Microparticles from dental calculus disclose paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological records.

Plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. The present contribution represents a multi-proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in ancient dental calculus collected from pre-historical individuals buried at La Sassa and Pila archaeological sites (Central Italy).

The role of vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy in the management of FOURNIER'S gangrene: a retrospective multi-institutional cohort study.

Purpose: To explore the role of vacuum assisted closure (VAC) therapy versus conventional dressings in the Fournier's gangrene wound therapy.

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective multi-institutional cohort study. Data of 92 patients from nine centers between 2007 and 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.

AF Ablation Guided by Spatiotemporal Electrogram Dispersion Without Pulmonary Vein Isolation: A Wholly Patient-Tailored Approach.

Background: The use of intracardiac electrograms to guide atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation has yielded conflicting results.

Objectives: The authors evaluated the usefulness of spatiotemporal dispersion, a visually recognizable electric footprint of AF drivers, for the ablation of all forms of AF.

Methods: The authors prospectively enrolled 105 patients admitted for AF ablation.

Effectiveness of an improvement programme to prevent interruptions during medication administration in a paediatric hospital: a preintervention-postintervention study.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an improvement programme to reduce the number of interruptions during the medication administration process in a paediatric hospital.

Design And Methods: A prestudy-post study design was used to monitor nursing interruptions during medication cycles in a paediatric hospital. Interruptions were reported on an observation sheet (MADOS-P) adapted to the paediatric context.

Electrogram Fractionation-Guided Ablation in the Left Atrium Decreases the Frequency of Activation in the Pulmonary Veins and Leads to Atrial Fibrillation Termination: Pulmonary Vein Modulation Rather Than Isolation.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the impact of a complex fractionated atrial electrogram (CFAE)-guided ablation strategy on atrial fibrillation (AF) dynamics in patients with persistent AF.

Background: It is still unclear whether complete pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is required or if the ablation of well-delineated pulmonary vein (PV) subregions could achieve similar outcomes in persistent AF.

Methods: CFAE-guided ablations were performed in 76 patients (65.

Active or passive pulmonary vein in atrial fibrillation: is pulmonary vein isolation always essential?

Background: The role of pulmonary veins (PVs) in persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) perpetuation appears less important than in paroxysmal AF. Electrogram-based substrate ablation is not widely performed as a stand-alone strategy.

Objective: To evaluate PV activity in AF perpetuation and efficacy of our patient-tailored ablation strategy (electrogram-based substrate ablation with or without pulmonary vein isolation [PVI]).

Diastolic asynchrony is more frequent than systolic asynchrony in dilated cardiomyopathy and is less improved by cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Objectives: To compare the incidence of diastolic and systolic asynchrony, assessed by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, and to assess TDI changes induced by cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Background: Thirty percent of CRT candidates are nonresponders. Besides QRS width, the presence of echographic systolic asynchrony has been used to identify future responders.

[Homocysteine and coronary events in coronary disease patients].

The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic value of serum homocysteine levels in patients with coronary heart disease. Homocysteine was assayed in 76 coronary patients with a mean age of 59.2 years hospitalized for myocardial ischaemia or myocardial infarction.

Comparison of clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of Streptococcus bovis endocarditis with that caused by other pathogens.

The aim of our study was to compare the clinical, echographic, and prognostic features of Streptococcus bovis (S. bovis) endocarditis with those caused by other streptococci and pathogens in a large sample of patients with definite endocarditis by Duke criteria, using transesophageal echocardiography. Two hundred six patients (149 men, mean age 57 +/- 15 years) with a diagnosis of infective endocarditis formed the study population.

[Validation of quantitative parameters of paraprosthetic mitral valve regurgitation of the zone of convergence by transthoracic echocardiography].

The study of the convergence zone by echocardiography is a validated method of quantification of native valve mitral regurgitation. However, there is little data concerning its applications to paraprosthetic mitral regurgitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the method in this indication.

Echocardiography predicts embolic events in infective endocarditis.

Objectives: The aim of our study was to assess the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in predicting embolic events (EEs) in a large group of patients with definite endocarditis according to the Duke criteria, including silent embolism.

Background: The value of echocardiography in predicting embolism in patients with endocarditis remains controversial. Some studies reported an increased risk of embolism in patients with large and mobile vegetations, whereas other studies failed to demonstrate such a relationship.

Interelectrode (Accufix) lead fracture.

An interelectrode fracture was diagnosed 7 years after the implantation of an Accufix lead. The lead body separated from the tip with the helix screwed into the atrial wall. The retention wire was intact and may have contributed to the lead rupture.

[Heart perforation following transvenous implantation of a cardiac pacemaker].

Objectives: We studied the incidence, clinical signs and severity of heart perforations occurring after transvenous pacemaker implantation.

Patients And Methods: A series of 16 consecutive cases of heart perforation observed in one cardiac pacing unit from 1989 to 1998 were reviewed.

