Would it be safe to have a dog in the MRI scanner before your own examination? A multicenter study to establish hygiene facts related to dogs and men.

Objectives: To determine whether it would be hygienic to evaluate dogs and humans in the same MRI scanner.

Methods: We compared the bacterial load in colony-forming units (CFU) of human-pathogenic microorganisms in specimens taken from 18 men and 30 dogs. In addition, we compared the extent of bacterial contamination of an MRI scanner shared by dogs and humans with two other MRI scanners used exclusively by humans.

Haemodynamic and arrhythmic effects of moderately cold (22 degrees C) water immersion and swimming in patients with stable coronary artery disease and heart failure.

Aims: Data on moderately cold water immersion and occurrence of arrhythmias in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients are scarce.

Methods And Results: We examined 22 male patients, 12 with CHF [mean age 59 years, ejection fraction (EF) 32%, NYHA class II] and 10 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) without CHF (mean age 65 years, EF 52%). Haemodynamic effects of water immersion and swimming in warm (32 degrees C) and moderately cold (22 degrees C) water were measured using an inert gas rebreathing method.

Combined endurance/resistance training early on, after a first myocardial infarction, does not induce negative left ventricular remodelling.

Background: Resistance training (RT) is safe and practicable in low-risk populations with coronary artery disease. In patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction after an acute ischaemic event, few data exist about the impact of RT on LV remodelling.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized, controlled study, 38 patients, after a first myocardial infarction and a maximum ejection fraction (EF) of 45%, were assigned either to combined endurance training (ET)/RT (n=17; 15 men; 54.

Characterization of a catalase gene from Aeromonas veronii, the digestive-tract symbiont of the medicinal leech.

The catalase gene katA of the medicinal leech symbiont Aeromonas veronii bv. sobria was cloned, sequenced, and functionally characterized. Southern hybridization, using an A.

Influence of water immersion, water gymnastics and swimming on cardiac output in patients with heart failure.

Background: Whole-body water immersion leads to a significant shift of blood from the periphery to the intrathoracic circulation, followed by an increase in central venous pressure and heart volume. In patients with severely reduced left ventricular function, this hydrostatically induced volume shift might overstrain the cardiovascular adaptive mechanisms and lead to cardiac decompensation.

Aim: To assess the haemodynamic response to water immersion, gymnastics and swimming in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).