Body composition and short-term mortality in patients critically ill with acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Background & Aims: Body composition is sex dependent and associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with cirrhosis. We evaluated whether it was also associated with short-term mortality in patients critically ill with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively included all patients with cirrhosis and ACLF hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Lausanne University Hospital between 2010 and 2019 for whom an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan performed ±7 days from admission was available.

Preoperative CT-Based Skeletal Muscle Mass Depletion and Outcomes after Total Laryngectomy.

Purpose: To assess the role of preoperative CT-based skeletal muscle mass depletion on postoperative clinical outcomes and survival in patients who underwent total laryngectomy for cancer.

Methods: Patients operated on between January 2011 and March 2020 were retrospectively included. Skeletal muscle area and intra- and inter-muscular fat accumulation were measured at the third lumbar vertebral level on preoperative CT scans.

CT-Derived Sarcopenia and Outcomes after Thoracoscopic Pulmonary Resection for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

We aimed to evaluate whether computed tomography (CT)-derived preoperative sarcopenia measures were associated with postoperative outcomes and survival after video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) anatomical pulmonary resection in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We retrospectively reviewed all consecutive patients that underwent VATS anatomical pulmonary resection for NSCLC between 2012 and 2019. Skeletal muscle mass was measured at L3 vertebral level on preoperative CT or PET/CT scans to identify sarcopenic patients according to established threshold values.

Association between CT-Based Preoperative Sarcopenia and Outcomes in Patients That Underwent Liver Resections.

This retrospective observational study aimed to evaluate whether preoperative sarcopenia, assessed by CT imaging, was associated with postoperative clinical outcomes and overall survival in patients that underwent liver resections. Patients operated on between January 2014 and February 2020 were included. The skeletal muscle index (SMI) was measured at the level of the third lumbar vertebra on preoperative CT scans.

Sarcopenia and major complications in patients undergoing oncologic colon surgery.

Background: Sarcopenia is a surrogate marker for malnutrition and frailty, which has been linked to higher complication rates and prolonged length of stay (LOS) after surgery. The study aim was to assess the correlation between computed tomography (CT)-based sarcopenia and short-term clinical outcomes after oncologic colon surgery.

Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive patients operated between May 2014 and December 2019.

The role of FDG-PET-CT in pediatric cardiac patients and patients with congenital heart defects.

Aim: Medical imaging by using FDG-PET/CT (PET-CT) can detect, confirm or eliminate with high sensitivity areas of suspected infections in case of persistent fever of unknown origin in combination with other bacteriological examinations. The aim of this study was to assess the potential role of PET-CT in detecting or excluding infections or other inflammatory processes in patients with congenital heart defects (CHD). In addition we wanted to evaluate the practical impact of PET-CT on the subsequent clinical management.

Organotypic slice cultures of human gastric and esophagogastric junction cancer.

Gastric and esophagogastric junction cancers are heterogeneous and aggressive tumors with an unpredictable response to cytotoxic treatment. New methods allowing for the analysis of drug resistance are needed. Here, we describe a novel technique by which human tumor specimens can be cultured ex vivo, preserving parts of the natural cancer microenvironment.

Assessment of myocardial scarring by contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in a patient 11 years after percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

We report on a 60 year-old male who was one of the first patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation (PTSMA) in our institution in 1996. Contrast enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 11 years after the PTSMA demonstrated extensive scarring, in septal and inferior segments of the left ventricle, and an excellent functional result. It has been previously demonstrated that contrast-enhanced MRI allows detailed evaluation of size and location of septal myocardial infarction induced by PTSMA, and that infarction size detected by MRI correlates well with clinical indexes of infarct size.

Low-dose international normalized ratio self-management: a promising tool to achieve low complication rates after mechanical heart valve replacement.

Background: International normalized ratio (INR) self-management can significantly reduce INR fluctuations, bleeding, and thromboembolic events compared with INR control managed by general practitioners. However, even patients with INR self-management may have an increased risk of bleeding if their INR value is above 3.5.

An echocardiographic and magnetic resonance imaging comparative study of right ventricular volume determination.

Assessment of right ventricular volume and function is important in many clinical settings involving heart or lung disease. However, the complexity of the right ventricular anatomy has prevented accurate volume determination by two-dimensional echocardiography. In the present study, 5 models incorporating standard echocardiographic views, were used to determine right ventricular volume in 10 human subjects.

[Tachycardia-induced syncopes].

In 50% of the patients presenting with a syncope, the cause is cardiac. The incidence of sudden death with 24% is high in this group. Since most of the tachycardia-induced syncopes are due to ventricular tachycardia (VT), a careful diagnostic approach must be used.

Doppler echocardiographic assessment of the new ATS medical prosthetic valve in the aortic position.

Advancing The Standard (ATS) Medical (ATS Medical Inc., Minneapolis, MN) is a new mechanical bileaflet valve, composed of pyrolitic carbon. The aim of this study was to define in a blinded manner the Doppler echocardiographic characteristics of normally functioning ATS Medical prostheses with respect to their size.

Nosocomial pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients receiving antacid, ranitidine, or sucralfate as prophylaxis for stress ulcer. A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To assess three anti-stress ulcer prophylaxis regimens in mechanically ventilated patients for bacterial colonization, early- and late-onset nosocomial pneumonia, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Patients: Consecutive eligible patients with mechanical ventilation and a nasogastric tube.

Continuous measurement of rat gastric blood flow using Doppler flowmeter.

We describe the use of pulsed Doppler flowmetry to permit continuous measurement of gastric blood flow in the anesthetized rat. The aims of this study were: 1) to assess the stability of blood flow during Doppler flowmetry; 2) to assess the ability of Doppler flowmetry to record rapid, transient blood flow changes; and 3) to validate Doppler flowmetry against an established blood flow measurement technique using labeled microspheres. Measurements over 3-h periods with a Doppler probe placed on the left gastric artery showed that there was an initial 30-min stabilization period; after this the mean percentage coefficient of variation, indicating intraindividual variability for blood flow, was < 10% for the remaining 150 min.

The effect of continuous enteral nutrition on gastric acidity in humans.

The effect of continuous intraduodenal enteral nutrition on gastric pH was compared with the effects of fasting and of parenteral and standard nutrition control regimens containing equal amounts of carbohydrate, protein, and lipid. Eleven healthy volunteers underwent four 24-hour intragastric pH-metry studies; serum glucose, calcium, immunoreactive insulin and gastrin levels were determined during fasting and enteral and parenteral regimens. Median 24-hour gastric pH during enteral nutrition (group median pH 1.

Role of cholecystokinin in the regulation of gastric emptying and pancreatic enzyme secretion in humans. Studies with the cholecystokinin-receptor antagonist loxiglumide.

The role of cholecystokinin (CCK) in the regulation of gastric emptying and pancreatic enzyme secretion was evaluated by infusing the CCK-receptor antagonist loxiglumide. Gastric emptying rates and pancreatic secretory outputs were measured in five healthy volunteers by the double-indicator perfusion technique using a multiple-lumen tube in the duodenum. Placebo or loxiglumide (22 mumol.

Luminal acid reduces gastric mucosal blood flow in the ischemic stomach.

Luminal gastric acid is essential for the formation of acute gastric mucosal lesions during ischemia. The mechanism by which luminal acid promotes gastric injury is, however, unclear. We investigated the effect of exogenous luminal acid on gastric mucosal blood flow using the radiolabeled microsphere technique.