Junctional bradycardia caused by ciguatera intoxication.

Ciguatera is a common but underreported tropical disease caused by the consumption of coral reef fish contaminated by ciguatoxins. Gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms predominate, but may be accompanied by cardiovascular features such as hypotension and sinus bradycardia. Here, we report an unusual case of junctional bradycardia caused by ciguatera in the Caribbean; to our knowledge, the first such report from the region.

Cross-cultural consistency and relativity in the enjoyment of thinking versus doing.

Which is more enjoyable: trying to think enjoyable thoughts or doing everyday solitary activities? Wilson et al. (2014) found that American participants much preferred solitary everyday activities, such as reading or watching TV, to thinking for pleasure. To see whether this preference generalized outside of the United States, we replicated the study with 2,557 participants from 12 sites in 11 countries.

Mobilization of the anterior mitral leaflet for excision of a left ventricular myxoma.

Left ventricular myxomas are extremely rare. We report use of a left atrial approach with mobilization of the anterior mitral valve leaflet to enhance exposure of the subvalvar region and facilitate excision of a left ventricular myxoma entangled within the chordal apparatus, lying between the anterolateral papillary muscle and the left ventricular wall. The detached mitral leaflet was reattached to the annulus with a continuous suture.