79*0.25m2[range 0.49-1.51m2] and mean hematocrit 57.95*12%[range 48-80%]. We divided these patients into survived group and died group before postoperative 72 hours, and analyzed preoperative arterial oxygen saturation[SaO2], the ratio of diameter of right pulmonary artery to ascending aorta[RPA/AA], the ratio of both right and left pulmonary artery diameter to descending thoracic aorta[RPA+LPA/DTA], pulmonary artery index[PA index], cardiopulmonary bypass time, aorta cross-clamping time, postoperative perfusion state and total amount of dopamine infused postoperatively. The results showed that RPA+LPA/DTA and PA index were statistically significant factors to influence early postoperative cardiac death rate[P< 0.05]. Especially there were good linear correlations between PA index[X] and peripheral perfusion index[Y][Y= - 1.15+0.02 X, r=0.86, P<0.01]and between PA index[X] and total amount of dopamine infused before postoperative 72 hours[mg/kg, Y][Y=61.94 - 0.15 X, r=-0.80, P < 0.01]. Also there were tendencies that the higher RPA+LPA/DTA[Y], the better peripheral perfusion [X] and the lower need of dopamine[X], but no statistical significance.[Y=0.78+1.60 X, r =0. 49, P >0.05] And the discriminate analysis showed that patients with PA index over 221 mm2/BSA could undergo correction with 25 per cent of error rate. In conclusion, early postoperative hemodynamic states could be predicted by preoperatively measured PA index, and which can be used as a criterion for Rastelli operation performed on cyanotic congenital heart disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.453-463
• /
• 1995

During 42 month period 91 consecutive patient underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. The mean age of these patient was 57 years [range from 28 to 78 years . There were 57 men and 34 women. The preoperative risk factors that include beyond the 50 % of total patients were male sex, obesity, hypo-high-density lipoproteinemia, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hyper-low-density lipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension. Preoperatively 27 patients had stable angina pectoris and 39 patients of unstable angina pectoris. Twenty five patients had previous myocardial infarction history. The patterns of disease were 8 patients of single vessel involvement, 18 patients of double vessel involvement, 54 patients of triple vessel involvement and 11 patients of left main coronary artery disease. Fifty five patients were in Canadian Cardiovascular Society functional class III. Myocardial revascularization was performed under emergency conditions in 5 patients. Nine percent of patients had previous PTCA history. We performed 16 cases of sequential anastomosis, internal mammary artery harvest in 86 percent of total patients and total 284 distal anastomoses[mean 3.1 anastomosis per patient . The mean ACC time was 60.5 minutes and ECC time was mean 110 minutes. The combined surgeries were 16 cases of endarterectomy, 2 cases of LV aneurysmectomy, 1 case of Bentall operation, 1 case of repair of sinus of Valsalva, 1 case of ligation of coronary AV fistula and 1 case of excision of breast mass. The most common complication was wound infection[12 cases, 13 % . There was one hospital death due to postoperative respiratory failure and low output syndrome in patient with postinfarction VSD, LV aneurysm. Postoperative 88 patients were in Functional class I or II. The 99mTc-MIBI myocardial perfusion scan that used as evaluation of postoperative state was well correlated with patient`s symptoms instead of some disadvantages.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.32-35
• /
• 1993

During the period from September 1989 through December 1992, 118 cases of coronary arterial bypass graft were performed at Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Asan Medical Center. Twenty-one of these had history of recent or remote percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. They consisted of 13 males[age,58.7 + 5.4 years] and 8 females[age, 63.6 + 2.8years] with the mean age of 60.6. History of old myocardial infarction was noted in 24%[5/21] of the patients and congestive heart failure in 2 cases. The angina by type of presentation is unstable in all of the patients. The patterns of involvement of coronary arterial disease were left main disease[1], single vessel disease[5], double vessel involvement[10], and triple vessel involvement[5]. We performed 4 cases of single bypasses, 7 cases of double, 8 cases of triple, and 2 cases of quadruple bypasses. Total of 51 grafts[LIMA:12, RSVG:39] were inserted in 21 cases with average of 2.4 grafts per patient. The methods of myocardial protection were cold blood cardioplegia[8 cases], intermittent aortic occlusion[11], and continuous coronary perfusion with local coronary sharing[2]. There were no operative or late death. The only cardiac complication was 1 case of low cardiac output required IABP. The other complications were 1 case of sternal wound infection and 1 case of postoperative bleeding required reoperation. And there was no case of perioperative myocardial infarction. Postoperatively, 3 cases of recurrent angina were detected at 5, 7, and 18months after surgery. One of them was managed successfully with repeat PTCA[who was recurred 18 months postoperatively], and the other two with medication. I conclude that we can approach the patients more aggressively with PTCA, because of our acceptable operative risks.