Cigarette butts to estimate the illicit cigarette consumption proportion in a major Brazilian city.

Background: Illicit cigarette consumption (ICC) results in cheaper cigarettes and lost tax revenue. Although several methods estimate the ICC proportion, the one based on cigarette butt (CB), the most littered item worldwide, is less common. This study aimed at estimating the ICC proportion of Guarujá, a major Brazilian city, based on littered CBs.

Heart transplantation in juvenile-onset systemic sclerosis with primary cardiac involvement: report of two cases and comprehensive literature review.

Juvenile onset systemic sclerosis is a rare chronic multisystem connective tissue disease characterized by skin induration, microangiopathy, autoimmune disturbances and widespread fibrosis of internal organs. Primary cardiac involvement in systemic sclerosis (SSc) is associated with a variable phenotype, including heart failure and arrhythmias, which lead to poor short-term prognosis. Isolated heart transplantation is a rare approach for the treatment of advanced heart failure in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Protective effects of mesenchymal stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles against ischemia-reperfusion injury of hearts donated after circulatory death: Preliminary study in a pig model.

Introduction: Insufficient supply of cardiac grafts represents a severe obstacle in heart transplantation. Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD), in addition to conventional donation after brain death, is one promising option to overcome the organ shortage. However, DCD organs undergo an inevitable more extended period of warm unprotected ischemia between circulatory arrest and graft procurement.

Computed tomographic anatomic variations of the phrenicoabdominal veins in cats.

There are no published reports describing the anatomic variations of the phrenicoabdominal (PhAbd) veins in cats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anatomic variations of the PhAbd veins in cats without adrenal disease. This is an anatomic study.