[Histological and ultrastructural analysis of biopsy specimens of donor heart under conditions of extended period of pharmaco-cold ischaemia].

Objective: At the histological and ultramicroscopic level, compare biopsy specimens of donor heart under standard (up to 240 min) and extended (more than 240 min) periods of pharmaco-cold preservation.

Material And Methods: Biopsy specimens of the left atrium of donor hearts: group 1 - 8 samples after transportation with pharmaco-cold preservation of the graft in Bretschneider solution (Dr. Franz Köhler Chemie GmbH, Germany) up to 240 min, (Me 140), and group 2 - 5 samples after an extended pharmaco-cold period (more than 240 min; Me 375) were examined using light microscopy of semi-thin sections and transmission electron microscopy, followed by stereological and statistical analysis.

Prolonged use of temozolomide leads to increased anxiety and decreased content of aggrecan and chondroitin sulfate in brain tissues of aged rats.

Chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) is an essential part of anticancer therapy used for malignant tumors (mainly melanoma and glioblastoma); however, the long-term effects on patient health and life quality are not fully investigated. Considering that tumors often occur in elderly patients, the present study was conducted on long-term (4 months) treatment of adult Wistar rats (9 months old, n=40) with TMZ and/or dexamethasone (DXM) to investigate potential behavioral impairments or morphological and molecular changes in their brain tissues. According to the elevated plus maze test, long-term use of TMZ affected the anxiety of the adult Wistar rats, although no significant deterioration of brain morphology or cellular composition of the brain tissue was revealed.

Dexamethasone Inhibits Heparan Sulfate Biosynthetic System and Decreases Heparan Sulfate Content in Orthotopic Glioblastoma Tumors in Mice.

Glioblastoma (GB) is an aggressive cancer with a high probability of recurrence, despite active chemoradiotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ) and dexamethasone (DXM). These systemic drugs affect the glycosylated components of brain tissue involved in GB development; however, their effects on heparan sulfate (HS) remain unknown. Here, we used an animal model of GB relapse in which SCID mice first received TMZ and/or DXM (simulating postoperative treatment) with a subsequent inoculation of U87 human GB cells.

Epithelioid hemangioma of the ascending aorta: A rare case.

Cardiac epithelioid hemangioma is extremely rare. Currently, there are only a few described cases of intraluminal hemangiomas of the aorta and the aortic valve and no described cases with extraluminal epithelioid hemangiomas of the ascending aorta. We now present a case of epithelioid hemangioma of the ascending aorta that was an incidental finding during the coronary artery bypass and successfully resected.

Multiple Irradiation Affects Cellular and Extracellular Components of the Mouse Brain Tissue and Adhesion and Proliferation of Glioblastoma Cells in Experimental System In Vivo.

Intensive adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) is a standard treatment for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients; however, its effect on the normal brain tissue remains unclear. Here, we investigated the short-term effects of multiple irradiation on the cellular and extracellular glycosylated components of normal brain tissue and their functional significance. Triple irradiation (7 Gy*3 days) of C57Bl/6 mouse brain inhibited the viability, proliferation and biosynthetic activity of normal glial cells, resulting in a fast brain-zone-dependent deregulation of the expression of proteoglycans (PGs) (decorin, biglycan, versican, brevican and CD44).

Pulmonary angiosarcoma: A case report of surgical treatment.

Pulmonary angiosarcoma (PAS) is a malignant tumor of the vascular wall of mesenchymal origin. PAS is rare and has unknown etiology and poor prognosis. Depending on the location, angiosarcoma can lead to serious obstructive and embolic complications, as well as severe pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular heart failure.

[Patient's way from acute pulmonary embolism to chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: diagnostic and treatment options].

Сhronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a serious, under - diagnosed but potentially curable complication of pulmonary embolism (PE) due to medicine advancements. Lack of specific symptoms and signs makes its diagnosis challenging, requiring clinicians to be ready to suspect its presence in patients with dyspnea of unknown origin or persistent symptoms after the pulmonary embolism event. The success of the treatment of this disease depends entirely on early diagnosis.

