Combating Bacterial Resistance by Polymers and Antibiotic Composites.

(1) Background: Since the discovery of antibiotics in the first half of the 20th century, humans have abused this privilege, giving rise to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Recent research has brought to light the use of antimicrobial peptides in polymers, hydrogels, and nanoparticles (NPs) as a newer and safer alternative to traditional antibiotics. (2) Methods: This review article is a synthesis of the scientific works published in the last 15 years, focusing on the synthesis of polymers with proven antimicrobial properties.

Radioligand therapy (RLT) used to treat cardiac metastasis of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.

Radioligand Therapy (RLT) in the form of [177Lu] Lu-DOTA-TATE (Lutathera®) is a promising treatment for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) with cardiac metastasis. We present a patient treated with [177Lu] Lu-DOTA-TATE that showed shrinkage of metastasis after four treatments at 7.4 GBq every 8 weeks.

Post-Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Outcomes of Patients with/without Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease Treated with SGLT2 Inhibitor Dapagliflozin: A Single-Center Experience Analysis.

Introduction: Increasingly, SGLT2 inhibitors save patients with heart failure and comorbidities such as type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD); the inhibition of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) was first studied in patients with diabetes as a solution to lower glucose levels by preventing glucose reabsorption and facilitating its elimination; in the process, researchers took notice of how SGLT2 inhibitors also seemed to have beneficial cardiovascular effects in patients with both diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Aim: Our single-center prospective study assesses outcomes of post-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) rehabilitation and SLGT2 inhibition in CABG patients with/without T2DM and with/without CKD.

Materials And Methods: One hundred twenty consecutive patients undergoing CABG were included in the analysis.

Development and Functionalization of a Novel Chitosan-Based Nanosystem for Enhanced Drug Delivery.

Nowadays, infection diseases are one of the most significant threats to humans all around the world. An encouraging strategy for solving this issue and fighting resistant microorganisms is to develop drug carriers for a prolonged release of the antibiotic to the target site. The purpose of this work was to obtain metronidazole-encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles using an ion gelation route and to evaluate their properties.

Understanding How Minerals Contribute to Optimal Immune Function.

Sufficient mineral supply is vital not only for the innate immune system but also for the components of the adaptive immune defense, which encompass defense mechanisms against pathogens and the delicate balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory regulation in the long term. Generally, a well-balanced diet is capable of providing the necessary minerals to support the immune system. Nevertheless, specific vulnerable populations should be cautious about obtaining adequate amounts of minerals such as magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, and selenium.

Beyond the norm: A rare case of cardiac and extracardiac metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Screening echocardiography aids in identifying cardiac emboli causes and asymptomatic cardiac metastases in high-grade neoplasms. Conversely, cardiac MRI provides advanced tissue characterization and broader extracardiac assessment.

Second-generation extracellular matrix patch for epicardial infarct repair.

Current myocardial infarction treatments focus on improving hemodynamics rather than addressing the problem of lost myocardium impairing left ventricular function. Epicardial infarct repair with a bioactive patch placed on the ischemic area is an emerging approach to promote endogenous myocardial repair. We report the use of a second-generation CorMatrix-extracellular matrix (ECM) patch as an adjunct to surgical revascularization in treating a young patient with diffuse, multivessel coronary artery disease unamenable to PCI and a large anterior myocardial infarction.

Distinct Patterns of Blood Cytokines Beyond a Cytokine Storm Predict Mortality in COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19 comprises several severity stages ranging from oligosymptomatic disease to multi-organ failure and fatal outcomes. The mechanisms why COVID-19 is a mild disease in some patients and progresses to a severe multi-organ and often fatal disease with respiratory failure are not known. Biomarkers that predict the course of disease are urgently needed.

A Rare Presentation of Cardiac Lipoma as an Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

Cardiac lipomas are rare benign cardiac tumors that are seldom symptomatic. We present a case of a 49-year-old female who presented with one week of substernal chest pain and uncontrolled hypertension. Initial workup showed left ventricular hypertrophy with non-specific intraventricular delay and T wave inversion in leads I and aVL on electrocardiogram (EKG), troponinemia, and elevated brain natriuretic peptide levels.

Third-Generation Cephalosporin-Loaded Chitosan Used to Limit Microorganisms Resistance.

From their discovery, antibiotics have significantly improved clinical treatments of infections, thus leading to diminishing morbidity and mortality in critical care patients, as well as surgical, transplant and other types of medical procedures. In contemporary medicine, a significant debate regarding the development of multi-drug resistance involves all types of pathogens, especially in acute care hospitals due to suboptimal or inappropriate therapy. The possibility of nanotechnology using nanoparticles as matrices to encapsulate a lot of active molecules should increase drug efficacy, limit adverse effects and be an alternative helping to combat antibiotic resistance.

Cardiac Manifestations of Seronegative Spondyloarthropathy in a Human Leukocyte Antigen B27-Positive African American Woman: A Case Report With Literature Review.

• Valvular heart disease is a complication of seronegative spondyloarthropathy. • Aortic regurgitation is the most common valvular disease encountered. • Other cardiac sequelae include mitral regurgitation and conduction disease.

