Aspirin-induced platelet inhibition in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Platelet function and response to pharmacological inhibition are altered by cardiac surgery. For example, aggregation is increased early after aortic valve replacement (AVR) and platelet response to aspirin is often insufficient after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We hypothesized that the effect of aspirin administration after cardiac surgery might be impaired due to platelet activation.

An experimental and theoretical study of molecular structure and vibrational spectra of 3- and 4-pyridineboronic acid molecules by density functional theory calculations.

The experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra of 3- and 4-pyridineboronic acids (abbreviated as p3 and p4) were studied. The Fourier transform Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectra of p3 and p4 molecules were recorded in the solid phase. The structural and spectroscopic analysis of the p3 and p4 acids were made by using density functional harmonic calculations.

The peri-microvascular edema in hippocampal CA1 area in a rat model of sepsis.

Encephalopathy is a common complication of sepsis. However, little is known about the morphological changes that occur in the brain during sepsis. In this study, fecal peritonitis was induced in Wistar rats, which had been monitored for 4 h before their brains were removed and samples from the CA1 area taken.

Gastric cancer and the coincidental finding of herpetic esophagitis immediately after pregnancy: a case report.

Background: Gastric cancer associated with pregnancy is extremely rare and usually diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Case: A 22-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with complaints of dysphagia, retrosternal pain, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Esophagogastroduodenoscopic biopsy revealed herpetic esophagitis and signet-ring cell carcinoma of the stomach.

The effectiveness of denture cleansers on soft denture liners colored by food colorant solutions.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the color stability of soft denture liners and the effectiveness of denture cleansers on soft denture liners colored by food colorants in different time periods.

Materials And Methods: A plasticized acrylic resin soft liner (Viscogel) and a silicone-based soft liner (Mollosil) were used in this study. From each material 30 specimens (a total of 60 specimens) were prepared in a Teflon mold 15 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick.

Appropriate utilization of hospital beds in internal medicine: evaluation in a tertiary care hospital.

Aim: To assess the appropriateness of utilization of beds in the internal medicine department of a university hospital.

Methods: The appropriateness of hospital stay was evaluated using the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol. A random sample of 402 days of stay was assessed.

CABG-procedures in patients with pretreatment with the GPIIb/IIIa-receptor antagonist tirofiban (Aggrastat): modification of perioperative management?

In order to investigate the effects of tirofiban administration in cardiac surgery all patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) which received this drug preoperatively between 1/2002 and 6/2005 (n=232) were studied. Three groups regarding the perioperative administration of antifibrinolytic drugs were compared: group A=controls (n=70), group B=aprotinin (n=110), group C=tranexamic acid (n=52) Furthermore we could differ the patients depending on the time when tirofiban was stopped (<2 h, 2-4 h, >4 h preoperatively). The postoperative blood loss was significantly higher in all tirofiban-patients (A-C) compared to a group of CABG-patients without tirofiban.

Is size-reducing ascending aortoplasty with external reinforcement an option in modern aortic surgery?

Objective: Enlargement of the ascending aorta is often combined with valvular, coronary, or other cardiac diseases. Reduction aortoplasty can be an optional therapy; however, indications regarding the diameter of aorta, the history of dilatation (poststenosis, bicuspid aortic valve), or the intraoperative management (wall excision, reduction suture, external reinforcement) are not established.

Methods: In a retrospective study between 1997 and 2005, we investigated 531 patients operated for aneurysm or ectasia of the ascending aorta (diameter: 45-76mm).

Prominent crista terminalis: as an anatomic structure leading to atrial arrhythmias and mimicking right atrial mass.

Crista terminalis is a fibromuscular ridge at the posterolateral region of the right atrium (RA). Superiorly localized prominent crista terminalis can mimic pathologic RA mass on transthoracic echocardiograms. Transesophageal echocardiography can be used to differentiate nonpathologic structures from pathologic ones.

Phase II study of induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus 5-fluorouracil followed by gemcitabine-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy for unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Aims And Background: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a new treatment approach including induction chemotherapy (CT) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-four patients with LAPC were enrolled in the study. They first received induction CT consisting of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) (500 mg/m2) and gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2), which were given weekly for 3 weeks of every 4.

PercuTwist: a new alternative to Griggs and Ciaglia's techniques.

Background And Objective: Tracheostomy is one of the most common procedures in intensive care units worldwide. In this study we aimed to compare three different tracheostomy techniques with respect to duration of procedure and complications.

Methods: One hundred and thirty patients requiring endotracheal intubation for more than 10 days due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, infections or cerebrovascular events were consecutively selected to undergo the percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy technique (PDT n = 44), the guide-wire dilating forceps technique group (GWDF n = 41) or the PercuTwist technique (n = 45).

Factors influencing axillary node metastasis in breast cancer.

Aims And Background: The status of the axillary lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis has been accepted as one of the most important prognostic factors for the overall and disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer. The aim of our study was to determine which factors influence axillary node involvement in invasive breast cancer.

Methods: The data presented here were obtained from 344 patients who were treated for invasive breast cancer at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Uludağ University Medical College, Bursa, Turkey.

Predictive risk factors in double-valve replacement (AVR and MVR) compared to isolated aortic valve replacement.

Background: The operative risk of combined aortic and mitral surgery is still between 5 and 13 %, whereas isolated AVR normally causes complications in less than 4 % of all patients. Thus, it was the aim of the study to compare both procedures and to evaluate risk stratification in our patient cohort.

Patients And Methods: The inhospital mortality and complication rates were analyzed in both groups over a period of 4 years.

Abdominal complications following open-heart surgery: a report of 12 cases and review of the literature.

Introduction: Abdominal complications following open-heart surgery remain serious events as the mortality is reported to be tremendously high. The clinical presentation, the diagnostic strategy and the therapeutic management varies. We reviewed all records of those patients who developed abdominal complications with surgical consequences during the last five years, recorded a complete follow-up and compared the findings to a current view of the literature.

Synchronous breast cancer in spouses.

Breast cancer in both spouses is extremely rare. There are 7 metachronous cases and 1 synchronous case in the English literature. No case has been reported in which 1 of the spouses had bilateral breast cancer.