Human BIN1 isoforms grow, maintain, and regenerate excitation-contraction couplons in adult rat and human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Aims: In ventricular myocytes, transverse-tubules (T-tubules) are instrumental for excitation-contraction (EC)coupling and their disarray is a hallmark of cardiac diseases. BIN1 is a key contributor to their biogenesis. Our study set out to investigate the role of human BIN1 splice variants in the maintenance and regeneration of EC-coupling in rat adult ventricular myocytes and human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac myocytes (hiPS-CMs).

Pulmonary Endarterectomy Surgery for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: A Small-Volume National Referral Center Experience.

Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare, distinct pulmonary vascular disease, which is caused by chronic obstruction of major pulmonary arteries. CTEPH can be cured by pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). PEA for CTEPH is a challenging procedure, and patient selection and the perioperative management are complex, requiring significant experience.

Presepsin and Inflammatory Markers Correlate With Occurrence and Severity of Nonocclusive Mesenteric Ischemia After Cardiovascular Surgery.

Objectives: To prospectively evaluate the relationship of established inflammatory markers and presepsin on nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia and to correlate presepsin levels to the occurrence and severity of nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia.

Design: Patients were prospectively enrolled and blood samples taken, followed by a retrospective evaluation of laboratory values and angiographic findings. The study was ethics committee approved.

Occurrence and severity of non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) after cardiovascular surgery correlate with preoperatively assessed FGF-23 levels.

Purpose: To evaluate the value of preoperatively assessed fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) levels and to correlate FGF-23 with angiographic findings in non-occlusive mesenteric (NOMI) ischemia using a standardized scoring system.

Materials And Methods: Between 2/2011 and 3/2012 a total of 865 patients (median age: 67 years) underwent cardiovascular surgery during this ethics committee approved, prospective study. 65 of these patients had clinical suspicion of NOMI and consequently underwent catheter angiography of the superior mesenteric artery.

A single preoperative FGF23 measurement is a strong predictor of outcome in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery: a prospective observational study.

Introduction: Several scoring systems have been developed to predict postoperative mortality and complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, these computer-based calculations are time- and cost-intensive. A simple but highly predictive test for postoperative risk would be of clinical benefit with respect to increasingly scarce hospital resources.

Assessment of left ventricular dyssynchrony and function using real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography in patients with congenital right heart disease.

Background: Patients after repair of congenital right heart disease (CRHD) may exhibit left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony (LVD). However, the diagnosis of LVD is difficult and its reliability limited because current methods do not assess LVD of the whole LV simultaneously. The aim of the study was to assess LVD according to a novel global systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI) derived from real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography in patients after repaired CRHD.

18F-FDG PET for mediastinal staging of lung cancer: which SUV threshold makes sense?

Unlabelled: (18)F-FDG PET is the most accurate noninvasive modality for staging mediastinal lymph nodes in lung cancer. Besides using visual image interpretation, some institutions use standardized uptake value (SUV) measurements in lymph nodes. Mostly, an SUV of 2.

Toward a more complete recognition of immunoreactive antigens in squamous cell lung carcinoma.

There is very limited knowledge about the antibody response against tumor-expressed antigens in lung cancer. To arrive at a more complete picture of lung cancer antigens, we generated 2 cDNA libraries from squamous cell lung carcinoma and isolated 15 immunogenic antigens using autologous sera. Among the antigens most frequently identified were the lymphoid blast crisis oncogene (LBC), an unknown hypothetical protein and the p53-binding protein (TP53 BP), which have already been associated with tumor development.