Our series is the biggest series where relatively sufficient clinical and angiographic information about the LAD anomalies were provided.

This study shows that atrial electromechanical delay and Pd are prolonged in FMF patients. Atrial electromechanical delay is closely associated with Pd and plasma level of CRP.

Background Isolated single coronary artery (SCA) is an extremely rare congenital coronary anomaly. Some subgroups of SCA can lead to angina pectoris, acute myocardial infarction or even sudden death in the absence of atherosclerosis. Young patients, especially, have the risk of serious clinical events, but middle-aged-to elderly patients have a variable clinical course. Methods and ResultsThe aim of this study was to present the clinical and angiographic properties, relatively long-term follow-up (54±14 months) and management of adult patients (mean age 57±12 years) with SCA. The records of 70,850 patients undergoing coronary angiography between 1999 and 2005 were reviewed. Ten patients (0.024%) were found to have SCA, originating from the left sinus of Valsalva in 3 (30%) patients and from the right sinus of Valsalva in 7 patients (70%). No atherosclerotic involvement was seen in 7 (70%) patients. One patient was also treated by stent implantation to the SCA. Other patients were followed medically. All patients have been followed uneventfully. Conclusion Medical treatment is usually adequate for middle-aged to elderly patients with SCA in the absence of ischemia and/or acute coronary syndrome. (Circ J 2008; 72: 1254 -1258

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a disease characterized by sporadic, paroxysmal attacks of fever and serosal inflammation. QT dispersion (QTd) and transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDR), simple noninvasive arrhythmogenic markers, that can be used to assess homogeneity of cardiac repolarization, have not been studied in FMF patients before. The aim of our study was to evaluate the QTd and TDR in FMF patients without overt cardiac involvement. A total of 50 patients with FMF (30 men, 20 women, 29.4 +/- 11.8 years) and 50 controls (30 men, 20 women; mean age 31.3 +/- 11.9 years) were included. QTd, corrected QTd (cQTd), maximum QT (QTmax), maximum corrected QT (cQTmax), minimum QT (QTmin), and minimum corrected QT intervals (cQTmin) and TDR were measured from standard 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG). We found that QTd, QTmax, and TDR were greater in FMF patients than in the control group (36.0 +/- 11.4 vs. 20 +/- 11.2, P < 0.001 and 354.8 +/- 30.9 vs. 342.8 +/- 18.0, P = 0.02; 62.0 +/- 16.0 vs. 49.0 +/- 9.5 P < 0.001, respectively), as were cQTd and cQTmax (40.4 +/- 13.5 vs. 21.9 +/- 12.4, P < 0.001 and 397.7 +/- 40.2 vs. 375.5 +/- 25.4 P = 0.001). A modest positive correlation was found between cQTd and C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r = 0.30, P < 0.001; r = 0.40, P < 0.001; respectively). QTd, which is an index of inhomogeneity of ventricular repolarization and an important predictor of cardiovascular mortality, and TDR, which is a better marker of cardiac repolarization, increased in FMF patients similarly as in other rheumatologic diseases.

This study showed that intra- and inter-atrial electromechanical intervals were prolonged and diastolic function was impaired in both overt and subclinical hyperthyroidism. TSH level and mitral Em /Am ratio were found as independent predictors of atrial EMD.