Estimation of Mean Left Atrial Pressure in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes: A Doppler Echocardiographic and Cardiac Catheterization Study.

Background: Doppler echocardiography, including the ratio of transmitral E to tissue Doppler e' velocities (E/e'), is widely used to estimate mean left atrial pressure (mLAP). This method, however, has not been validated in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Methods: Fifty-seven patients with acute coronary syndromes who underwent left heart catheterization and transthoracic echocardiography within 8 hours of each other were retrospectively analyzed.

Purulent pericarditis after transbronchial biopsy.

A 28-year-old woman experienced hypotension and unresponsiveness. She had undergone bronchoscopy with needle biopsy 2 weeks before admission to evaluate hilar lymphadenopathy given suspicion of sarcoidosis. She had an elevated white blood cell count of 28,000/μL and a serum creatinine level of 4.

Use of herbal products and potential interactions in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

More than 15 million people in the U.S. consume herbal remedies or high-dose vitamins.