Single X-ray irradiation modulates proteoglycan expression in brain tissue: investigation using mouse model.

Radiotherapy is an integral part of glioblastoma treatment affecting both cancer cells and tumour microenvironment, where proteoglycans (PGs) are key extracellular components. However, the molecular effects of radiotherapy on PGs expression and functional activity in brain tissue are poorly understood. Here, we aimed to study the short-term effects of X-ray irradiation on PGs expression in normal brain tissue in mouse model in vivo.

[Hybrid approach to surgical treatment for a saccular thoracic aortic aneurysm].

Presented herein is a clinical case report regarding hybrid surgical treatment for a saccular aneurysm of the aortic arch in a female patient. While undergoing a routine medical check-up she had been found to have fluorographic evidence strongly suggesting dilatation of the aortic thoracic portion. Based on the findings of further examination we determined the indications for surgical treatment of the thoracic portion of the aorta.

[Extra-anatomical bypass grafting of the thoracic aorta in a female patient with an infected pseudoaneurysm].

Presented herein is the remote (more than 15-year follow up) result of successful surgical treatment of aortic coarctation complicated by septic aortitis and a false aneurysm of the anastomosis between the graft and the aortic arch. In 2002, after correction of aortic coarctation the woman was admitted to our Clinic with an incompetent proximal anastomosis and an infected aortic pseudoaneurysm. Taking into consideration the general and local septic process, repeat reconstruction of the thoracic aorta was impossible due to the risk for generalization of the infectious process and fatal complications.

Immunohistochemical Features of Different Types of Unstable Atherosclerotic Plaques of Coronary Arteries.

We performed a complex morphological study of samples of different types of unstable atherosclerotic plaques obtained from 33 men with occlusive coronary atherosclerosis, who underwent coronary artery endarterectomy during coronary artery bypass surgery. In the samples, expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9, collagen IV, CD31, CD34, factor VIII, and actin of smooth muscle cells was evaluated by morphometric and immunohistochemical methods. The maximum expression of MMP-9 was found in unstable plaques of the lipid type, where it 1.

[Changes of Content of Matrix Metalloproteinases and Their Tissue Expression in Various Types of Atherosclerotic Plaques].

Aim: to investigate diagnostically significant for atherosclerotic plaques (ASP) of various types parameters of activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-9) in homogenates, as well as tissue expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and collagen type IV.

Materials And Methods: We included in this study 54 men with coronary atherosclerosis without acute coronary syndrome who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery with endarterectomy. In the obtained samples we determined levels of MMP-3, MMP-7, and MMP-9 (by enzyme immunoassay), as well as tissue expression of antibodies to MMP-2, MMP-9 and collagen type IV.

Immunohistochemical Phenotypes of Stable and Unstable Occlusive Atherosclerotic Plaques in Coronary Arteries.

We performed a complex morphological analysis of atherosclerotic plaques obtained from 68 men with coronary atherosclerosis during coronary bypass surgery with endarterectomy. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9, collagen IV, CD31, CD34, factor VIII, and of smooth muscle cell actin was measured in the samples by morphometric and immunohistochemical methods. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 as well as the intensity of neoangiogenesis estimated by the expression of CD31, CD34, and factor VIII in unstable plaques was significantly higher than in stable ones.

[5-year surgical results in patients with chronic postembolic pulmonary hypertension].

Aim: To evaluate 5-year results of surgical treatment of patients with chronic postembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Material And Methods: 170 patients with chronic postembolic pulmonary hypertension underwent pulmonary thrombendarterectomy. Mean age was 48±21.

Ultrastructural and metabolic features of stress-adaptive rearrangements of myocardium in infants after surgery-induced up-regulation of lipoperoxidation processes.

Surgical correction of complicated congenital heart disease in infants is terminated by postischemic reperfusion of myocardium accompanied with closure of more than 20% microvessels in the coronary bed by edematous endothelial cells, their bleb-like fragments, and aggregates of the blood formed elements. Degradation of the transmission capacity of the coronary microvessels developed in parallel with moderation of activity of the antiradical protection enzymes and positively correlated with the level of LPO secondary products, whose elevation during the surgery stages was not reduced by catalase activation.

