Use of ADAM-C and CHA2DS2-VASc scores to predict complex aortic atheroma after brain ischemia: A prospective observational study.

Background And Aims: Complex aortic atheroma (CAA) is a common cause of acute brain ischemia (BI), including ischemic stroke (IS) and transient ischemic attack (TIA), and is associated with recurrence. The CHA2DS2-VASc score is a useful tool for predicting stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), and can also predict cardiovascular events in other populations, including non-AF populations. The ADAM-C score is a new risk score for predicting the diagnostic yield of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) after BI.

Perivalvular Mitral Abscess Fistulised to the Pericardial Cavity Revealing Staphylococcal Endocarditis.

Background: Fistula to the pericardial cavity is a very rare complication of perivalvular abscess during infective endocarditis, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most commonly associated microorganism.

Methods: We report a fatal septic shock due to a mitral endocarditis revealed by a myocardial abscess fistulised toward the pericardial cavity.

Results: A 66-year-old female without previous valvular disease was admitted to intensive care for severe sepsis.

Clinical validation of IFNγ/IL-10 and IFNγ/IL-2 FluoroSpot assays for the detection of Tr1 T cells and influenza vaccine monitoring in humans.

The type of T cell polarization and simultaneous production of multiple cytokines have been correlated with vaccine efficacy. ELISpot is a T cell detection technique optimized for the measurement of a secreted cytokine at the single cell level. The FluoroSpot assay differs from ELISpot by the use of multiple fluorescent-labeled anticytokine detection antibodies, allowing optimal measurement of multiple cytokines.

PD-1-expressing tumor-infiltrating T cells are a favorable prognostic biomarker in HPV-associated head and neck cancer.

Head and neck cancers positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) have a more favorable clinical outcome than HPV-negative cancers, but it is unknown why this is the case. We hypothesized that prognosis was affected by intrinsic features of HPV-infected tumor cells or differences in host immune response. In this study, we focused on a comparison of regulatory Foxp3(+) T cells and programmed death-1 (PD-1)(+) T cells in the microenvironment of tumors that were positive or negative for HPV, in two groups that were matched for various clinical and biologic parameters.

Pitfalls in anti-influenza T cell detection by Elispot using thimerosal containing pandemic H1N1 vaccine as antigen.

Monitoring T cells in combination with humoral response may be of value to predict clinical protection and cross-protective immunity after influenza vaccination. Elispot technique which measures cytokine produced after antigen-specific T cell stimulation is used routinely to detect and characterize anti-viral T cells. We found that the preservative thimerosal present in most H1N1 pandemic vaccines, induced in vitro abortive activation of T cells followed by cell death leading to false-positive results with the Elispot technique.