Results: Heart perforation occurred after implantation in 9 cases; the verall incidence for all lead implantation was 0.

[Criteria of localization of the bundle of Kent].

The high success rate (> 90%) of radiofrequency ablation of accessory pathways is related to accurate mapping. This determines the site of the accessory pathway and the best target for ablation with the object of reducing the number of applications and the associated morbidity. Analysis of the surface ECG is the first step of localisation of a Kent bundle.

[ECG anomalies and axis deviations in heart transplant recipients: MRI studies].

The electrocardiogram is often abnormal after orthotopic cardiac transplantation. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the frequency of these abnormalities in a population of 29 patients transplanted according to the conventional mode or the total mode. We also investigated the correlation between these abnormalities and the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy or deviation of the left ventricular long axis.

Diagnostic value of the preoperative sestamibi scan in intraoperative localization of parathyroid adenomas: a case study.

A retrospective chart review of 43 patients who underwent technetium 99m (Tc-99m) sestamibi scans from June 1995 to January 1997 was performed. Only those who underwent subsequent parathyroid exploration with excision were included in the study. Twenty subjects (13 women and seven men) were included in the study.

[Quantification of mitral regurgitation by cine-MRI. Comparison with transesophageal echocardiography in 45 patients].

Cine-MRI demonstrates the presence of mitral regurgitation by a signal void. This study was undertaken to assess the value of this method for quantification of mitral regurgitation in a population not excluding either patients with mitral valve prostheses or those with atrial fibrillation. The subjects included had a mean age of 59 years and were referred for transoesophageal echocardiography, either for assessment of valvular heart disease (38 patients), or for detection of atrial thrombosis before external electrical cardioversion (7 patients).

[Abnormal origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. Diagnostic contribution of ultrasonographic technique].

We report a case of abnormal origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery trunk. The original features of this case were its discovery in a young pregnant woman, the normality of basal left ventricular function and the electrocardiogram, the diagnosis by transoesophaegeal echocardiography, and the demonstration of severe myocardial ischaemia by stress echocardiography.

[Value of echocardiography in the study of aortic valve homografts and autografts].

Although increasingly used, the echocardiographic parameters of aortic valve homografts and autografts have not been extensively investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the value of transthoracic (TTE) and transoesophageal (TOE) echocardiography in the preoperative assessment of these patients, especially with regards to prediction of homograft size and to describe the normal and pathological echocardiographic appearances of this type of prosthesis. Thirty-seven consecutive patients were studied.

[Non bacterial thrombotic endocarditis (marantic endocarditis). Apropos of a case and value of transoesophageal echocardiography].

Marantic or non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis is a common complication of terminal malignancy, usually discovered at autopsy. The authors report a case of marantic endocarditis as a presenting sign of pancreatic carcinoma in which the diagnosis was made ante-mortem by transoesophageal echocardiography.

Body surface potential distributions during idiopathic ventricular tachycardia.

Background: The purpose of this report is to describe the body surface potential maps (BSPMs) during idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT) and to determine what differences exist between different idiopathic VT morphologies.

Methods And Results: We performed BSPMs during VT on 12 consecutive patients (3 women and 9 men; mean age, 42 +/- 13 years) presenting symptomatic idiopathic VT referred to our institution for electrophysiological study. Basal ECG, chest radiograph, and echocardiogram were normal in all patients.

[Primary ventricular fibrillation and early recurrence: apropos of a case of association of right bundle branch block and persistent ST segment elevation].

The authors report the case of a 36 year old man who presented with an early recurrence of primary ventricular fibrillation. The initial investigations were normal apart from the finding of complete right bundle branch block with persistent ST segment elevation in the right precordial leads. The recurrence was observed 6 weeks after the initial diagnosis which led to the implantation of an automatic defibrillator.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation of an accessory pathway in a young man with dextroversion.

We report an observation of a radiofrequency catheter ablation of an accessory pathway (AP) in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW) and dextroversion. Atrioventricular rings were mapped by the ablation catheter to locate the shortest local atrioventricular conduction time in sinus rhythm and ventriculoatrial conduction time during orthodromic tachycardia or ventricular pacing. Successful ablation confirmed a right posteroseptal AP localization.

Ovarian torsion in a premenopausal woman treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer.

Tamoxifen therapy in premenopausal women with breast cancer may be associated with the development of ovarian cysts. In this report, a case of ovarian torsion associated with TAM therapy is described.

[Slow ventricular tachycardia caused by naftidrofuryl overdose (naftidrofuryl and ventricular tachycardia)].

Treatment with intravenous naftidrofuryl may be complicated by ventricular arrhythmias. A case of slow ventricular tachycardia occurring in a 65-year-old man with a dilated cardiomyopathy following an accidental overdose of naftidrofuryl (2 x 200 mg ampules in 250 ml of 5% glucose solution in 2 hours) prescribed for complicated arterial disease of the lower limbs is reported. This sustained ventricular tachycardia converted spontaneously after several hours.