Recurrent Takotsubo Syndrome Resulting From Different Emotional Triggers as Broken and Happy Heart Syndrome.

A postmenopausal woman presented with recurrent takotsubo syndrome on 3 different occasions. The first and second episodes presented as broken heart syndrome and the third as happy heart syndrome. After literature review, the authors believe this is the first recorded case of a patient having broken and happy heart syndrome on separate occasions.

27 MHz constant field dielectric warming of kidneys cryopreserved by vitrification.

Organs cryopreserved by vitrification are exposed to the lowest possible concentration of cryoprotectants for the least time necessary to successfully avoid ice formation. Faster cooling and warming rates enable lower concentrations and perfusion times, reducing toxicity. Since warming rates necessary to avoid ice formation during recovery from vitrification are typically faster than cooling rates necessary for vitrification, warming speed is a major determining factor for successful vitrification.

Model biological systems demonstrate the inducibility of pathways that strongly reduce cryoprotectant toxicity.

Cryoprotectant toxicity is a limiting factor for the cryopreservation of many living systems. We were moved to address this problem by the potential of organ vitrification to relieve the severe shortage of viable donor organs available for human transplantation. The M22 vitrification solution is presently the only solution that has enabled the vitrification and subsequent transplantation with survival of large mammalian organs, but its toxicity remains an obstacle to organ stockpiling for transplantation.

Comparing morphological () and metric (long bone length) sex estimation methods in archaeological collections.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the internal consistency of sex estimation using metric (long bone length) and morphological () methodologies from different bones and across different archaeological populations from different regions. Sex was estimated using characteristics of the pelvis and compared with sex estimations using long bone length. Portuguese (659 females; 906 males) and English (141 females; 277 males) archaeological collections were analysed in this study.

The role of antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) and polyvinyl alcohol/polyglycerol (X/Z-1000) as ice modulators during partial freezing of rat livers.

Introduction: The current liver organ shortage has pushed the field of transplantation to develop new methods to prolong the preservation time of livers from the current clinical standard of static cold storage. Our approach, termed partial freezing, aims to induce a thermodynamically stable frozen state at high subzero storage temperatures (-10°C to -15°C), while simultaneously maintaining a sufficient unfrozen fraction to limit ice-mediated injury.

Methods And Results: Using glycerol as the main permeating cryoprotectant agent, this research first demonstrated that partially frozen rat livers showed similar outcomes after thawing from either -10°C or -15°C with respect to subnormothermic machine perfusion metrics.

Vitrification and Nanowarming of Kidneys.

Vitrification can dramatically increase the storage of viable biomaterials in the cryogenic state for years. Unfortunately, vitrified systems ≥3 mL like large tissues and organs, cannot currently be rewarmed sufficiently rapidly or uniformly by convective approaches to avoid ice crystallization or cracking failures. A new volumetric rewarming technology entitled "nanowarming" addresses this problem by using radiofrequency excited iron oxide nanoparticles to rewarm vitrified systems rapidly and uniformly.

Subconjunctival administration of low-dose murine allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells promotes corneal allograft survival in mice.

Background: Systemic administration of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been efficacious in many inflammatory disease settings; however, little data are available on the potential immunomodulatory effects following local MSC administration in the context of corneal transplantation. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of subconjunctival injection of MSCs to promote corneal allograft survival.

Methods: MSCs were isolated from female C57BL/6 (H-2) or Balb/c (H-2) mice and extensively characterized.

Peritricuspid annular prostate pellet.

A 75-year-old was treated for prostate adenocarcinoma with brachytherapy in September 2018. A routine follow-up chest radiograph 3 months later revealed a metallic object of the same dimensions as a brachytherapy pellet located in the right ventricle. Further imaging showed the brachtherapy pellet was located in the anterobasal right ventricular endocardium close to the tricuspid valve.

Principles of Ice-Free Cryopreservation by Vitrification.

Vitrification is an alternative to cryopreservation by freezing that enables hydrated living cells to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures in the absence of ice. Vitrification simplifies and frequently improves cryopreservation because it eliminates mechanical injury from ice, eliminates the need to find optimal cooling and warming rates, eliminates the importance of differing optimal cooling and warming rates for cells in mixed cell type populations, eliminates the need to find a frequently imperfect compromise between solution effects injury and intracellular ice formation, and can enable chilling injury to be "outrun" by using rapid cooling without a risk of intracellular ice formation. On the other hand, vitrification requires much higher concentrations of cryoprotectants than cryopreservation by freezing, which introduces greater risks of both osmotic damage and cryoprotectant toxicity.

Characterization of troponin I levels post synchronized direct current cardioversion of atrial arrhythmias in patients with and without cardiomyopathy.

