Parallel optical trap assisted nanopatterning on rough surfaces.

There exist many optical lithography techniques for generating nanostructures on hard, flat surfaces over large areas. However, few techniques are able to create such patterns on soft materials or surfaces with pre-existing structure. To address this need, we demonstrate the use of parallel optical trap assisted nanopatterning (OTAN) to provide an efficient and robust direct-write method of producing nanoscale features without the need for focal plane adjustment.

Higher rate of comorbidities after cardiac retransplantation contributes to decreased survival.

Background: Cardiac retransplantation is the definitive treatment for allograft failure despite decreased long-term survival in these patients. The cause of the poorer outcomes in cardiac retransplant patients is unclear.

Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of 859 adult cardiac transplant patients.

Microdeflectometry--a novel tool to acquire three-dimensional microtopography with nanometer height resolution.

We introduce "microdeflectometry," a novel technique for measuring the microtopography of specular surfaces. The primary data are the local slope of the surface under test. Measuring the slope instead of the height implies high information efficiency and extreme sensitivity to local shape irregularities.

Comparison of cardiac troponin T and I in healthy men and in aortic valve replacement.

Troponins are of outstanding importance for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and the various cardiac troponin I (cTnI) assays differ with respect to method comparison, diagnostic sensitivity and diagnostic specificity. To understand the differences in the diagnostic behavior of troponin assays, AccuTnI and Elecsys Troponin STAT were used in a group of healthy men and in the follow-up of patients with aortic valve replacement (AVR).

[Dilated coronary sinus. A preoperative transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis].

A 36-year old woman was presented to our hospital with congenital ventricular septal defect and one-vessel coronary artery disease (75% proximal left main coronary artery) for CABG and repair of the VSD. After induction, a transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) baseline examination was performed, showing a severely dilated coronary sinus (CS) measuring approximately 3 cm (abnormal >1 cm). We suggested a persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) draining into the CS.

[Perspectives in applying guidelines].

Definition, purpose and future fate of guidelines are presented. Special stress is placed on the fact that guidelines represent a tool for rationalization by which economical capacities are activated and rationing is prevented.

Characteristics of repeat trauma patients, San Diego County.

Data on 22,312 admissions to the San Diego County Trauma System were used to identify 185 trauma patients admitted repeatedly to trauma units. These patients were compared with the entire group of nonrepeating trauma patients admitted during the 80-month period of the study. In comparison with nonrepeaters, the repeaters were younger, were more often men, were more often Black, and were much more frequently victims of assault.

[Results of immediate and delayed bypass operation in PTCA emergencies].

Unlabelled: The therapeutic strategy for irreversible coronary occlusion as a complication of PTCA is influenced by the rate of myocardial infarctions and mortality after emergency bypass surgery. If immediate bypass operation cannot prevent myocardial infarction, medication will be the treatment of choice. Since the duration of ischemia is of critical importance for the preservation of myocardium, we analyzed our results with respect to the time interval from the onset of ischemia to surgery.

A new sternal retraction device for the dissection of the internal mammary artery.

For the dissection of the internal mammary artery (IMA), we use a new sternal retraction technique. The retractor is an angled stainless steel device with a slotted face and two sternal arresting hooks. The method is simple and the device acts as a unit with a standard sternal spreader.

Converting enzyme inhibition and blood pressure reactivity to psychological stressors.

There is considerable interest in blood pressure reactivity to psychological stressors. Because the sympathetic nervous system and the renin-angiotensin system are so responsive to stressors and are themselves the targets of many antihypertensive medications, many investigators have wondered if such medications decrease the blood pressure response to stressful stimuli. We studied 25 normotensive and 21 hypertensive men in a double-blind crossover study during which they received either placebo for 4 days or captopril (25 mg b.

[Acute pulmonary embolism--are vena cava interruption procedures and extracorporeal circulation always necessary?].

Between 1983 und 1991, emergency pulmonary embolectomy with the aid of extracorporeal circulation was performed in 13 patients. Ten patients were in class IV according to Greenfield, seven came into the operating theater with external cardiac massage. The 30-day mortality was 46%.

