Heart graft preservation technics and limits: an update and perspectives.

Heart transplantation, the gold standard treatment for end-stage heart failure, is limited by heart graft shortage, justifying expansion of the donor pool. Currently, static cold storage (SCS) of hearts from donations after brainstem death remains the standard practice, but it is usually limited to 240 min. Prolonged cold ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) have been recognized as major causes of post-transplant graft failure.

The Effects of Different Modalities of an Acute Energy Deficit on Sleep and Next Morning Appetitive and Compensatory Behavior in Healthy Young Adults: The EDIES Protocol.

Sleep is bi-directionally linked to energy balance. This crossover study design will evaluate the acute effect of a moderate energy deficit (500 kcal) induced by diet, exercise, or mixed (-250 kcal by diet and 250 kcal by exercise) on sleep and the next morning's appetitive responses. The study sample comprises 24 healthy young adults.

Idarucizumab (Praxbind) for dabigatran reversal in patients undergoing heart transplantation: a cohort of ten patients.

Background: Novel oral anticoagulants are used in atrial fibrillation. Idarucizumab has been approved for reversal of dabigatran in situations of life-threatening hemorrhage or emergency surgery.

Objectives: We report a single center experience of ten patients on dabigatran therapy who were given idarucizumab prior to heart transplantation.

Ruptured right Valsalva sinus into the right atrium due to infective endocarditis: a case report.

Rupture of Valsalva sinus remains a very rare and deadly complication of Valsalva sinus aneurysm with a high mortality rate. We report here the case of a 47-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with acute exercise-induced dyspnea, chest pain, and fever. Transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) highlighted a rupture of the right Valsalva sinus in the right atrium due to infective endocarditis.

Experimental evaluation of homemade distal stent graft fenestration for thoracic endovascular aortic repair of type A dissection by a transapical approach.

Objective: The use of off-the-shelf stent grafts for thoracic endovascular aortic repair of type A dissections is limited by variability in both the length of the ascending aorta and the location of the proximal intimal tear. This experimental study aimed to assess the feasibility of using a physician-modified thoracic aortic stent graft to treat acute type A dissection by a transapical cardiac approach.

Methods: The experiments were performed on six cadaveric human heart, ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending aorta specimens.

Velocimetric ultrasound thermometry applied to myocardium protection monitoring.

Tissue temperature control during cardiac surgery is crucial for myocardial protection. To preserve the tissue, a hypothermic cardioplegia is applied in order to decrease the heart temperature down to around 10°C. The monitoring of the thermal evolution of the myocardium is then of importance to minimize deleterious effects on the heart.

The Relationship Between Motor Delays and Language Development in Very Low Birthweight Premature Children at 18 Months Corrected Age.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if there is a specific association between motor delays and receptive and expressive language function, respectively, in prematurely born children.

Method: Retrospective data review: 126 premature children ≤ 1,250-g birthweight from English-speaking families were evaluated on motor development (normal, mild delay, and moderate-severe delay) and the cognitive and language scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley, 2006) at 18 months corrected age. Cognitive scores were categorized as normal, suspect, and abnormal.

Insurance Enrollment at a Student-Run Free Clinic After the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to increase insurance coverage through government subsidies. Medical student-run free clinics (SRFC) are an important entry point into the healthcare system for the uninsured. SRFCs do not have a standardized approach for navigating the complexities of enrollment.

Validity of the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) in critically ill children.

Background: The Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) is a single tool that is intuitive, is easy to use, and includes both agitation and sedation. The RASS has never been formally validated for pediatric populations. The objective of this study was to assess inter-rater agreement and criterion validity of the RASS in critically ill children.

Prognostic importance of human papillomavirus (HPV) and p16 positivity in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva treated with radiotherapy.

Objective: HPV status is an important prognostic factor for patients with oropharyngeal, anal and cervical cancers treated with radiotherapy. This study evaluates the association between HPV and p16 status and outcome in a radiation-treated cohort with vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methods: Patients with vulvar SCC who received radiotherapy with or without surgical resection between 1985 and 2011 were identified retrospectively.

[Description of the two surgical myocardial revascularisation techniques].

A coronary artery bypass involves taking blood vessels from another part of the patient's body to bypass one or several major coronary stenoses. Coronary artery bypass using cardiopulmonary bypass and off-pump coronary artery bypass are the two methods used to revascularise the heart after a myocardial infarction.

Factors favoring retrograde aortic dissection after endovascular aortic arch repair.

