Myocardial Fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Volumetric Assessment of Late Enhancement Provided by Cardiac Computed Tomography.

Introduction: With subgroups of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) confers a 4% to 5% risk for adverse prognosis. Besides left-ventricular muscle mass (LV-MM) myocardial fibrosis (MF) assessable by late gadolinium enhancement in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) has been related to that. Myocardial fibrosis can also be demonstrated by late enhancement (LE) in late-enhanced multislice computed tomography (leMDCT).

Late enhanced computed tomography in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy enables accurate left-ventricular volumetry.

Objectives: Late enhancement (LE) multi-slice computed tomography (leMDCT) was introduced for the visualization of (intra-) myocardial fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). LE is associated with adverse cardiac events. This analysis focuses on leMDCT derived LV muscle mass (LV-MM) which may be related to LE resulting in LE proportion for potential risk stratification in HCM.

[Early course in acute pancreatitis (author's transl)].

In this retrospective study the prognostic significance of 5 laboratory parameters in a low and high range (LDH) greater than or equal to 450 and 600 U/l, calcium less than or equal to 2.2 and 2.0 mmol/l, bloodglucose greater than or equal to 160 and 240 mg/dl, creatinine greater than or equal to 1.

[The problem of diagnosis of biliary calculi in acute pancreatitis by means of laboratory methods].

In order to assess the validity of a biochemical prediction of gallstones early in the course of acute pancreatitis by simple biochemical values (SGOT greater than or equal to 60 U/l, bilirubin greater than or equal to 1.6 mg/dl, alkaline phosphatase greater than or equal to 100 U/l) 297 patients with alcoholic, idiopathic and biliary pancreatitis were reinvestigated in a retrospective manner. The present study shows that a valid prediction by these values is not possible since 1) only about 40% of attacks of acute gallstone pancreatitis were associated with elevated SGOT, bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase concentrations and 2) there was a considerable overlap with the other etiological groups especially with idiopathic pancreatitis.