Ming-Yow Hung

Taipei Medical University | TMU · Department of Internal Medicine

Controversies regarding the benefits of statin treatment on clinical outcomes in coronary artery spasm (CAS) without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) persist due to limited data. In this retrospective nationwide population‐based cohort study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database during the period 2000–2012, the matche...

Cancer therapy can result in acute cardiac events, such as coronary artery spasm, acute myocardial infarction, thromboembolism, myocarditis, bradycardia, tachyarrhythmias, atrio-ventricular blocks, QT prolongation, torsades de pointes, pericardial effusion, and hypotension, as well as chronic conditions, such as hypertension, and systolic and diast...

The most frequent cause of cardiac failure globally is ischemic heart disease, with chemothera-py-related cardiovascular side effects emerging as the second most frequent cause. Cancer therapy can result in acute cardiac events, such as coronary artery spasm, acute myocardial infarction, thromboembolism, myocarditis, bradycardia, tachyarrhythmias,...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several explanations for the development of cardiovascular complications during and after acute COVID-19 infection have been hypothesized. The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has emerged as one of the deadliest pandemics in moder...

Background: Coronary artery spasm (CAS) can lead to potentially life-threatening acute coronary syndrome. The second messenger cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP), which is regulated by BNP-pGC-cGMP and nitric oxide (NO)-soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC)-cGMP pathways, regulate not only vasodilation but also the functions of immune cells. How...

Background: We previously demonstrated that lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) mediated coronary artery spasm (CAS) through α7-nAChR/p38 MAPK/IL-6/RhoA-GTP signaling stimulation, macrophage M1 polarization and activation of human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCASMCs). While CD36, as a scavenger receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein, was correla...

The novel severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) constitutes the causative agent of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Several mechanisms have been proposed regarding the development of cardiovascular complications during and after acute COVID-19 infection. COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has emerged as one of the deadliest pandemics...

Objective: To review the relevant literature on the use of atrioventricular node ablation and pacing in patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Methods: APubMed/MEDLINE and SCOPUS search was performed in order to assess the clinical outcomes of atrioventricular node ablation and pacemaker implantation, as well as the complications that...

Several studies and research papers have been published to elucidate and understand the mechanism of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its long-term effects on the human body. COVID-19 affects a number of organs, including the female reproductive system. However, less attention has been given to the effects of COVID-19 on the fem...

Although heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome that becomes worse over time, certain cases can be reversed with appropriate treatments. While coronary artery spasm (CAS) is still underappreciated and may be misdiagnosed, ischemia due to coronary artery disease and CAS is becoming the single most frequent cause of HF worldwide. CAS could lead to...

Coronary artery spasm (CAS) is a dynamic coronary stenosis causing vasospastic angina (VSA). However, VSA is a potentially lethal medical condition with multiple presentations, including sudden cardiac death. Despite investigations to explore its pathogenesis, no single mechanism has been found to explain the entire process of VSA occurrence. The r...

Earlier research has suggested that the male reproductive system could be particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection, and infections involving this novel disease not only pose serious health threats but could also cause male infertility. Data from multi-organ research during the recent outbreak indicate that male infertility might n...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) are two chronic disorders that affect millions worldwide. Hyperglycemia can induce excessive generation of highly reactive free radicals that promote oxidative stress and further exacerbate diabetes progression and its complications. Vascular dysfunction and damage to cellular proteins, membrane lipids...

Objective. Apolipoprotein (a)/lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), a major carrier of oxidized phospholipids, and α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7-nAChR) may play an important role in the development of coronary artery spasm (CAS). In CAS, the association between Lp(a) and the α7-nAChR-modulated inflammatory macrophage polarization and activation and smo...

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) constitute two of the leading causes of death in Europe, USA and the rest of the world. According to the latest reports of the Iranian National Health Ministry, CAD is the main cause of death in Iranian patients with an age over 35 years despite a significant reduction in mortality due...

