Pure Robotic-assisted Level IV Inferior Vena Cava Thrombectomy for Angiomyolipoma Without Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A First Report.

Objective: To report the initial case of robotic-assisted level IV inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombectomy, with the supra- and infradiaphragmatic caval segments managed purely by a robotic-assisted technique.

Methods: A 67-year-old female presented with a 5.3 × 2.

Successful Management of Cardiac Arrest Due to Pulmonary Embolus Using Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Ultrasound-Accelerated Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis.

Here we present the case of a patient that suffered a cardiac arrest due to pulmonary embolus. The patient was resuscitated using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and treated with ultrasound-accelerated catheter-directed thrombolysis during support on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, with an excellent outcome. This case demonstrates that the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and ultrasound-accelerated catheter-directed thrombolysis can be highly effective for managing select patients with pulmonary embolus and cardiac arrest.

Intracardiac echocardiography for diagnosis and management of left ventricular assist device inlet obstruction.

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become more important in the management of patients with advanced heart failure. New generation rotary blood pumps demonstrated survival benefits and improved functional status and quality of life in these patients. Although a variety of relevant advances have been achieved in the field of device technology, the risk of severe complications remains.

Prevalence of fracture and fragment embolization of Bard retrievable vena cava filters and clinical implications including cardiac perforation and tamponade.

Background: Vena cava filters represent an alternative treatment option for patients with contraindications to anticoagulation, or they might serve as adjunctive treatment for continued emboli despite anticoagulation. The fracture of a filter strut with subsequent end-organ embolization is a rarely reported but potentially life-threatening occurrence.

Methods: We sought to determine the prevalence of fracture and embolization of the Bard Recovery (first generation) and the Bard G2 (second generation) vena cava filters.

Nitric oxide facilitates cardiomyogenesis in mouse embryonic stem cells.

Stem cell therapy holds great promise for the replacement of damaged or dysfunctional myocardium. Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to promote embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation in other systems. We hypothesized that NO, through NO synthase gene transfer or exogenous NO exposure, would promote the differentiation of mouse ES cells into cardiomyocytes (CM).

Effect of calcium chloride administration on the postischemic isolated rat heart.

Hypercalcemic reperfusion of the postischemic heart has been associated with ventricular dysfunction and with ultrastructural changes in the mitochondria. The isolated working rat heart model was used to correlate ventricular function, mitochondrial damage, and high-energy phosphate content with degree and timing of hypercalcemia during reperfusion. When administered early during reperfusion, calcium chloride caused a dose-dependent deterioration in ventricular function, whereas calcium augmented function when it was administered after a 15-minute period of normocalcemic reperfusion.