Health-related quality of life in paediatric patients on peritoneal dialysis: Data from a tertiary centre.

Kidney failure has a negative impact on both children and families' quality of life (QOL). We evaluated the burden of home peritoneal dialysis (PD) using two local questionnaires and the French version of PedsQL3.0 end-stage kidney disease module and family impact module.

Fungal Endocarditis: A Rare Cause of Left Ventricular Outflow Obstruction.

A 53-year-old male presented with worsening fever, chest pain, and dyspnea during the past 2 weeks. He was hypoxic, tachycardic, and hypotensive on admission. Labs were notable for high-sensitivity troponin of 657 pg/mL and B-type natriuretic peptide of 1,648 pg/mL.

Evaluation of Low Volume Roads Surfaced with 100% RAP Millings.

The sustainability of roadway construction has rapidly been gaining attention within the pavement industry. The pavements examined in this study are in a Northern Nevada county with many of the roadways categorized as low volume roads. The county began surfacing rural roads with 100% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) millings, without any design considerations for decades.

Pragmatic Weight Management Program for Patients With Obesity and Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

Background Obesity is associated with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Weight loss can improve exercise capacity in HFpEF. However, previously reported methods of weight loss are impractical for widespread clinical implementation.

New technique: removal of embedded esophageal partially covered stent by endoscopic sub-stent space dissection.

Both fully (FCSEMS) and partially (PCSEMS) covered self-expandable metal stents are used for the endoscopic management of leaks, perforations, and fistulas. PCSEMS have lower migration rates as their uncovered flanges allow for anchorage into the surrounding tissue, but this consequently makes them difficult to be removed, with reported cases of esophageal perforation during the removal of the embedded PCSEMS. Stent-in-stent technique is mostly used, where a FCSEMS is placed co-axially into an existing PCSEMS causing pressure necrosis and facilitating subsequent removal of both stents.

Drug-induced Pancreatic Atrophy ("The Vanishing Pancreas").

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have become the therapeutic mainstay in a rapidly growing number of cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related diarrhea is attributed mainly to inflammatory colitis, with no other drug-related differential diagnosis. However, other causes of diarrhea should be considered.

Rescuing the Rescuer: Fractured Dormia Basket and a Second Basket Rescue Technique.

Unlabelled: Mechanical lithotripsy is one of the well-known rescue methods for impacted common bile duct (CBD) stones. A fractured Dormia basket with a captured stone is an unusual complication and poses a special management problem. In the past, surgical intervention was the standard method.

Inflammatory cardiac fibroblast phenotype underlies chronic alcohol-induced cardiac atrophy and dysfunction.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate mechanisms of chronic alcohol-induced cardiac remodeling and dysfunction. We also sought to determine the role of cardiac fibroblasts, which play a dynamic role in cardiac remodeling, in mediating these effects.

Main Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to ethanol (EtOH) vapor inhalation for 16 weeks.

N-Acetylcysteine prevents the decreases in cardiac collagen I/III ratio and systolic function in neonatal mice with prenatal alcohol exposure.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is often associated with congenital heart defects, most commonly septal, valvular, and great vessel defects. However, there have been no known studies on whether PAE affects the resulting fibroblast population after development, and whether this has any consequences in the postnatal period. Our previous study focused on the effects of PAE on the postnatal fibroblast population, which translated into changes in cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and cardiac function in the neonatal heart.

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Causes Adverse Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Changes and Dysfunction in Neonatal Mice.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most severe condition of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and is associated with congenital heart defects. However, more subtle defects such as ventricular wall thinning and cardiac compliance may be overlooked in FASD. Our studies focus on the role of cardiac fibroblasts in the neonatal heart, and how they are affected by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE).

Chronic Ethanol Administration Prevents Compensatory Cardiac Hypertrophy in Pressure Overload.

Background: Alcohol is among the most commonly abused drugs worldwide and affects many organ systems, including the heart. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy is characterized by a dilated cardiac phenotype with extensive hypertrophy and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. We have previously shown that chronic ethanol (EtOH) administration accelerates the progression to heart failure in a rat model of volume overload.

Inhibitor of lysyl oxidase improves cardiac function and the collagen/MMP profile in response to volume overload.

The cardiac extracellular matrix is a complex architectural network that serves many functions, including providing structural and biochemical support to surrounding cells and regulating intercellular signaling pathways. Cardiac function is directly affected by extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, and alterations of the ECM contribute to the progression of heart failure. Initially, collagen deposition is an adaptive response that aims to preserve tissue integrity and maintain normal ventricular function.

