New generation aspiration catheter: Feasibility in the treatment of pulmonary embolism.

Aim: To report our preliminary experience with a new generation aspiration catheter in the treatment of symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods: A retrospective database search for pulmonary artery embolectomy since introduction of the Pronto .035" and XL extraction catheter (Vascular Solutions, Minneapolis, MN) at our institution in 10/2009 was performed.

Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles for synergistic enhancement of cancer treatment by combinatorial radio frequency thermolysis and drug delivery.

Few-layer, carbon-coated, iron (C/Fe) magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were synthesized with controlled sizes ranging from 7 to 9 nm. The additional loading of two anti-cancer drugs, doxorubicin and erlotinib, was achieved through - stacking onto the carbon shells. Controlled release of the drugs was successfully triggered by radio frequency (RF) heating or pH variation.

Gastrostomy tube placement without nasogastric tube: a retrospective evaluation in 85 patients.

Purpose: Our study evaluated techniques for percutaneous gastrostomy (G)-tube placement without the use of a nasogastric (NG) tube. Instead, direct puncture of a physiologic air bubble or effervescent-enhanced gastric bubble distention was performed in patients with upper digestive tract obstruction (UDTO) or psychological objections to NG tubes.

Materials And Methods: A total of 886 patients underwent G-tube placement in our department during a period of 7 years.

Principles of tunneled cuffed catheter placement.

Tunneled cuffed catheters provide reliable and instant long-term intravenous access for a large variety of therapeutic purposes, including chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, and apheresis. The most frequent application is for patients with renal failure as an access device for hemodialysis. In this capacity, the rate of catheter use has remained stable in the United States, despite the promotion of arteriovenous fistulas and arteriovenous grafts.

Volumetric assessment of epicardial adipose tissue with cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: Previous studies determined the amount of epicardial fat by measuring the right ventricular epicardial fat thickness. However, it is not proven whether this one-dimensional method correlates well with the absolute amount of epicardial fat. In this prospective study, a new cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) method using the three-dimensional summation of slices method was introduced to assess the total amount of epicardial fat.

Possible role of ROS as mediators of hypoxia-induced ion transport inhibition of alveolar epithelial cells.

In oxygen-sensitive excitable cells, responses to hypoxia are initiated by membrane depolarization due to closing of the K channels that is thought to be mediated by a decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS). Because the mechanisms of hypoxic inhibition of ion transport of alveolar epithelial cells (Planes C, Friedlander G, Loiseau A, Amiel C, and Clerici C. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 271: L70-L78, 1996; Mairbäurl H, Wodopia R, Eckes S, Schulz S, and Bärtsch P.

Speech accommodations to dementia.

This study investigated whether spouses would adopt a specialized speech register when communicating with adults with probable Alzheimer's disease. A picture description task was used so that the effectiveness of such speech accommodations could be assessed. The AD subjects did not vary the syntactic complexity, semantic complexity, or content of their descriptions when they were describing individual pictures versus directing their spouse to choose one of four pictures in a barrier task.