European heart journal
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European heart journal · May 2005
Comparative StudyTIMI, PURSUIT, and GRACE risk scores: sustained prognostic value and interaction with revascularization in NSTE-ACS.
Regarding prognosis, patients with a non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are a very heterogeneous population, with varying risks of early and long-term adverse events. Early risk stratification at admission seems to be essential for a tailored therapeutic strategy. We sought to compare the prognostic value of three ACS risk scores (RSs) and their ability to predict benefit from myocardial revascularization performed during initial hospitalization. ⋯ The RSs studied demonstrated a good predictive accuracy for death or MI at 1 year and enabled the identification of high-risk subsets of patients who will benefit most from myocardial revascularization performed during initial hospital stay.
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European heart journal · May 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEffect of spinal cord stimulation on spontaneous and stress-induced angina and 'ischemia-like' ST-segment depression in patients with cardiac syndrome X.
A significant number of patients with cardiac syndrome X (CSX) present frequent episodes of severe chest pain, refractory to maximal multi-drug therapy. A few, small, uncontrolled data suggested that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may have favourable clinical benefits in these patients. ⋯ Our data point out that SCS may be an effective form of treatment in patients with CSX suffering from frequent angina episodes significantly impairing quality of life (QOL) and refractory to maximally tolerated drug therapy.
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European heart journal · May 2005
Abnormal cortical pain processing in patients with cardiac syndrome X.
Previous studies suggested that an enhanced pain sensitivity is present in patients with cardiac syndrome X (SX). We investigated whether SX patients present abnormalities in the electrical cerebral signals generated by pain stimuli. ⋯ Our data show that in SX patients, central handling of painful stimuli is characterized by inadequate habituation, which might play a role in determining the peculiar clinical characteristics of anginal chest pain of these patients.