Detrimental role of lysyl oxidase in cardiac remodeling.

A key feature of heart failure is adverse extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, which is associated with increases in the collagen cross-linking enzyme, lysyl oxidase (LOX). In this study, we assess the progression of cardiovascular remodeling from the compensatory to decompensatory phase, with a focus on the change in LOX expression and activity as it relates to alterations in ECM composition and changes in cardiac function. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied after 4, 14, or 21weeks of aortocaval fistula-induced volume overload (VO).

Ventilation of Nonparalyzed Patients Under Anesthesia with Laryngeal Mask Airway, Comparison of Three Modes of Ventilation: Volume Controlled Ventilation, Pressure Controlled Ventilation, and Pressure Controlled Ventilation-volume Guarantee.

Background: Pressure controlled ventilation (PCV) is the preferable mode of ventilation of nonparalyzed patients undergoing anesthesia with laryngeal mask airway (LMA) as compared to volume controlled ventilation (VCV) and spontaneously breathing patient. In this study, we compared the PC-volume guarantee (PC-VG) mode of ventilation with VCV and PCV modes.

Materials And Methods: A total of 30 patients, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status Classes I and II, scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia with a classic LMA were ventilated, subsequently, with the three modes of ventilation: VCV, PCV, and PC-VG for 10 min each mode.

Estrogen receptor antagonism exacerbates cardiac structural and functional remodeling in female rats.

Unlabelled: We have previously demonstrated the cardioprotective effects of ovarian hormones against adverse ventricular remodeling imposed by chronic volume overload. Here, we assess the estrogen receptor dependence of this cardioprotection. Four groups of female rats were studied: sham-operated (Sham), volume overloaded [aortocaval fistula (ACF)], Sham treated with estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182,780 (Sham + ICI), and ACF treated with ICI.

Exposure to chronic alcohol accelerates development of wall stress and eccentric remodeling in rats with volume overload.

Chronic alcohol abuse is one of the leading causes of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in the United States. Volume overload (VO) also produces DCM characterized by left ventricular (LV) dilatation and reduced systolic and diastolic function, eventually progressing to congestive heart failure. For this study, we hypothesized that chronic alcohol exposure would exacerbate cardiac dysfunction and remodeling due to VO.

Cardioprotective effects of lysyl oxidase inhibition against volume overload-induced extracellular matrix remodeling.

A hallmark of heart failure (HF) is adverse extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, which is regulated by the collagen cross-linking enzyme, lysyl oxidase (LOX). In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of LOX inhibition to prevent adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and dysfunction using an experimental model of HF. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to surgically induced volume overload (VO) by creation of aortocaval fistula (ACF).

Alcohol modulation of cardiac matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of MMPs favors collagen accumulation.

Background: Chronic alcohol consumption has been shown in human and animal studies to result in collagen accumulation, myocardial fibrosis, and heart failure. Cardiac fibroblasts produce collagen and regulate extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis through the synthesis and activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs), with the balance of MMPs/TIMPs determining the rate of collagen turnover. Dynamic changes of MMP and TIMP expression were reported in alcohol-induced hepatic fibrosis; however, the effect of alcohol on MMP/TIMP balance in the heart and cardiac fibroblasts is unknown.

Exposure to diesel exhaust particulates induces cardiac dysfunction and remodeling.

Chronic exposure to diesel exhaust particulates (DEP) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in urban residents, predisposing them to the development of several cardiovascular stresses, including myocardial infarctions, arrhythmias, thrombosis, and heart failure. DEP contain a high level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). We hypothesize that exposure to DEP elicits ventricular remodeling through the activation of the AHR pathway, leading to ventricular dilation and dysfunction.

[Midline tumors of the central nervous system].

The anatomy of the supratentoriel midline structures of the brain is complex: corpus callosum, third ventricle, trigone, choroid plexus, pineal gland, falx cerebri. Different types of tumors can arise from these structures including tumors of the trigone and septum, tumors of the falx, third ventricular tumors and pinal region tumors. These tumors share similar features: minimal clinical symptoms despite their occasional large size, mild non-specific intracranial hypertension syndrome, value of MRI for depiction of tumor location, stereotactic biopsy, relative difficulty of surgical management.