Left ventricular outflow tract embolization and balloon assisted recapture of a SAPIEN XT prosthesis during transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement has emerged within the last decade as a proven alternative therapy in patients with severe aortic stenosis and prohibitive surgical risk. Despite rapidly evolving device technology and growing operator experience, peri-procedural complications are still relatively common. We present a case in which a SAPIEN XT prosthetic valve embolized into the left ventricular outflow tract.

The effects of aging on the intimal region of the human saphenous vein: insights from multimodal microscopy and quantitative image analysis.

We hypothesized that structural remodeling associated with advancing age occurs in human saphenous veins. To address this hypothesis, we have identified structural remodeling in human saphenous veins by applying histochemistry, fluorescence staining and quantitative image analysis to specifically assess intimal area, intimal cellularity and intimal collagen content and organization. Saphenous veins were collected from patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Atrial contractile protein content and function are preserved in patients with coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation.

Objectives: Atrial fibrillation (AF) causes atrial contractile dysfunction. The focus of this study was to determine whether the contractile deficit of human AF is the result of altered contractile protein abundance and/or function.

Methods: Atrial tissue from patients with chronic AF undergoing open-heart surgery was compared with the tissue from patients in normal sinus rhythm (NSR).