Intracardiac Thrombus in Leukemia: Role of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Eosinophilic Myocarditis.

• EM involves acute necrotic, intermediate thrombotic, and late fibrotic stages. • Echocardiography is the initial modality for the diagnosis of EM. • EMB could miss the diagnosis if the area involved is not biopsied.

Horseshoe thrombus in a patient with mechanical prosthetic mitral valve: A case report and review of literature.

Patients with prosthetic cardiac valves are at high risk for thromboembolic complications and need life long anticoagulation with warfarin, which can be associated with variable dose requirements and fluctuating level of systemic anticoagulation and may predispose to thromboembolic and or hemorrhagic complications. Prosthetic cardiac valve thrombosis is associated with high morbidity and mortality. A high index of suspicion is essential for prompt diagnosis.

Comparison of different cardiac risk scores for coronary artery disease in symptomatic women: do female-specific risk factors matter?

Background: Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in women and there is a need for more accurate risk assessment scores. The aims of our study were to compare the accuracy of several widely used cardiac risk assessment scores in predicting the likelihood of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) on CT coronary angiography (CTCA) in symptomatic women and to explore which female-specific risk factors were independent predictors of obstructive CAD on CTCA and whether adding these risk factors to pre-test probability scores would improve their predictive value.

Methods And Results: Data were obtained from a cohort of 228 consecutively included symptomatic women undergoing evaluation for CAD and referred for CTCA.

Left ventricular thrombus formation after acute myocardial infarction as assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

Introduction: Left ventricular (LV) thrombus formation is a feared complication of myocardial infarction (MI). We assessed the prevalence of LV thrombus in ST-segment elevated MI patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and compared the diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). Also, we evaluated the course of LV thrombi in the modern era of primary PCI.

Cardiac involvement with amyloidosis: mechanisms of disease, diagnosis and management.

The amyloidoses represent a group of clinical disorders of diverse etiologies that have as a common pathophysiologic denominator the deposition of misfolded protein based amyloid fibrils in the interstitial space of various organs. They are uncommon diseases with protean clinical presentations. Cardiac involvement is the determining factor for a patient's prognosis.

Treatment and outcomes of nonagenarians with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

There is no age limit for reperfusion therapy in the current guidelines for the treatment of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Reperfusion therapy, although associated with better outcomes, is not always offered to the oldest patients. A retrospective analysis at our institution of all patients ≥ 90 years of age with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome at discharge from 2004 to 2008 identified 24 patients with STEMI.

Prognostic value of delayed gadolinium enhancement MRI in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with delayed contrast enhancement (DCE) using Gadolinium (Gd)-based magnetic contrastagents, is a technique which visualizes myocardial infarction (MI) as regions of bright signal (hyperenhancement) compared to normal myocardium. The prognostic value of DCE in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy has not been fully characterized.

Methods: All patients with a history of coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent DCE-CMR imaging between September 1999 and July 2004 were included.

Unsuspected chronic traumatic aortic pseudoaneurysm--what to do about it. Late post-traumatic aortic pseudoaneurysm.

A 59-year-old man with multiple risk factors for coronary artery disease who had been in a motor vehicle accident 30 years earlier presented with new-onset angina pectoris. During cardiac catheterization, an ill-defined dense area was noted in the mediastinum. Chest radiography showed an area of calcification around the proximal descending aorta.

Chagas' heart disease diagnosed on MRI: the importance of patient "geographic" history.

A 51-year-old male, who had moved to Northern Europe from South America 3 years earlier, was referred to cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) after a left ventricular apical aneurysm was seen on echocardiography. CMR demonstrated findings consistent with an old myocarditic process. Serologic tests for Trypanosoma cruzi, performed because of the patients region of origin and CMR findings, were positive, and a diagnosis of Chagas' heart disease was made.

Delayed contrast enhancement magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of cardiac disease.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with delayed contrast enhancement (DCE) using Gadolinium based contrast media is a recently developed technique which allows the direct visualisation of myocardial necrosis or fibrosis as regions of bright signal (hyperenhancement) compared with normal myocardium. The manuscript presents a review of the current clinical application of DCE-CMR for the diagnosis and prognosis of various common cardiac conditions such as ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathies, and less common diseases such as cardiac sarcoidosis or Löffler endocarditis (Table 1).

Giant left atrial thrombus successfully treated with anticoagulation.

A giant left atrial mass (6 cm x 4 cm) was visualised on a transoesophageal echocardiogram in an elderly woman who had a history of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. The surgical removal of the mass, presumed to be a thrombus, was declined by the patient, and oral anticoagulation with warfarin was initiated. After eight weeks of anticoagulation, a repeat echocardiogram demonstrated complete resolution of the mass, without systemic embolisation.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of right heart involvement in cardiac and pulmonary disease.

In most patients with heart disease left ventricular dysfunction is the principle physiologic disorder leading to heart failure and is an important prognostic factor. Various imaging methods have been developed for the evaluation of left ventricular function and a substantial body of literature is available describing these methods. The right ventricle (RV) may be predominantly involved in certain cardiac or pulmonary pathological conditions such as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy or pulmonary hypertension.