Beating heart catheter-based edge-to-edge mitral valve procedure in a porcine model: efficacy and healing response.

Background: Surgical edge-to-edge repair has been used in the treatment of mitral regurgitation. We evaluated the ability of a catheter-delivered clip (Evalve, Inc) to achieve edge-to-edge mitral valve approximation without cardiopulmonary bypass and the healing response of this technique.

Methods And Results: Twenty-one pigs underwent general anesthesia and left thoracotomy.

Treatment of high-risk patients with ezetimibe plus simvastatin co-administration versus simvastatin alone to attain National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals.

This study assessed whether the co-administration of ezetimibe and simvastatin would be more effective than simvastatin monotherapy in allowing high-risk patients to achieve a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol goal of <100 mg/dl. Men and women with LDL cholesterol >/=130 mg/dl and meeting National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for coronary heart disease (CHD) or CHD risk equivalent were randomized to 1 of 4 daily treatments for 23 weeks: simvastatin 20 mg (n = 253), ezetimibe 10 mg plus simvastatin 10 mg (n = 251), ezetimibe 10 mg plus simvastatin 20 mg (n = 109), and ezetimibe 10 mg plus simvastatin 40 mg (n = 97). In all groups, patients not at goal had their simvastatin doses doubled at weeks 6, 12, and/or 18, up to a maximum of 80 mg.

Compatibility of desoximetasone and tacrolimus.

The physical and chemical compatibility of desoximetasone ointment 0.25% and tacrolimus ointment 0.1%, both widely used to treat atopic dermatitis, were determined.

Accuracy of mitral valve area measurements using transthoracic rapid freehand 3-dimensional scanning: comparison with noninvasive and invasive methods.

Objective: The feasibility and accuracy of direct transthoracic 3-dimensional (3D) mitral valve area (MVA) measurements obtained using freehand scanning was investigated in patients with mitral stenosis.

Methods: A total of 30 patients (26 women, 4 men; aged 55 +/- 13 years) underwent a 2-dimensional (2D) and Doppler study 1 hour before percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty. Transthoracic freehand data were acquired using a magnetic receiver attached to a broadband transducer, gated to electrocardiography and respiration.

Endovascular edge-to-edge mitral valve repair: short-term results in a porcine model.

Background: The edge-to-edge technique is an accepted method for the surgical repair of a regurgitant mitral valve. This study reports the initial use of an endovascular technology that enables a double-orifice edge-to-edge mitral valve repair without cardiopulmonary bypass in an animal model.

Methods And Results: Adult pigs (n=14) were anesthetized, and left thoracotomy was performed for epicardial echo imaging.

[Peculiarities of rhodopsin photoconversion at the early stages of photolysis].

The primary stages of rhodopsin photolysis were studied with the low temperature absorption spectroscopy technique. Digitonin extract of bovine rhodopsin was irradiated at -155 degrees C with blue light (436 nm). The following changes of the dark spectrum were recorded in the course of slow rise of the temperature in 1-3 degrees C steps.

The effect of the median nerve compression test on median nerve conduction across the carpal tunnel.

Introduction: We conducted an experimental, single-blind research study to determine the efficacy of using the median nerve compression test (MNCT) to improve the sensitivity and specificity of median nerve motor and sensory latencies for the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). We expected post-MNCT latencies to be prolonged in the CTS group.

Methods: A convenience sample of 18 subjects aged 18-65 was enrolled in this study.

Percutaneous suture closure for brachial artery puncture.

Percutaneous suture closure for femoral artery hemostasis has gained broad use over the last few years since its introduction. The appeal of suture closure is the immediate and definitive hemostasis that it achieves, even in anticoagulated patients. Described is the use of the Perclose Techstar XL 6Fr suture closure device for the management of brachial artery puncture after diagnostic and therapeutic catheterization.

Angiographic access site complications in the era of arterial closure devices.

Coronary and peripheral angiography is associated with a low but significant risk of access site complications. While percutaneous devices have been shown to permit more rapid puncture site closure, previous reports have suggested the incidence and severity of complications associated with these devices are greater than with manual compression. This study compares access site complications with and without closure devices in the current era.

Impact of the Duett sealing device on quality of life and hospitalization costs for coronary diagnostic and interventional procedures: Results from the Study of Economic and Quality of Life substudy of the SEAL trial.

Background: The Simple and Effective Arterial Closure (SEAL) trial examined the safety and effectiveness of the Duett vascular sealing device (Vascular Solutions, Minneapolis, Minn) versus manual compression after diagnostic and interventional coronary procedures. We compared quality of life and initial hospitalization costs among patients treated with the Duett device versus manual compression.

Methods: Functional status was assessed with the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) at 7 and 30 days after intervention.