Heart transplantation from controlled donation after circulatory death using thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion and cold storage.

Background: Heart transplantation from controlled donation after the circulatory determination of death (cDCDD) may be an option to increase the pool of grafts for transplantation.

Materials And Methods: Initial experiences on cDCDD heart transplantation were based on the direct procurement of the heart followed by preservation with ex situ perfusion devices. Later, the use of thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion (TA-NRP) has emerged as an option to recover hearts.

Mutilating Purpura Fulminans in an Adult with Meningococcal Sepsis.

We report a dramatic case of meningococcal sepsis manifesting as purpura fulminans in an elderly diabetic woman. Hemodynamic instability and severe bilateral cutaneous lesions involving her hands and feet developed rapidly. Specific antibiotic therapy and the administration of inotropic and vasopressor drugs were initiated.

Risk factors and outcomes for nosocomial infection after prosthetic vascular grafts.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine risk factors for nosocomial infections (NIs) and predictors of mortality in patients with prosthetic vascular grafts (PVGs).

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of all consecutive patients who underwent PVG of the abdominal aorta with or without iliac-femoral involvement and peripheral PVG from April 2008 to August 2009 at a university hospital. Patients younger than 15 years and those with severe immunodeficiency were excluded.

BMP-7 attenuates left ventricular remodelling under pressure overload and facilitates reverse remodelling and functional recovery.

Aims: TGF-β regulates tissue fibrosis: TGF-β promotes fibrosis, whereas bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-7 is antifibrotic. To demonstrate that (i) left ventricular (LV) remodelling after pressure overload is associated with disequilibrium in the signalling mediated by these cytokines, and (ii) BMP-7 exerts beneficial effects on LV remodelling and reverse remodelling.

Methods And Results: We studied patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and mice subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) and TAC release (de-TAC).

Successful retrieval of an irretrievable jugular tesio catheter using a fogarty arterial embolectomy catheter.

Long life expectancy and wide development of therapies have increased the number of patients under artificial treatment for lost kidney function or dialysis. Different options for vascular access are suitable for receiving this therapy. The use of tunneled catheters has consequently increased complications related to its use.

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma: retrospective clinicopathologic study of 17 tumors with resection at a single institution and literature review.

Cardiac papillary fibroelastomas (PFEs), which are mainly found in the valves, are rare benign tumors that can cause embolism. Single-center surgical experience in the treatment of this tumor is uncommon. All patients surgically treated for this neoplasm at our institution from January 1995 to October 2012 (15 patients with 17 lesions) were queried for clinical and pathologic characteristics, and the literature was reviewed.

Migration and differentiation of human umbilical cord stem cells after heart injury in chicken embryos.

Here we have analyzed the behavior and fate of stem cells from human umbilical cord blood (scHUCBs) when grafted into the myocardial wall of normal and damaged hearts of chicken embryos. We started by characterizing the scHUCBs before grafting and we found that they express precardiogenic genes including Nkx2.5, GATA4, MEF-2, and SERCA2a together with undifferentiation markers as CD34 or c-kit.