Objective: To assess factors predisposing patients to retrograde type A aortic dissection (RTAD) who have undergone hybrid aortic arch repair.

Methods: From 2001 to 2013, 32 patients underwent hybrid aortic arch repair in our department: 19 in zone 1 and 13 in zone 0. Among these patients, 6 experienced RTAD (18.

Radiation dose escalation using intensity modulated radiation therapy for gross unresected node-positive endometrial cancer.

Purpose: To determine rates of nodal control and survival in patients with endometrial cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with dose escalation to unresected nodal disease.

Methods And Materials: Between November 2005 and April 2011, 22 endometrial-cancer patients received IMRT with dose escalation to gross nodal disease with curative intent. Twelve were treated for recurrent disease (RD) and 10 in the primary setting, of whom 5 had a hysterectomy.

A weight loss program in a chiropractic practice: a retrospective analysis.

Context: Obesity is a global problem and places individuals at risk for developing chronic metabolic disorders. The need for investigating simple, effective and sustaining approaches to weight loss cannot be overstated.

Methods: We performed a retrospective file analysis of patient files attending a 13-week weight loss program.

Clinical predictors of long-term survival for stage IVB uterine papillary serous carcinoma confined to the abdomen.

Objective: To identify clinical predictors of long-term survival in women with FIGO Stage IVB uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) confined to the abdomen

Methods: Records were reviewed for 48 patients with Stage IVB UPSC diagnosed from 1/1980 to 12/2011. Study inclusion required hysterectomy, salpingo-oophorectomy and negative chest imaging. Disease-free (DFS) and overall (OS) survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Presence of anaplastic lymphoma kinase in inflammatory breast cancer.

Although Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) is recognized as the most metastatic variant of locally advanced breast cancer, the molecular basis for the distinct clinical presentation and accelerated program of metastasis of IBC is unknown. Reverse phase protein arrays revealed activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and biochemically-linked downstream signaling molecules including JAK1/STAT3, AKT, mTor, PDK1, and AMPKβ in pre-clinical models of IBC. To evaluate the clinical relevance of ALK in IBC, analysis of 25 IBC patient tumors using the FDA approved diagnostic test for ALK genetic abnormalities was performed.

Endoluminal treatment of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm after surgical treatment of acute type A dissection.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and midterm results following endovascular repair of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm after surgical treatment of acute type A dissection.

Methods: Between 2003 and 2010, six consecutive patients previously operated for acute type A dissection underwent endovascular repair of dissecting aortic arch aneurysm (six men, mean age: 63 ± 9.8 years); one of the aneurysms was ruptured.

A Pilot Study of Mifepristone in Combat-Related PTSD.

Background. We obtained pilot data to examine the clinical and neuroendocrine effects of short-term mifepristone treatment in male veterans with PTSD. Methods.

Enhancement of non-coronary collateral blood flow from the internal thoracic arteries: the theoretical and practical basis of an alternative method of myocardial blood supply.

Non-coronary collateral blood flow arrives to the heart from mediastinal, bronchial, and pericardial channels. These enter the heart through the pericardial reflections surrounding the pulmonary and systemic veins, as well as from the vasa vasorum of the aorta and the pulmonary artery leading to and from the myocardium. Before the advent of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, surgical bilateral ligature of the internal thoracic arteries (ITAs) was performed in patients with ischemic heart disease to increase the perfusion pressure within the channels leading to the heart.

Remodeling of the aortic root combined to an expansible aortic ring annuloplasty.

Aortic root aneurysms are characterized by dilation of both functional aortic annulus diameters (aortic annular base and sino-tubular junction), preventing coaptation of otherwise pliable valves often associated with cusp prolapse. Multiple techniques of aortic valve sparing procedures try to restore the complex interplay of aortic valve and root function in order to improve durability of the repair. Ideally, procedures should treat dilatation of the aortic annular base, while preserving dynamics of the aortic root with vortices (neosinuses of Valsalva) and root expansibility (interleaflet triangles).

Preoperative evaluation in aortic endocarditis: findings on cardiac CT.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to study the feasibility and diagnostic capability of preoperative cardiac CT for depicting aortic valvular pseudoaneurysms and vegetations in patients referred for aortic endocarditis requiring surgical intervention.

Materials And Methods: Consecutive patients presenting with active aortic endocarditis requiring surgical intervention were included. CT scan examinations were performed for assessing coronary artery status.