Surgical Management of Infective Endocarditis Complicated by Budd-Chiari Syndrome.

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a relatively rare comorbidity, particularly in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The difficulty arises when we try to drain blood from the obstructed lower body circulation to establish extracorporeal circulation. Herein, we describe a patient who developed a persistent fever after undergoing neurosurgery for a head arteriovenous fistula, wherein blood cultures confirmed infection.

Low-affinity ligands of the epidermal growth factor receptor are long-range signal transmitters during collective cell migration of epithelial cells.

Epidermal growth factor receptor ligands (EGFRLs) consist of seven proteins. In stark contrast to the amassed knowledge concerning the epidermal growth factor receptors themselves, the extracellular dynamics of individual EGFRLs remain elusive. Here, employing fluorescent probes and a tool for triggering ectodomain shedding of EGFRLs, we show that EREG, a low-affinity EGFRL, exhibits the most rapid and efficient activation of EGFR in confluent epithelial cells and mouse epidermis.

Knockout of all ErbB-family genes delineates their roles in proliferation, survival and migration.

The ErbB-family receptors play pivotal roles in the proliferation, migration and survival of epithelial cells. Because our knowledge on the ErbB-family receptors has been largely obtained by the exogenous application of their ligands, it remains unknown to what extent each of the ErbB members contributes to these outputs. We here knocked out each ErbB gene, various combinations of ErbB genes or all ErbB genes in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells to delineate the contribution of each gene.

Redundant roles of EGFR ligands in the ERK activation waves during collective cell migration.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a pivotal role in collective cell migration by mediating cell-to-cell propagation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation. Here, we aimed to determine which EGFR ligands mediate the ERK activation waves. We found that epidermal growth factor ()-deficient cells exhibited lower basal ERK activity than the cells deficient in heparin-binding EGF (), transforming growth factor alpha () or epiregulin (), but all cell lines deficient in a single EGFR ligand retained the ERK activation waves.

Hemodynamic performance and incidence of patient-prosthesis mismatch of small-sized Trifecta pericardial aortic valves.

Objectives: Small-sized bioprosthetic valves are sometimes associated with suboptimal hemodynamic performance, leading to a patient-prosthesis mismatch. Trifecta pericardial valves are designed to improve hemodynamic performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hemodynamic properties of small-sized Trifecta valves and their efficacy in preventing a patient-prosthesis mismatch.

Safety and efficacy of a simple cardiotomy suction system as a blood salvage procedure during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

The ideal blood-salvaging strategies for off-pump coronary artery bypass graft procedures have not been determined. We developed a new blood-salvaging system that uses a cardiotomy suction. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of this novel method.

Unexpected intraoperative coronary malperfusion after primary repair of acute type A aortic dissection with surgical glue.

In the surgical treatment of acute aortic dissection, the attachment of the dissected wall using surgical glue can be an effective procedure to stabilize the fragile dissected wall. A 42-year-old man underwent aortic root replacement for acute type A aortic dissection. However, after aortic declamping, he experienced severe myocardial impairment, which required an additional procedure of coronary artery bypass grafting.