In-vitro effects of cardioplegic solutions on human saphenous vein endothelium--a scanning electron microscopy study.

In order to evaluate the effects of potassium cristalloid cardioplegic solutions (CPS) on the endothelial morphology, human saphenous veins were studied by scanning electron microscopy after exposure to three CPS named MKP (magnesium-potassium-procaine cardioplegia), LK (low-potassium cardioplegia), and HKA (high-potassium-albumin cardioplegia) and to their main components. Vein rings, selected from the saphenous veins sampled for graft harvesting in 63 patients undergoing aorto-coronary bypass surgery, were exposed for 30, 60, and 120 minutes to the following buffered solutions: Krebs bicarbonate (as control); MKP cardioplegia; KCl (16.0 mmol/L); MgCl2(2).

Herpes simplex pneumonia in a heart transplant recipient.

An unusual case of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) pneumonia in a heart transplant recipient receiving chronic immunosuppressive therapy is reported. This infection presented an indolent course manifested by a chronic left pulmonary infiltrate unresponsive to antibiotic therapy and mild hypoxemia. Death eventually occurred as a consequence of an other infectious complication of the postoperative period.

[Circadian rhythm of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in subjects with kidney and heart transplants].

The present investigation evaluates the circadian rhythm of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in subjects with kidney (KTS) or heart (HTS) transplantation undergoing conventional therapy with prednisone and cyclosporine. RAAS circadian rhythmicity has been compared with the circadian cycle of cortisol as a marker rhythm. The chronobiological exploration has been performed by measuring the circulating levels of plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma aldosterone (PA), and serum angiotensin-converting-enzyme (SACE) and plasma cortisol (PC) in serial samplings collected six times over a 24-h span.