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Presents letters to the editors related to the dose increase of imatinib mesylate may overcome acquired resistance in bcr/abl-positive acute lymphoid leukemia. Principal mechanisms by which resistance to imatinib can develop; Indication on the increase of imatinib in chronic myelogenous leukemia; Inclusion of the complete hemtologic, cytogenetic and molecular remission with standard induction therapy.

This paper reports the rationale for the cardiovascular protective effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and reviews the overall results of recent randomized clinical trials. ACE-inhibitors prevent degradation of bradykinin, exert anti-ischemic action, inhibit thrombosis and platelet aggregation, are antiatherogenic, improve endothelial function and vessel remodeling, and have anti-inflammatory properties. Previous trials have shown that ACE-inhibitors reduce cardiovascular events in patients with heart failure or ventricular dysfunction. These findings have recently been extended to patients with lower risk profile, no evidence of heart failure and in secondary prevention using lipophilic ACE-inhibitors with high affinity for tissue ACE, i.e. those most likely to have high antiatherosclerotic efficacy. The central role of long-acting lipophilic ACE-inhibitors for cardiovascular protection has been clearly established and they should now be considered as a routine treatment for secondary prevention in the same way as aspirin, beta-blockers and statins.

Unlabelled: Cardiovascular disease is a major public health problem. Rapid and accurate diagnosis in the emergency department is essential for timely initiation of treatment, thus any means for improving the speed and accuracy of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) diagnosis can contribute to better clinical and economic outcomes. Measurement of circulating level of troponin has proven to be a sensitive and specific test for cardiac damage detection but they do not discriminate between ischemic and not ischemic etiologies of myocardial injury. Combining troponin with other cardiac biomarkers may offer complimentary information on the underlying pathobiology and prognosis in an individual patient, may increase the analytic sensitivity for myocardial damage and offer insights into the timing and mechanism of myocardial injury. Several prospective epidemiological studies have documented an association between inflammatory markers and cardiovascular disease and their role in primary and secondary prevention and as predictor of mortality., Objective: We sought to report a selected but representative evidence on some new biological markers of cardiac damage, including inflammatory cytokines in patients with cardiovascular disease., Data Sources: We searched in Medline from January 1998 to March 2005 for all studies focusing on the diagnostic and prognostic value of new markers of cardiac damage in patients with ACS and heart failure., Conclusion: The use of necrotic markers to risk stratify patients with chest pain has become an established practice in the clinical setting while the role of other inflammatory biomarkers, despite being still undefined, seems promising under both pathophysiologic and prognostic perspective.