Test deformation and chemistry of foraminifera as response to anthropogenic heavy metal input.

Benthic foraminifera are sensitive to environmental changes and widely used as tools to monitor pollution. Rising numbers of deformed tests are often used as indicator for elevated levels of heavy metals, but little is known about the relation between heavy metal incorporation into foraminiferal tests and the formation of test deformities. Here, two sediment cores from the south-eastern North Sea are compared, regarding the occurrence of deformed foraminiferal tests, foraminiferal test chemistry (ICP-MS) and bulk sediment Pb content (XRF).

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis During Dronedarone Treatment: First Report of a Severe Serious Adverse Event Of A New Antiarrhythmic Drug.

A 77-year-old female patient with symptomatic atrial fibrillation with fast ventricular rate despite conventional antiarrhythmic therapy was treated with dronedarone. Five days later, she developed a maculopapulous exanthema and small flaccid blisters, which spread over the common integument predominantly located on the dorsal trunk. Over few days, the patient showed a severe epidermal necrolysis of approximately 30 % of the body area and ultimately died in multiorgan failure.

[Incessant or recurrent ventricular tachycardia. Indications for emergency ablation].

Incessant ventricular tachycardia and "electrical storms" are emergencies, requiring urgent action in a close cooperation between critical care physicians and cardiologists. The leading cause of such events is advanced cardiac disease. Besides the patient's history, an ECG and, if applicable, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) interrogation is required for a reliable diagnosis.