Coronary artery ectasia is a relatively common entity characterized by inappropriate dilatation of the coronary vasculature. The exact mechanism of its development is unknown, but evidence suggests a combination of genetic predisposition, common risk factors for coronary artery disease and abnormal vessel wall metabolism. It frequently coexists with aneurysms elsewhere, mostly involving the aorta. In this review, the flow disturbances that are associated with this condition and the imaging modalities, which can be used for diagnosis and prospective follow-up are described. The prognosis of coronary ectasias is controversial and prospective studies focusing on conservative or invasive strategies to prevent cardiac complications are needed.

Advances in the medical and surgical management of Tetralogy of Fallot have led to marked increase of the number and age of survivors. Imaging in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and follow up, and essentially guides management and intervention in this entity. This study systematically reviews the imaging modalities used in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot in the evaluation of preoperative and postoperative anatomic and hemodynamic lesions, as well as disease progression in this diagnosis. Various invasive and noninvasive imaging modalities, most commonly echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance, computed tomography and angiocardiography provide the imaging information required for diagnosis, management and follow up in Tetralogy of Fallot. The choice of the appropriate imaging tool or their combination is guided by the clinical question, the patient’s clinical condition and contraindications as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each imaging modality. Tetralogy of Fallot is the most common complex congenital heart disease with long term survivors that need close follow up and complicated management, including multiple surgical and transcatheter interventions. Knowledge of the role and protocols of imaging in Tetralogy of Fallot is extremely important for the clinical as well as the imaging physician in order to optimize patients’ management and long-term prognosis.

Abundant evidence supports the central role of inflammatory cytokines in immune responses mediating the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and its complications, such as myocardial infarction and unstable angina. We investigated the association of genetic polymorphisms of the inflammatory cytokines, IL-10, TGF-beta1, IFN-gamma, IL-6, and TNF-alpha with the clinical presentation of coronary artery disease in 26 patients with stable angina, 45 patients with unstable angina and 58 patients who had experienced nonfatal myocardial infarction. Genotyping was performed by the sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction method. A significant difference in the frequencies of -174G/C IL-6 alleles was observed, with the low in-vitro producing -174*C allele predominating in patients with myocardial infarction, compared with stable angina and unstable angina patients, after the analysis of genotypes (P=0.024 and 0.022, respectively), phenotypes [P=0.0099, odds ratio (OR)=0.271, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.1012-0.7292; P=0.03, OR=0.40, respectively] and haplotypes (P=0.007, OR=3.028, 95% CI=1.347-6.806; P=0.0096, OR=2.368, 95% CI=1.262-4.444; respectively). In addition, a predominance of the -1082ACC/ATA IL-10 genotype in the myocardial infarction group compared with the unstable angina group and the -874 A/A IFN-gamma genotype in the stable angina group compared with the unstable angina and the myocardial infarction group, was found. No significant differences in the distribution of genotypes, phenotypes and haplotypes in the three study groups, for the TNF-alpha-308 A/G and TGF-beta1-codon 25 G/C, codon 10 T/C polymorphisms were detected. Our data provide evidence that the IL-6-174G/C polymorphism may be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease, contributing to genetic susceptibility for myocardial infarction.