Embolized Hydrophilic Coating Polymers Found in Left Ventricular Assist Device Apical Core Specimen.

Left ventricular assist devices are increasingly used in patients with advanced heart failure. Gross and histologic evaluation of myocardial apical core specimens, extracted during device placement, can provide important insights. Herein, we describe a case of hydrophilic polymer embolization with associated foreign-body giant cell reaction discovered during apical core evaluation.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for definitive treatment and as a bridge to liver transplantation in early stage inoperable Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Purpose: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an emerging modality for definitive treatment of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included all early stage HCC patients who were not candidates for primary resection and/or local therapy, treated with SBRT between 11/2011 and 1/2016.

Results: Twenty-three patients were included.

Yield and complications of kidney biopsy over two decades in a tertiary pediatric center.

Background: Kidney biopsy serves as an adjunct for the diagnosis of renal disease, but it is not always productive. This study evaluated the yield and risks of kidney biopsies performed in 1995-2014 at a tertiary pediatric medical center.

Methods: The medical files of all patients who underwent closed percutaneous biopsy for various indications in native or transplanted kidneys were retrospectively reviewed for patient characteristics, technical and histopathologic findings, biopsy yield, and biopsy complications.

Bax ablation protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in transgenic mice.

The role of the proapototic Bax gene in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury was studied in three groups of mice: homozygotic knockout mice lacking the Bax gene (Bax(-/-)), heterozygotic mice (Bax(+/-)), and wild-type mice (Bax(+/+)). Isolated hearts were subjected to ischemia (30 min, 37 degrees C) and then to 120 min of reperfusion. The left ventricular developed force of Bax-deficient vs.