Background: Cardiac-specific markers of myocardial injury, such as troponin I (TnI), are often elevated following procedures that stimulate the myocardium. This study aimed to determine the effect of synchronized direct current (DC) cardioversion of atrial arrhythmias on myocardial injury 6-h post-procedure, as measured by cardiac TnI in patients with and without cardiomyopathy.

Methods: Seventy-three individuals (59 M:14 F) participated in this study.

Inferolateral T wave inversion in athletes: phenotype-genotype correlation.

Aims: Significant T wave inversion in young asymptomatic athletes is rare but poses a significant clinical challenge. Pre-participation sports screening programs identify such subjects. Clinical concern that such ECG changes represent an occult cardiomyopathy or forme fruste hypertrophic cardiomyopathy leads to diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma.

Imaging the distribution of iron oxide nanoparticles in hypothermic perfused tissues.

Purpose: Herein, we evaluate the use of MRI as a tool for assessing iron oxide nanoparticle (IONP) distribution within IONP perfused organs and vascularized composite allografts (VCAs) (i.e., hindlimbs) prepared for cryopreservation.

Effect of different healing stages on stable isotope ratios in skeletal lesions.

Introduction: Physiological stress is one of the various factors that can have an impact on stable isotope ratios. However, its effect on bone collagen stable isotope ratios is still not fully understood. This study aims to build on previous research on how different disease stages may affect bone collagen stable isotope ratios.

A 24-month review of globe rupture in a tertiary referral hospital.

Background: Globe rupture is a full thickness penetration of the ocular wall. It is a sight-threatening injury and requires emergent ophthalmic management. Prognosis for vision is dependent on the nature of the rupture, as well as clinical and intraoperative exam findings.

Reversal of epigenetic aging and immunosenescent trends in humans.

Epigenetic "clocks" can now surpass chronological age in accuracy for estimating biological age. Here, we use four such age estimators to show that epigenetic aging can be reversed in humans. Using a protocol intended to regenerate the thymus, we observed protective immunological changes, improved risk indices for many age-related diseases, and a mean epigenetic age approximately 1.

TNF-α/IL-1β-licensed mesenchymal stromal cells promote corneal allograft survival myeloid cell-mediated induction of Foxp3 regulatory T cells in the lung.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown promise as a therapy for immune-mediated disorders, including transplant rejection. Our group previously demonstrated the efficacy of pretransplant, systemic administration of allogeneic but not syngeneic MSCs in a rat cornea transplant model. The aim of this study was to enhance the immunomodulatory capacity of syngeneic MSCs.

Refractive error and vision problems in children: association with increased sedentary behavior and reduced exercise in 9-year-old children in Ireland.

Purpose: To investigate whether refractive error and vision problems in children are associated with increased sedentary behavior and reduced participation in physical activity and sport and, secondarily, to examine the relationship between vision problems and body mass index.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Study, a nationally representative study of children in Ireland. Data was collected between August 2007 and May 2008.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Idiopathic Ventricular Fibrillation in a Pediatric Population: Clinical Characteristics, Management, and Complications.

Background The natural history and long-term outcome in pediatric patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation ( IVF ) are poorly characterized. We sought to define the clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of a pediatric cohort with an initial diagnosis of IVF . Methods and Results Patients were included from an International Registry of IVF (consisting of 496 patients).

Genetic suppression of cryoprotectant toxicity.

We report here a new, unbiased forward genetic method that uses transposon-mediated mutagenesis to enable the identification of mutations that confer cryoprotectant toxicity resistance (CTR). Our method is to select for resistance to the toxic effects of M22, a much-studied whole-organ vitrification solution. We report finding and characterizing six mutants that are resistant to M22.

Corneal perforation in undiagnosed Sjögren's syndrome following topical NSAID and steroid drops post routine cataract extraction.

A 74-year-old man presented with a progressive decrease in visual acuity and foreign body sensation in his right eye 8 days post uncomplicated phacoemulsification cataract surgery and intraocular lens insertion. The patient had been placed on a perioperative cataract regimen which consisted of G. Maxitrol (dexamethasone, polymyxin B sulfate, neomycin sulfate) four times a day and G.

Vitrification tendency and stability of DP6-based vitrification solutions for complex tissue cryopreservation.

Vitrification tendency and stability of the amorphous state were analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for the vitrification solution DP6, with and without additional solutes to enhance ice suppression. This study is a part of an ongoing research effort to characterize the thermophysical and mechanical properties of DP6 and its derivatives, and their qualities as cryoprotective solutions. DP6 was determined to have a critical cooling rate necessary to ensure vitrification of 2.