Complications and Outcomes of the Nuss Procedure in Adult Patients: A Systematic Review.

Pectus excavatum is a congenital chest wall deformity, commonly identified in early childhood, creating a "sunken chest" appearance. Over time, the deformity can worsen, thus impacting cardiopulmonary function and creating significant body image disturbance in patients. The Nuss procedure is a minimally invasive technique in which a curved steel bar is introduced underneath the sternum through small bilateral thoracic incisions to correct the deformity.

Chronic heart failure management and remote haemodynamic monitoring.

Heart failure (HF) has a large societal and economic burden and is expected to increase in magnitude and complexity over the ensuing years. A number of telemonitoring strategies exploring remote monitoring and management of clinical signs and symptoms of congestion in HF have had equivocal results. Early studies of remote haemodynamic monitoring showed promise, but issues with device integrity and implantation-associated adverse events hindered progress.

Fundamentals of stem cell mobilization for the heart: prospects for treating heart disease.

Despite significant advances in the detection, prevention and treatment of congestive heart failure, it remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Recent research has revealed the potential role of stem and progenitor cells in repairing and regenerating damaged myocardium. A number of pharmacological agents that mobilize these cells, including granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, statins and AMD-3100, are currently under investigation.

Noninvasive diagnosis of biopsy-proven cardiac amyloidosis.

Objectives: This study analyzed the utility of electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic findings in the diagnosis of amyloidosis proven by endomyocardial biopsy.

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis is associated with characteristic ECG and echocardiographic changes, yet each finding alone is relatively nonspecific. A combination of noninvasive prognostic parameters would be desirable for this tissue-based diagnosis.