[Immediate bypass operation prevents heart infarct in PTCA emergencies].

Unlabelled: Between December 1984 and June 30, 1989, we performed PTCAs on 1438 patients. The procedures were performed with strict cardiosurgical standby. In 24 patients (22 X LAD, 2 X RCA), abrupt coronary occlusion necessitated immediate bypass surgery.

[A drowning accident of long duration with deep hypothermia and rewarming with extracorporeal circulation. A report of 2 patients].

Two nearly drowned, 2 9/12 and 3 6/12 years old boys with profound hypothermia were admitted to our pediatric intensive care unit with all signs of clinical death. Both patients could be rewarmed and oxygenated by extracorporeal circulation. One of them died 36 hours after the accident with severe brain edema.

[Accidental drowning with extreme hypothermia--rewarming with extracorporeal circulation].

A 3 1/2 year old boy had fallen into a fishpond. After about one hour the boy was brought to our hospital. He was cyanotic and bloated, the rectal temperature was 18.

[Coronary spasm immediately following coronary revascularization].

Of 2,600 coronary operations performed from August 1983, to December 1988, two ischemic reactions of the inferior wall immediately after operation were observed. In both patients the right coronary artery was either dissected or revascularized intraoperatively. Under the diagnosis of postoperative spasm both patients had reangiography three hours after surgery.

Use of the left internal thoracic artery to correct a left main coronary atresia.

Dyspnea with a slightly enlarged heart was noticed in a five year old girl at a checkup. The cardiological investigation revealed an enlarged left ventricle with slight mitral regurgitation. The right coronary artery was enlarged and filled the entire left arterial system via collaterals.

[Use of the mammary artery in coronary revascularization].

From August 1983 through December 1985 1088 patients underwent coronary surgery. 406 (37%) received a single or bilateral internal mammary artery (IMA) graft with single or sequential anastomoses. The youngest patient was 6 years old, the oldest 75, with a mean age of 55.

A new technique for measuring oxygen saturations of hemoglobin and myoglobin and its application in open heart surgery.

Light reflected from the human heart surface was used to determine mixed hemoglobin and myoglobin oxygen saturations (O2SAT) in the cardiac tissue. The measurements were performed in 8 patients with coronary heart disease including stenosis of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) who underwent aorto-coronary bypass surgery. At the end of the operation the O2SAT was measured in the supply area of the LAD either with patent or occluded coronary bypass.

[Ventricular septal defect as a complication of myocardial infarct].

Between 1978 and 1982 emergency closure of postinfarction ventricular septal defect was performed in 4 patients (51--74 years) on the 3rd-7th day after acute myocardial infarction. All patients had a large left-to-right shunt and were in intractable acute heart failure; all of them survived the operation (3 patients had additional aortocoronary bypass grafts), and follow-up (0.5--4.

Thermographic evaluation of myocardial temperature during infusion of cold cardioplegia.

Delay in myocardial cooling during an infusion of cold cardioplegic solution may occur in patients with coronary artery disease. Forty patients with significant stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) were divided into 3 groups according to the extent of the LAD stenosis. Group A consisted of 12 patients with 70% stenosis.

[Whole body oxygen uptake in coronary artery bypass surgery (author's transl)].

In 10 patients who underwent aorto-coronary bypass operations haemodynamic parameters and whole body oxygen uptake were monitored, beginning after induction of anaesthesia, during extracorporeal circulation and the postoperative period up to 5 h. In the intensive care unit a new device for the continuous measurement of whole body oxygen uptake from expired gases was used. For anaesthesia constant doses of fentanyl (10 micrograms/kg/h) and nitrous oxide were given.

Intracoronary streptokinase thrombolytic recanalization and subsequent surgical bypass of remaining atherosclerotic stenosis in acute myocardial infarction: complementary combined approach effecting reduced infarct size, preventing reinfarction, and improving left ventricular function.

In 48 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) the acutely thrombus-occluded coronary artery was successfully recanalized nonsurgically via catheter with intracoronary streptokinase (SK) infusion after a mean occlusion time of 3.1 +/- 1.6 hours.