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) can promote the degradation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (LDLR), leading to hypercholesterolemia and myocardial dysfunction. The intracellular regulatory mechanism by which the natural polyphenol pterostil-bene modulates the PCSK9/LDLR signaling pathway in cardiomyocytes has not bee...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) constitute one of the deadliest pandemics in modern history demonstrating cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hematologic, mucocutaneous, respiratory, neurological, renal and testicular manifestations and further complications. COVID-19-induced excess...

Background: Non-diabetic coronary artery spasm (CAS) without obstructive coronary artery disease increases insulin resistance. We investigated the risk of incident type 2 diabetes (diabetes) associated with CAS. Methods: Patient records were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database during the period 2000...

Garcinol, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist, has recently been established as an anti-inflammation agent. However, the molecular mechanism by which garcinol suppresses inflammation in the context of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains unclear. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the administration of physiological doses of ga...

Vaccines constitute the most effective medications in public health as they control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases and reduce mortality. Similar to other medications, allergic reactions can occur during vaccination.While most reactions are neither frequent nor serious, anaphylactic reactions are potentially life-threatening allergic...

Background Non-diabetic coronary artery spasm (CAS) without obstructive coronary artery disease increases insulin resistance. We investigated the risk of incident type 2 diabetes (diabetes) associated with CAS.Methods Patient records were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database during the period 2000-20...

In coronary artery spasm (CAS), an excess coronary vasoconstriction causing total or subtotal vessel occlusion could lead to syncope, heart failure syndromes, arrhythmic syndromes, and myocardial ischemic syndromes including asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, stable and unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. Although...

Background Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicates the clinical management of atrial fibrillation (AF) because coronary stenting may influence subsequent antithrombotic therapy. We investigated the use of a bare-metal stent (BMS) or a drug-eluting stent (DES) and associated outcomes in patients with pre-existing AF and first AMI undergoing pe...

Objective: Anxiety and depression are risk factors for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), but their effects on coronary artery spasm (CAS) remain unestablished. Methods: Patient records in this population-based study were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Using propensity score matchin...

Objective: Smoking and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are risk factors for coronary artery spasm (CAS), which is characterized by the increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) level and monocyte counts; however, limited data are available regarding the role of cigarette-embedded nicotine in the modulation of monocytic inflammatory activity in C...

Oxidized phospholipids (OxPL) are ubiquitously generated during inflammation, and found on apoptotic cells, OxLDL, and Lp(a). They facilitate uptake of OxLDL by macrophages (Mac) and mediate cellular inflammatory responses. The E06 natural IgM binds to the PC of OxPL, neutralizing biological effects and inhibiting OxLDL uptake by Mac. To determine...

Although asthma increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, little is known about the relation of asthma and its severity to coronary vasospastic angina (CVsA). We hypothesized that asthma contributed to the development of CVsA. Patients in this population-based cohort study were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance...

Effect of Age, Sex, Smoking, and Inflammation Coronary artery spasm (CAS) is provoked by cold exposure and has circadian variation (1). While seasonal variation with winter and spring peaks occurs in obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) (2,3), the effect of cold stress with seasonality on CAS is unclear. Age, male sex, smoking, and high-sensit...

Background: Arterial stiffness is a physiologic quantitative value used to measure arterial compliance. It is predictive of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with intermediate to high cardiovascular risk. However, a correlation between arterial stiffness and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis has yet to be established. Therefore, the purpose...

Coronary artery spasm (CAS), an intense vasoconstriction of coronary arteries that causes total or subtotal vessel occlusion, plays an important role in myocardial ischemic syndromes including stable and unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. Coronary angiography and provocative testing usually is required to establ...

While hypertension is negatively associated with coronary artery spasm (CAS), scarce data are available on diabetes mellitus in relation to CAS. In addition, outcome prediction in patients with CAS is challenging due to the lack of appropriate biomarkers. Therefore, we sought to identify the roles that gender, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (h...

Background: Scarce data are available on hemoglobin and platelet in relation to coronary artery spasm (CAS) development. We sought to determine the roles that high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), hemoglobin and platelet play in CAS patients. Methods: Patients (337 women and 532 men) undergoing coronary angiography with or without CAS but w...

