Relation of preservation of nitric oxide–dependent coronary vasomotor function to plasma vitamin C concentrations in cardiac transplant recipients

Abstract

tion confirmed by enzymes were reassigned to the group without widely patent arteries, the sensitivity and specificity of the electrocardiogram increased to 90% (95% CI 0.79 to 1.00) and 98% (95% CI 0.94 to 1.00), respectively. The absence of dynamic ECG changes with chest pain was a powerful predictor of a widely patent stent. There was only 1 occluded stent in patients without dynamic ECG changes. This was in a stent placed in a vein graft to the circumflex, an area of the heart where ECG changes are more difficult to detect. Typical chest pain did not correlate with stent patency. A previous study reported a relation between typical chest pain and subacute stent thrombosis; however, unlike the present study, reviewers with knowledge of stent patency evaluated chest pain.1 In our patients, there was no difference in the use of narcotics, intravenous nitrates, and heparin between patients with patent and without widely patent stents. The time to chest pain and angiography after stenting was different between the 2 groups. Patients with stent occlusion presented early, correlating with other studies in patients treated with combined antiplatelet therapy.4–6 This retrospective study evaluated patients presenting within 1 month of coronary stenting. The presence or absence of dynamic ECG changes proved to be highly predictive of the patency status of the stented vessel.