Common carotid artery dissection in the course of acute aortic dissection De Bakey type I.

Extracranial artery dissection is a rare finding. It may be the result of acute aortic dissection. We present the case of a 50-year-old patient admitted to Department of Neurology CSK MSWiA with signs of transient ischaemic attack.

A novel mechanism of bradycardia and the character of acetylcholine in the heart.

Unlabelled: At first the aim of our study was to observe the simultaneous responses of two hearts after intraarterial (into a. femoralis) adrenaline administration, in the rat with its own heart and a transplanted one--hence non-innervated. After these, some next experiments were performed: in some rats the His bundle of the heterotopically transplanted heart was damaged before transplantation.

A case of candida albicans mediastinitis after heart transplantation successfully treated with caspofungin.

Reported here is a case of mediastinitis caused by candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus following a heart transplantation that was successfully treated with caspofungin, antibiotics and mediastinal lavage. A review of the literature revealed that Candida albicans as a cause of mediastinitis has been rarely described. In the few existing reports, evolution was generally fatal, especially in immunocompromised patients, despite treatment with antifungal drugs and antibiotics.

Conversion from cyclosporine to tacrolimus improves renal function and lipid profile after cardiac transplantation.

Background: Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) have become the cornerstone of immunosuppressive regimens following heart transplantation, but their use is associated with nephrotoxicity. The impact on renal function after conversion from cyclosporine (CsA) to tacrolimus (TAC) is reported.

Patients And Methods: Fifteen patients (men age 42 +/- 11 years) after cardiac transplantation (HTX) were switched from CsA to TAC (mean time after HTX 21 +/- 6 months).

Composite aortic root replacement using the classic or modified Cabrol coronary artery implantation technique.

Background: We report in this study our results with composite aortic root replacement (CVR) using the classic or modified Cabrol coronary implantation technique.

Material And Methods: From October 2001 to March 2005, 25 patients underwent aortic root replacement. In all cases, the indication for surgery was a degenerative aneurysm with a diameter of more than 6 cm.

Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) in heart recipients.

In conclusion, comparative clinical studies with tacrolimus in heart recipients tend to show a similar or increased diabetogenic potential compared with cyclosporine-ME-based therapy. However, these changes are often accompanied by a reduced effect on lipid metabolism and hypertension suggesting a superior cardiovascular risk profile. The superior control of acute rejection also positions tacrolimus as an attractive alternative to cyclosporine for heart recipients.

May preservation solution affect the incidence of graft vasculopathy in transplanted heart?

Vasculopathy as a manifestation of chronic rejection of transplanted heart may limit long term patient survival. Development of vasculopathy can be associated with intima injury during ischemia and reperfusion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preservation solution may improve posttransplant heart recovery and reduce the incidence of graft vasculopathy.

[Thyrotoxicosis in heart recipients].

Between 1992 and 2000 in the group of the patients before heart transplantation, amiodarone induced thyrotoxicosis occurred in 5 (4 male and 1 female, average age 45.5 years) patients. In four of the patients of that group orthotopic heart transplantation was done.

[Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients after bone marrow and heart transplantation].

Unlabelled: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections in immunosuppressed patients cause the severe clinical problems. Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) might occur as a result of the latent EBV activation.

Objective: Occurrence of active EBV infection in heart and bone marrow transplant patients.

Giant cell myocarditis--a case report.

The authors described a case of giant cell myocarditis treated by heart transplantation.

[Risk of hypertension after heart transplantation in the follow-up period].

From October 1988 to March 2000, 58 patients underwent orthotopic heart transplantation (HTX). Data of 220 heart recipients with the follow up > or = 3 months after HTX were analyzed using the average values of blood pressure measured with the sphigmo-manometer. 65% of patients were diagnosed with the hypertension (HA).

[The clinical course of end stage heart disease in 152 patients qualified for heart transplantation in a four year observation].

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to analyse the clinical course of pts with end stage disease (ESD) in the period of four years. The study population consisted of 152 pts (132 males, 20 females) at the age of 17-66 years (mean = 48.8 year SD = 9.

Effects of cyclosporin A on contractile activity and cytoskeleton in chick embryo cardiomyocytes.

The effects of cyclosporin A (CsA), a clinically used immunosupressive drug, on contractile activity of chick cardiomyocytes grown as small aggregates or explants suspended on a network of elastic glass fibres or cultured in a monolayer were analysed in vitro with computer-aided image cytometry methods. At therapeutic concentrations (200-1500 ng/mL), CsA induced changes in the frequency and amplitude of the beating activity of cardiomyocytes 15 min after application. Longer treatment of cardiomyocytes, for 20-24 h, additionally induced changes in their shape and cytoskeleton organization (F-actin and alpha-actinin distribution).

The incidence of malignancy in heart transplant recipients.

Objectives And Methods: 219 heart transplant recipients with survival over 3 months were retro- and prospectively analysed for the incidence of primary neoplasms. Patients received immunosuppressive drugs (cyclosporine A, azathioprine, steroids) with a 4-5 days induction course of Rabbit Anti-Thymocyte Immunoglobulin (RATG) or monoclonal antibodies induction /OKT3/ in some cases. Anti-rejection treatment consisted of pulse doses of methyloprednisolon or RATG.

[Coronary bypass grafting after failed percutaneous angioplasty (PTCA)].

Between January 1991 and September 1997, in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the Institute of Cardiology of Jagiellonian University Medical School, 23 patients underwent emergency CABG due to acute myocardial ischaemia in result of failed PTCA. Over the same period of time invasive cardiologists performed 1883 PTCAs out of which 23 (1.2%) were emergency cardiosurgical procedures, and in 38 patients, stents were implanted in the damaged coronary arteries.

Successful full-term pregnancy in a patient three and a half years after a heart transplant.

The patient is a 28 year old woman who received a heart transplant in 1992 secondary to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with unremarkable post-operative course. In the period immediately post transplantation the patient was on a four-drug immunosuppressive regimen which was subsequently changed to standard three-agent therapy. This therapy was continued until the patient became pregnant.

The effect of neonatal immunoregulatory cells and cyclosporine on the heart allograft survival in rats.

Lymphoid neonatal cells from syngeneic donors are able to modulate the reactivity of recipient rats to MHC-incompatible vascular cardiac grafts. The suppressor splenocytes, obtained from one-day-old rats, may enhance the immunosuppressive effect of chronically administered low doses of cyclosporine (CsA).