High Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Levels after Elective Cardioversion for Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter.

Background: The kinetics of high sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) levels after elective, biphasic, direct-current cardioversion for persistent atrial fibrillation/flutter remains unknown.

Methods: We examined hs-cTnT kinetics in 24 patients at baseline and at 2, 6 and 24 hours post-cardioversion, and again at 7 and 30 days. We also examined levels of creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Neurologic manifestations as presenting symptoms of endocarditis.

The features of infective endocarditis include both cardiac and non-cardiac manifestations. Neurologic complications are seen in up to 40% of patients with infective endocarditis and are the presenting symptom in a substantial percentage. We describe in detail the clinical scenarios of three patients admitted to our hospital, compare their characteristics and review the recent literature describing neurologic manifestations of infective endocarditis.

Cellular therapy in 2010: focus on autoimmune and cardiac diseases.

Stem cell therapy has developed extensively in recent years, leading to several new clinical fields. The use of mesenchymal stromal cells sparks special interest, as it reveals the importance of the paracrine and immunomodulatory effects of these supporting cells, in disease and in cure. This review discusses our current understanding of the basic clinical principles of stem cell therapy and demonstrates the broad range of this treatment modality by examining two relatively new therapeutic niches--autoimmune and cardiac diseases.

Male fetuses and the risk of cesarean delivery.

Objective: To assess the reported increased rate of cesarean sections in women carrying male fetuses.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis of all deliveries in 2001 was performed. All singleton deliveries were enrolled.