Age-dependent hypertrophy and fibrosis dynamics in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: Insights from longitudinal CMR studies.

Background: This study aims to evaluate the progression of morphological and functional alterations over time in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) using Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with HCM who underwent serial CMR at 1.5 Tesla.

Ultrastructural analysis of lamellar bodies in type II alveolar epithelial cells in the human lung.

Pulmonary surfactant is produced by type II alveolar epithelial cells (AEC2) and stored in lamellar bodies (LBs) before secretion. Here, we characterize AEC2 and their LBs in the human lung ultrastructurally and quantitatively. Five human lungs were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, serial section electron tomography, and stereology.

Inference of alveolar capillary network connectivity from blood flow dynamics.

The intricate lung structure is crucial for gas exchange within the alveolar region. Despite extensive research, questions remain about the connection between capillaries and the vascular tree. We propose a computational approach combining three-dimensional (3-D) morphological modeling with computational fluid dynamics simulations to explore alveolar capillary network connectivity based on blood flow dynamics.

Intraoperative Polymerase Chain Reaction from Cardiac Valve Tissue Is Beneficial for Guiding Further Therapy in Patients with Infective Endocarditis.

: Infectious endocarditis (IE) remains a critical condition despite all the medical advances in recent decades. Reliable pathogen identification is indispensable for precise therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic benefit of additional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in comparison with microbiological culture alone based on intraoperative tissue sampling for patients operated on due to IE.