Introduction: The prognostic significance of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients with coronary spasm and its association with diabetes and hypertension on the risk of coronary spasm remain unexplored. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that elevated hs-CRP level predicts outcomes in patients with coronary spasm and interact...

Background Polyphenol-rich longan seed extract (LSP) is a free radical scavenger and antioxidant. However, the effect of LSP on the growth of human colorectal carcinoma cells (CRC) has not yet been evaluated.

Although inhibition of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK) has been shown to prevent coronary vasospastic angina (CVA), direct evidence linking ROCK activity and CVA is lacking. Accordingly, we investigated whether ROCK activity is an independent marker for CVA and is altered after treatment with antispastic medications. We...

Coronary vasospasm of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) is a rare condition with potentially devastating consequences. We present 2 patients with LMCA vasospasm-related angina, the first being a 46-year-old woman and the second a 51-year-old woman. Both of them developed ST-segment ischemic changes on treadmill exercise tests. Coronary angiograp...

Coronary vasospasm is a rare diagnosis resulting in sudden arrhythmic cardiac arrest. We report a case of a healthy, non-smoking elderly woman resuscitated from arrhythmic cardiac arrest. She had persistent spontaneous coronary vasospasm, leading to right ventricular myocardial injury and failure, and shock. She responded quickly to intravenous nor...

Coronary vasospasm (CVsp) has been reported to be an inflammatory disease, reflected by elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). We investigated the interactions among gender, age, hypertension and hs-CRP in patients with CVsp. We retrospectively examined 722 Taiwanese patients with or without CVsp during an 8-year period. None of the...

We hypothesized a possible mechanism for atherosclerosis in which interleukin-6 (IL-6) might affect the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-caveolin-1 interaction and result in decreased nitric oxide bioavailability in the setting of low-grade inflammation. Because eNOS and caveolin-1 are crucial for vascular tone control, we studied the effec...

Background: Positive pressure ventilation with large tidal volumes has been shown to cause lung injury via the serine/threonine kinase-protein kinase B (Akt) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)-pathways. However, the effects of high tidal volume (VT) ventilation on the heart are unclear. Objectives: Evaluate the effect of VT ventilation on...

Interaction between 2 major risk factors, cigarette smoking and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), has not been evaluated in patients with coronary vasospasm (CV) without hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease. From 1999 to 2005, patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography with or without proven CV and without corona...

Background: No information is available regarding the safety of intracoronary ergonovine provocation testing and the associated predictors in patients with suspected ischemic heart disease without hemodynamically significant coronary artery stenosis (CAS) in Taiwan. Methods: Patients who underwent cardiac catheterization for suspected ischemic hear...

Limited information is available comparing the clinical characteristics and prognosis for patients with coronary vasospastic angina in the absence of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease (CAD) (defined as >50% stenosis) versus patients with significant fixed CAD presenting with either stable angina pectoris (SAP) or acute coronary sy...

Coronary vasospasm-induced electrical and mechanical complications in patients with acute coronary syndrome and no hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease are rarely reported. A total of 733 consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to our hospital who subsequently underwent coronary angiography at our institution were...

This study was designed to evaluate the role and effectiveness of gallium 67 imaging in the diagnosis of acute myocarditis that mimics acute myocardial infarction. Of 315 consecutive acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to our institution over a 4-year period, 5 (2 men, 3 women) were suspected of having acute myocarditis. These 5 patients...

Exercise-induced ST-segment elevation is a relatively uncommon problem and occurs more frequently in patients who have had a myocardial infarction. Data is limited on the characteristics of Taiwanese patients without prior myocardial infarction who develop exercise-induced ST-segment elevation. Exercise-induced ST-segment elevation developed in 9 o...

We report on a case of pulsatile femoral veins with a systolic thrill and murmur in a 26-year-old patient who exhibited severe tricuspid regurgitation. The pulsatile nature of the veins may result from the 'ventricularization' of venous pressure with each pressure pulse. The observed systolic thrill and murmur may be due to the systolic reversal of...