[Gender peculiarities of development of atherosclerosis and impairment of brain oxygen supply in excessive body weight].

Aim of the given study was to elucidate special characteristics of mechanisms of development of atherosclerosis and supply of oxygen to the brain in overweight men and women. We included into this study 80 patients with multifocal atherosclerosis without history of myocardial infarction. We analyzed parameters of blood lipid composition, data of cerebral oxymetry, echocardiography, and central hemodynamics.

[Heart failure and imbalance of chemical elements in myocardium of patients with ishemic heart disease].

Tissue content of chemical elements indirectly characterizes some metabolic processes. We have analyzed content of chemical elements in left and right ventricular myocardium of patients with ischemic heart disease with progressing heart failure and have shown that during development and progression of heart failure metabolic processes have unidirectional character in myocardium of both ventricles. Derangement of left ventricular contractile capacity is associated with lowering of content of microelements involved in antioxidant processes and energy metabolism in tissues (Cu, Mn, Cr) and elevated concentration of elements characterizing progressive of myocardial stiffness (Ca, Fe).

Cardiac resynchronization therapy and bone marrow cell transplantation in patients with ischemic heart failure and electromechanical dyssynchrony: a randomized pilot study.

Most studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMMC) transplantation on angina, myocardial perfusion, regional wall motion, and LV ejection fraction (LVEF). Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has also shown a beneficial effect in patients with heart failure (HF) and electrical/mechanical dyssynchrony. However, the relative contribution of BMMC and CRT in patients with ischemic HF and electromechanical dyssynchrony has never been investigated.

Structural and molecular reorganization of cardiomyocytes in transposition of the main vessels.

Studies of myocardial autopsy specimens from infants (0-12 months) with transposition of the main vessels showed the formation of a complex of compensatory adaptive, degenerative, and destructive changes, manifesting at a tissue level in cardiomyocyte heterogeneity and formation of cardiosclerosis zones. Cardiac myosin synthesis was replaced by synthesis of skeletal myosin, which was detected at the molecular level. Clinically it manifested in the progress of heart failure.

Efficiency of intramyocardial injections of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells in patients with ischemic heart failure: a randomized study.

Intramyocardial transplantation of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMC) is believed to be a promising method for the treatment of patients with chronic ischemic heart disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term results of intramyocardial bone marrow cell transplantation in patients with severe ischemic heart failure. One hundred nine patients with chronic myocardial infarction and end-stage chronic heart failure were randomized into two groups: 55 patients received intramyocardial BMMC injection and 54 received optimal medical therapy.

Anatomical variants of transposition of the main vessels and their relationship with the content of chemical elements in heart ventricles.

Cardiometrical characteristics of anatomical variants of the main vessels transposition are determined by different functional load of heart compartments and are associated with metabolic processes of different intensity, which is confirmed by the content of chemical elements in the right- and left-ventricular myocardium. It was shown that the content of chemicals was virtually the same in both cardiac ventricles in case of main vessels transposition and isolated atrial septal defect. Positive correlations between the degree of left-ventricular hypertrophy and content of S, K, Fe, and Sr in it and a negative correlation between this hypertrophy and Cu content were revealed.

[Distribution of chemical elements in various parts of the heart of patients with acute heart failure].

By the method of autopsy in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) who died of acute heart failure we took samples of myocardium from 6 parts of the heart: left and right atrium, left and right ventricle, region of myocardial infarction, and scar of the left ventricle. Simultaneously we conducted histological study of these parts of myocardium. For the control we investigated content of chemical elements in myocardium of healthy victims of traffic accidents.

Successful surgical treatment by extraanatomic bypass grafting of a pseudoaneurysm of anastomosis after aortic replacement for coarctation complicated by septic aortitis.

Presented herein are the results of successful surgical treatment by extraanatomic bypass grafting of coarctation of the aorta complicated by septic aortitis and a pseudoaneurysm of the anastomosis between the graft and aortic arch.