Differential diagnosis of heart tumours.

Cardiac tumours represent a wide spectrum of neoplastic and non-neoplastic masses. Plenty of them, especially primary cardiac neoplasias, are rare diseases. Last revision of WHO classification introduced several changes in their histopathological assessment.

Presence of DNA in the amniotic fluid in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess the rate and load of amniotic fluid DNA and their associations with intra-amniotic infection and intra-uterine inflammatory complications in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM). The secondary aim was to assess the short-term morbidity of newborns from PPROM pregnancies complicated by amniotic fluid DNA.

Methods: A retrospective study of 788 women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM between 24 + 0 and 36 + 6 weeks of gestation was performed.

Cervical human papillomavirus infection in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: To evaluate the association between cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection at the time of admission and the presence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI) in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) and to determine the association between cervical HPV infection and short-term neonatal morbidity.

Methods: One hundred women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM between the gestational ages of 24+0 and 36+6 weeks were included in the study. The presence of HPV DNA was evaluated in scraped cervical cells using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Association of Atrial Fibrillation with Morphological and Electrophysiological Changes of the Atrial Myocardium.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. For long time it was considered as pure functional disorder, but in recent years, there were identified atrial locations, which are involved in the initiation and maintenance of this arrhythmia. These structural changes, so called remodelation, start at electric level and later they affect contractility and morphology.