Infective Endocarditis Presenting as Complete Heart Block With an Unexpected Finding of a Cardiac Abscess and Purulent Pericarditis.

Intracardiac abscess resulting in complete heart block is an infrequent complication of infective endocarditis. Most presentations of endocarditis are limited to valvular and perivalvular structures, with varying degrees of heart block occurring in the minority of cases. We report a case of endocarditis manifesting as chest pain associated with ST segment elevation and complete heart block.

High-resolution elemental mapping of human placental chorionic villi using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

The placenta is the organ that mediates transport of nutrients and waste materials between mother and fetus. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) microanalysis is a tool for imaging the distribution and quantity of elements in biological tissue, which can be used to study metal transport across biological membranes. Our aims were to pilot placental biopsy specimen preparation techniques that could be integrated into an ongoing epidemiology birth cohort study without harming rates of sample acquisition.

Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver: a concise review.

Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver is an aggressive mesenchymal tumor that occurs predominantly in children. Although this entity has been described for decades, its pathogenesis is still obscure. Its association with mesenchymal hamartoma has been well described on the basis of identical chromosomal abnormalities.

Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia of the breast in a 10-year-old girl.

Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) of the breast is a benign lesion, characterized by a dense proliferation of stromal mesenchymal cells of myofibroblastic origin forming empty, slitlike channels. The development of PASH is subject to hormonal influence and is most commonly seen in premenopausal women. In adolescent patients, PASH is rarely reported.

Cerebellar loss and brain-stem atrophy associated with neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in a discordant twin.

Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) is due to an immune-mediated maternal-fetal platelet antigen incompatibility. Central nervous system abnormalities have been reported in infants with NAIT and include intracranial hemorrhage, ventriculomegaly, porencephalic cysts, neuronal migrational disorders, and, rarely, cerebellar lesions. We present the clinical and neuropathological findings from a case of a 3-day-old diamniotic/dichorionic female twin with known bilateral ventriculomegaly born prematurely at 33-1/7 weeks in gestational age.

Tolerability and clinical utility of the Bravo pH capsule in children.

Goals: To prospectively evaluate the tolerability and clinical utility of the Bravo pH capsule in children.

Background: Acid reflux is common in children, and pH testing can be used to correlate acid exposure with symptom expression. The tolerability and clinical utility of the Bravo capsule in children has not been prospectively evaluated.

Neuroma of the bile duct: a late complication after cholecystectomy.

Introduction: Extrahepatic biliary obstruction with a mass in the common bile duct and elevated CA 19-9 level is often due to cholangiocarcinoma.

Case Report: We present a case of a 71 year-old woman who presented with an extrahepatic biliary obstruction and a mass in the common bile duct 45 years after cholecystectomy. Pathologic analysis revealed a bile duct neuroma.

Human acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 (acat1) sequences located in two different chromosomes (7 and 1) are required to produce a novel ACAT1 isoenzyme with additional sequence at the N terminus.

A rare form of human ACAT1 mRNA, containing the optional long 5'-untranslated region, is produced as a 4.3-kelonucleotide chimeric mRNA through a novel interchromosomal trans-splicing of two discontinuous RNAs transcribed from chromosomes 1 and 7. To investigate its function, we express the chimeric ACAT1 mRNA in Chinese hamster ovary cells and show that it can produce a larger ACAT1 protein, with an apparent molecular mass of 56 kDa on SDS-PAGE, in addition to the normal, 50-kDa ACAT1 protein, which is produced from the ACAT1 mRNAs without the optional long 5'-untranslated repeat.

Fetal demise due to herpes simplex virus: an illustrated case report.

We report and illustrate a case of fetal demise at 31 weeks caused by fulminant herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. The 15-year-old mother reported no past history or symptoms of an HSV infection during pregnancy. Autopsy revealed extensively ulcerated skin and necrosis of the liver, adrenal glands, brain, and placental membranes.