Endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitors and renal perfusion in patients with heart failure.

Background: Patients with heart failure are characterized by impaired nitric oxide-dependent endothelial vasodilation and, in addition, by reduced renal perfusion.

Design: We assessed blood concentrations of the endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) as well as renal haemodynamics to compare normotensive patients with mild heart failure (n = 12, seven males, 70 +/- 1 years, 72.0 +/- 2.

Axial flow catheter pump for circulatory support.

Aim: The development of a percutaneously insertable catheter pump for temporary left ventricular and circulatory support in patients with acute ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Material And Methods: The expandable axial flow pump (introduction diameter 9-F, expanded diameter 6.5 mm) is mounted at the tip of a catheter, designed to be placed in aortic transvalvular position.

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the prediction of coronary events in patients with premature coronary artery disease.

Background And Methods: Inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and in the pathogenesis of acute cardiovascular events. Recent studies have indicated a possible association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and the clinical outcome of coronary artery disease (CAD). We studied prospectively in a group of 125 patients with premature CAD whether plasma levels of CRP as measured with a high-sensitivity assay predict risk for future coronary events.

Clinical aspects of renal transplantation in polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) as a systemic disorder represents a special subgroup among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The different organ manifestations are potential risk factors for cardiovascular events or infections in the course after renal transplantation. Therefore, a long-term evaluation of ADPKD patients and of a control group was done.

[F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose for diagnosis of myocardial viability: applications in clinical practice].

The number of patients with heart failure secondary to chronic ischemic heart disease, also called ischemic cardiomyopathy, is increasing in clinical cardiology. Left ventricular dysfunction after ischemic episodes has been shown to be potentially reversible, as in the case of hibernating or stunned myocardium. Thus, the detection of viable myocardium is of critical importance for a therapeutic stratification of patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

Intracranial aneurysms and dolichoectasia in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Intracranial saccular aneurysms (ICA) are a known extrarenal manifestation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). In order to facilitate the definition of subgroups who are at risk for ICA and to determine the prevalence of ICA in these subgroups we studied ADPKD patients with a positive family history for a cerebral event, including cerebral stroke (group I) and intracranial bleeding or known ICA (group II).

Methods: Within an enrolment period of 21 months, 43 ADPKD patients from our outpatient clinic and hospital were examined with cerebral magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

Endothelium-dependent arterial wall tone elasticity modulated by blood viscosity.

The role of blood viscosity on arterial wall elasticity before and after deendothelization (DE) was studied. Seven ovine brachiocephalic arteries were studied in vitro under physiological pulsatile flow conditions achieved by a mock circulation loop. Instantaneous pressure and diameter signals were assessed in each arterial segment.

Mechanical vs intrinsic components in the improvement of brachial arterial compliance. Comparison of the effects of atenolol versus ramipril in hypertensive patients.

The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical and intrinsic effects of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, vs a beta-blocker, on brachial arterial compliance. In a double blind study, 34 essential hypertensive patients were treated for 3 months with either ramipril 2.5-5.

Homocysteine plasma levels in young patients with coronary artery disease. Relation to history of acute myocardial infarction and anatomical extent of disease.

Although there is considerable epidemiologic evidence for a relationship between plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels and cardiovascular disease, not all prospective studies have shown such a relationship. Furthermore, data concerning the role of hyperhomocysteinemia in patients with premature coronary artery disease (CAD) are rare. It was the aim of the study to investigate a possible association between Hcy plasma levels in young patients with the extent of CAD and the history of myocardial infarction (MI).

Impairment of the plasmin activation system in primary pulmonary hypertension: evidence for gender differences.

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a rare disorder, with marked in-situ thrombosis of small pulmonary vessels occurring primarily in adult women. We investigated whether differences in the plasmin- and thrombin activation system are associated with the predominate affection of females. Plasma levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), fibrinogen, thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complexes, and prothrombin fragments (F1.

Motor cortex plasticity during forced-use therapy in stroke patients: a preliminary study.

Treatment-induced plastic changes were investigated in the brains of stroke patients in the subacute stage of illness. Nine patients participated in 1 week of conventional physiotherapy. In the subsequent week conventional physiotherapy was combined with forced-use therapy.

Helicobacter sp. flexispira bacteremia in an immunocompetent young adult.

A young immunocompetent patient was admitted for a febrile illness with malaise, arthralgias, painful leg swelling, and polyserositis. Shortly prior to becoming ill, the patient had traveled to the Northern African desert. The symptoms disappeared during treatment with antibiotics (doxycycline and ceftriaxone) but recurred twice after stopping therapy.

Group A streptococcus clones causing repeated epidemics and endemic disease in intravenous drug users.

Clones of Group A streptococcus (GAS) may spread epidemically and may be associated with enhanced virulence. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, together with bacterial isolates, of 79 patients with GAS infection in the Berne region between January 1993 and February 1997 were analysed retrospectively. Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, most strains (71%) were found to belong to one of 12 clones.

Automated assessment of dipyridamole 201Tl myocardial SPECT perfusion scintigraphy by case-based reasoning.

Unlabelled: This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of case-based reasoning (CBR) to automatically detect significant coronary artery disease from dipyridamole 201Tl myocardial SPECT perfusion scintigrams.

