Association between Helicobacter Pylori infection and stroke: a meta-analysis of 273,135 patients.

Background: Stroke stands among the most leading causes of mortality worldwide. Although modifiable risk factors for stroke have been identified, current risk factors do not sufficiently explain the risk in young patients. Previous studies have postulated an association between infection by Helicobacter pylori (HP) and stroke.

Degenerative mitral valve stenosis: Diagnosis and management.

Mitral stenosis (MS) is a common valvular disease characterized by narrowing of the mitral valve orifice and a reduction in mitral valve area (MVA). While rheumatic MS (RMS) is frequently encountered in young individuals in developing countries, degenerative MS (DMS) is seen in the elderly in developed countries and its prevalence is increasing. DMS is usually a late presentation of mitral annular calcification (MAC).

Endoscopic management of limy bile syndrome presenting with obstructive jaundice.

Limy bile syndrome is a rare entity in which there is an excessive precipitation of calcium salts, mainly calcium carbonate in the gallbladder (GB) and to a rare extent in the common bile duct (CBD), making it radiopaque in plain radiographs. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is safe and effective in patients with limy bile confined to the GB. However, for patients with an extension to the CBD, bile duct exploration with a T-tube placement, endoscopic naso-billiary drainage or endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) may be warranted.

Pneumopericardium Leading to Cardiac Tamponade in a Patient with Lung Cancer.

Pneumopericardium resulting in cardiac tamponade in patients with lung cancer is not documented. We report a case of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung complicated by pneumopericardium and subsequent cardiac tamponade. The patient underwent an urgent pericardial window with rapid improvement in symptoms.

Substrate modulation of fatty acid effects on energization and respiration of kidney proximal tubules during hypoxia/reoxygenation.

Kidney proximal tubules subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation develop a nonesterified fatty acid-induced energetic deficit characterized by persistent partial mitochondrial deenergization that can be prevented and reversed by citric acid cycle substrates. To further assess the role of competition between fatty acids and substrates on inner membrane substrate carriers in the deenergization and the contribution to deenergization of fatty acid effects on respiratory function, digitonin-permeabilized rabbit and mouse tubules were studied using either addition of exogenous oleate after control normoxic incubation or increases of endogenous fatty acids produced by hypoxia/reoxygenation. The results demonstrated major effects of matrix oxaloacetate accumulation on succinate-supported energization and respiration and their modification by fatty acids.