Long-term outcomes after percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure.

Percutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is a treatment for cryptogenic stroke and migraine headache. The goal of this study was to assess long-term outcomes of patients treated with percutaneous PFO closure. Records of patients with percutaneous PFO closure at Emory University Hospital from February 2002 to July 2009 were reviewed.

Acquired copper deficiency: a potentially serious and preventable complication following gastric bypass surgery.

Copper is an essential cofactor in many enzymatic reactions vital to the normal function of the hematologic, vascular, skeletal, antioxidant, and neurologic systems. Copper deficiency in the United States is believed to be relatively rare but has been described in the setting of zinc supplementation, myelodysplastic syndrome, use of parenteral nutrition and chronic tube feeding, and in various malabsorptive syndromes, including following gastrectomy and gastric bypass surgery. Features of copper deficiency include hematologic abnormalities (anemia, neutropenia, and leukopenia) and myeloneuropathy; the latter is a rarer and often unrecognized complication of copper deficiency.

Nocardia nova aortitis after coronary artery bypass surgery.

Cardiac nocardiosis is a rare disease that is nearly always associated with cardiac operation. We report the case of a patient with a 10-month history of intermittent fevers after coronary artery bypass operation who presented with progressive shortness of breath and fever. He was found to have a large aortic aneurysm secondary to Nocardia nova infection likely transmitted during his original bypass operation.