Severe right heart failure in a patient with chronic obstructive lung disease: a diagnostic challenge.

A 55-year-old male was admitted for evaluation of severe dyspnoea and hypoxaemia. Physical examination upon admission showed elevated jugular venous pressure and an accentuated second heart sound. Chest radiograph showed cardiomegaly with increased bibasilar markings.

Omentum is better site than kidney capsule for growth, differentiation, and vascularization of immature porcine β-cell implants in immunodeficient rats.

Background: Rapid revascularization of islet cell implants is important for engraftment and subsequent survival and function. Development of an adequate vascular network is expected to allow adaptive growth of the β-cell mass. The present study compares omentum and kidney capsule as sites for growth and differentiation of immature β-cell grafts.

Contribution of postnatally formed small beta cell aggregates to functional beta cell mass in adult rat pancreas.

Aims/hypothesis: Neogenesis of beta cells and their clustering to small aggregates is a key process in prenatal development of beta cell mass. We investigated the contribution of postnatally formed small aggregates to functional beta cell mass in adult rats.

Methods: Conditions were defined for (1) counting total beta cell number in pancreases with relative error of <10% and (2) determining their distribution over aggregates of different size and over functionally different subpopulations.

Beta-cell replication is increased in donor organs from young patients after prolonged life support.

Objective: This study assesses beta-cell replication in human donor organs and examines possible influences of the preterminal clinical conditions.

Research Design And Methods: beta-Cell replication was quantified in a consecutive series of n = 363 human organ donors using double immunohistochemistry for Ki67 and insulin. Uni- and multivariate analysis was used to correlate replication levels to clinical donor characteristics and histopathologic findings.

Human islet cell implants in a nude rat model of diabetes survive better in omentum than in liver with a positive influence of beta cell number and purity.

Aims/hypothesis: Intraportal human islet cell grafts do not consistently and sustainably induce insulin-independency in type 1 diabetic patients. The reasons for losses in donor cells are difficult to assess in patients. This study in streptozotocin-diabetic nude rats examines whether outcome is better in an extra-hepatic site such as omentum.