Screening of homocysteine from newborn blood spots by high-performance liquid chromatography with coulometric array detection.

Homocystinuria, due to a deficiency of cystationine-beta-synthase, refers to the rare inborn error of the metabolism of homocysteine. The identification and prompt treatment of homocystinuria during the neonatal period can prevent or greatly reduce the severity of the clinical consequences. We report a new method for homocystinuria diagnosis from dried blood spots on newborn screening cards, based on high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical coulometric array detection.

Doppler ultrasound evaluation of acute effects of cigarette smoking on portal blood flow in man.

The acute systemic haemodynamic effects of cigarette smoking are well known, but there are no studies dealing with the possible smoke-related acute changes of splanchnic circulation in man. In the present study we evaluated the acute effects of cigarette smoking on portal blood flow (PBF) in normal subjects by the use of Doppler ultrasound. Twenty-three normal volunteers were asked to smoke two cigarettes with a known total nicotine content (1.

Free-hand technique with ordinary antisepsis in abdominal US-guided fine-needle punctures: three-year experience.

Purpose: To evaluate the adequacy of ordinary antisepsis in ultrasound (US)-guided free-hand fine-needle puncture.

Materials And Methods: Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (n = 573) were performed in 456 patients. No puncture attachments, sterile gloves, or drapes or covers were used.

Magnetocardiographically-guided catheter ablation.

After more than 30 years since the first magnetocardiographic (MCG) recording was carried out with induction coils, MCG is now approaching the threshold of clinical use. During the last 5 years, in fact, there has been a growing interest of clinicians in this new method which provides an unrivalled accuracy for noninvasive, three-dimensional localization of intracardiac source. An increasing number of laboratories are reporting data validating the use of MCG as an effective method for preoperative localization of arrhythmogenic substrates and for planning the best catheter ablation approach for different arrhythmogenic substrates.

Cruveilhier-Baumgarten syndrome: an efficient spontaneous portosystemic collateral preventing oesophageal varices bleeding.

The protective role of large spontaneous portosystemic shunts in oesophageal varices bleeding due to portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis is still debated. A series of 20 consecutive patients with haemodynamically efficient collaterals involving the para-umbilical-epigastric venous route (evaluated by Echo-Doppler flowmetry) is reported. All patients presented absent or mild oesophageal varices at endoscopy.