Serum procalcitonin improves diagnosis of infectious complications after CRS/HIPEC.

Background: Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) improve the survival of selected patients with peritoneal metastasis. A major cause of treatment-related morbidity after CRS/HIPEC is infection and sepsis. HIPEC alters the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of blood and serum markers and therefore has an impact on early diagnosis of postoperative complications.

Spatial proteomics finds CD155 and Endophilin-A1 as mediators of growth and invasion in medulloblastoma.

The composition of the plasma membrane (PM)-associated proteome of tumor cells determines cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions and the response to environmental cues. Whether the PM-associated proteome impacts the phenotype of Medulloblastoma (MB) tumor cells and how it adapts in response to growth factor cues is poorly understood. Using a spatial proteomics approach, we observed that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase c-MET in MB cells changes the abundance of transmembrane and membrane-associated proteins.

Peritoneal Metastasis: Current Status and Treatment Options.

Peritoneal metastasis (PM) originating from gastrointestinal cancer was considered a terminal disease until recently. The advent of better systemic treatment, a better understanding of prognostic factors, and finally, the advent of novel loco-regional therapies, has opened the door for the multimodal treatment of PM. These strategies, including radical surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) showed surprisingly good results, leading to the prolonged survival of patients with peritoneal metastasis.

Unusual causes of abdominal pain: sickle cell anemia.

Sickle cell disease is characterized by chronic hemolytic anemia and vaso-occlusive painful crises. The vascular occlusion in sickle cell disease is a complex process and accounts for the majority of the clinical manifestation of the disease. Abdominal pain is an important component of vaso-occlusive painful crises.

Interim mortality in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum.

Background: Recent work has focused attention on interim mortality (death after hospital discharge and before second-stage surgery) in hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This study investigates interim mortality in infants undergoing systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunts for pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum.

Methods: At two centers in 11 years (January 1991 through December 2001), 35 infants underwent placement of shunts for palliation of pulmonary atresia with intact septum.

Echocardiographic abnormalities in sickle cell disease.

Echocardiographic abnormalities in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) were determined, and pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) was estimated. Clinical data and echocardiograms of 38 adult hospitalized patients with SCD at two tertiary care hospitals were reviewed. Fisher's exact test was performed to determine correlation between pulmonary hypertension and various clinical variables.

Prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time in pregnancy: a brief report.

Background: Limited data are available regarding causes of prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) in otherwise normal pregnancies. We retrospectively evaluated clinical data of pregnant women in whom an elevated aPTT was noted on routine prenatal testing. Our intent was to identify various causes of prolonged aPTT and to evaluate whether the pregnancies were adversely affected.

Pediatric heart transplantation: immunosuppression and its complications.

Purpose Of Review: Advances in immunosuppression have contributed to the significant improvements in outcome for pediatric heart transplant recipients in the past two decades. The large increase in the number of available immunosuppressive agents in the past few years mandates that those caring for this complex group of patients remain up to date in this rapidly advancing field.

Recent Findings: In this review, we evaluate recent studies of immunosuppressive efficacy, end-organ toxicities, and side effects of nonspecific immunosuppression with currently used regimens.

Effect of low-dose warfarin on D-dimer levels during sickle cell vaso-occlusive crisis: a brief report.

Objective: To evaluate the activation of clotting systems in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) by measuring the plasma D-dimer level and to determine the effect of low-dose warfarin on D-dimer level during vaso-occlusive crisis.

Methods: Plasma D-dimer level was measured in 65 blood samples of 37 adult patients with SCD who were hospitalized for vaso-occlusive painful crisis. D-dimer level of patients who were on low-dose warfarin was compared with those patients who were not on any anticoagulation treatment.

Acute pancreatitis during sickle cell vaso-occlusive painful crisis.

Sickle cell disease is characterized by chronic hemolytic anemia and vaso-occlusive painful crisis. The vascular occlusion in sickle cell disease is a complex process and accounts for the majority of the clinical manifestations of the disease. Abdominal pain is an important component of vaso-occlusive painful crisis and may mimic diseases such as acute appendicitis and cholecystitis.