Methods: The study population included 240 patients (182 men, 58 women; mean age +/- SD, 61 +/- 12 y) on whom coronary angiography and perfusion scintigraphy were performed within 6 +/- 11 d of each other. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of significant coronary disease in any major coronary vessel.

Functional assessment of coronary arteries by poststenotic intravascular Doppler ultrasound.

This study sought to delineate the impact of the rate pressure product on intraluminal Doppler velocity measurements and to determine the relation between poststenotic vasodilator reserve and percent luminal obstruction in coronary vessels. Twenty patients with single-vessel coronary disease were studied prior to coronary angioplasty and at follow-up 6 months later. Intracoronary velocity reserve after administration of adenosine was measured distal to the stenosis with a Doppler-tipped guide wire and was compared to quantitative coronary angiography and adenosine myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

Direct observation of depolarization shift of the intersubband resonance.

We have studied the intersubband resonance of GaAs/AlGaAs multi-quantum-well systems by comparing photon drag and absorption spectra obtained by in-plane photocurrent and photoconduction measurements. The peak absorption at room temperature is found to be blueshifted from the photon drag resonance by as much as 33 cm(-1). We argue that this difference gives directly the depolarization shift, since the resonant photon drag current is driven by the Doppler effect, which is a k-vector dependent single particle process.

Catalase-negative Actinomyces neuii subsp. neuii isolated from an infected mammary prosthesis.

In this case report a catalase-negative strain of Actinomyces neuii subsp. neuii is described as the possible causative agent of an infected mammary prosthesis. DNA hybridization studies and 16S rRNA analysis confirmed that the strain belongs to the species Actinomyces neuii subsp.

Lazarillo expression reveals a subset of neurons contributing to the primary axon scaffold of the embryonic brain of the grasshopper Schistocerca gregaria.

The authors studied the contribution of seven clusters of Lazarillo-expressing cells to the primary axon scaffold of the brain in the grasshopper Schistocerca gregaria from 26% to 43% of embryogenesis. Each cluster, which was numbered according to when Lazarillo expression first appeared, was uniquely identifiable on the basis of its stereotypic position in the brain and the number of Lazarillo-expressing cells it contained. At no time during embryogenesis was Lazarillo expression found in brain neuroblasts: It was found only in progeny.

Carotid wall inertial index increase is related to intima-media thickening in hypertensive patients.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and arterial wall inertial behaviour.

Methods: The simultaneous and noninvasive assessment of the intima-media complex and arterial diameter waveform was performed using high-resolution ultrasonography. The common carotid artery of eleven normotensive subjects (NTA) and eleven mild-to-moderate essential hypertensive patients (HTA) were measured noninvasively using tonometry and an automatic densitometric analysis of B-mode images to obtain IMT and instantaneous pressure (P) and diameter (D) loops.

Fibrinolytic response to venous occlusion compared to physical stress test in young patients with coronary artery disease.

Introduction: Venous occlusion (VO) and exercise stress (ES) are stimulators of the fibrinolytic system. Aim of this study was to answer which of both stimulation tests is more useful in patients with symptom-limited coronary artery disease (CAD) to evaluate possible defects in the fibrinolytic system.

Methods And Results: We investigated 20 patients (M/F = 15/5; mean age = 36.

HyPaLib: a database of RNAs and RNA structural elements defined by hybrid patterns.

The database, called HyPaLib (for Hybrid Pattern Library), contains annotated structural elements characteristic for certain classes of structural and/or functional RNAs. These elements are described in a language specifically designed for this purpose. The language allows convenient specification of hybrid patterns, i.

Experimental and clinical validation of arterial diameter waveform and intimal media thickness obtained from B-mode ultrasound image processing.

A new automated computerized system (IôTEC) that assesses concomitantly the instantaneous temporal arterial diameter and intimal media thickness (IMT) obtained from B-mode ultrasound (US) images was validated by sonomicrometry in sheep, by an echo-tracking system in humans, and by a Lucite phantom in vitro. Differences between methods for diameter measurements did not vary in any systematic way, with no significant differences in the lower frequency range. Ultrasonic measurements of the true phantom gap sizes showed high correlation (r2 = 0.

ConStruct: a tool for thermodynamic controlled prediction of conserved secondary structure.

A tool for prediction of conserved secondary structure of a set of homologous single-stranded RNAs is presented. For each RNA of the set the structure distribution is calculated and stored in a base pair probability matrix. Gaps, resulting from a multiple sequence alignment of the RNA set, are introduced into the individual probability matrices.

The value of T2(*)-weighted MR images for the diagnosis of acoustic neuromas.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to evaluate high resolution T2(*)-weighted MRI--in our case a 3D CISS sequence--for the diagnosis of acoustic neuromas. Especially to be clarified was if high-resolution T2-weighted sequences can substitute T1-weighted contrast-enhanced sequences, and in which circumstances they can give important additional information when compared with contrast-enhanced T1-weighted sequences.

Methods And Patients: The MR examinations were performed using a 1.

[The elderly and their pets. Supportive and problematic aspects and implications for care. A descriptive study].

Pet ownership by elderly people is very common. This phenomenological study investigated why elderly people keep pets and what illness of the animals or their loss means to them. Nine women and three men owning either cats, dogs, or birds participated in this study.