A Multistate Investigation of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- Infections as Part of an International Outbreak Associated with Frozen Feeder Rodents.

While most human Salmonella infections result from exposure to contaminated foods, an estimated 11% of all Salmonella infections are attributed to animal exposures, including both direct animal handling and indirect exposures such as cleaning cages and handling contaminated pet food. This report describes the epidemiologic, environmental and laboratory investigations conducted in the United States as part of the response to an international outbreak of tetracycline-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- infections with over 500 illnesses occurring from 2008 to 2010. This investigation found that illness due to the outbreak strain was significantly associated with exposure to pet reptiles and frozen feeder rodents used as food for pet reptiles.

Late sensing due to extremely delayed right ventricular activation in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

A patient with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia, implanted with a dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programmed in DDD mode, showed an unexpected ventricular sensing dysfunction: despite a very long (320 ms) programmed atrioventricular (AV) interval, ventricular stimuli were delivered in the ST segment after each spontaneous conducted QRS complex. This suggested the presence of ventricular undersensing. When, however, the system was programmed in VVI mode, spontaneous QRS complexes were normally sensed, although electrogram (ECM) analysis revealed that ventricular sensing occurred 160 ms after the beginning of QRS complex.

Double superior and inferior vena cava: unusual venous anomaly.

We report the case of a 56-year-old woman affected by recurrent paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and sick sinus syndrome. Before pacemaker implantation, a diagnosis of left superior vena cava persistency was made. After some years, at pacemaker replacement, an inferior vena cava anomaly was suspected because of the difficult progression of the lead for temporary pacing from the right femoral vein.

[Cardiac involvement in familial amytrophic chorea with acantocytosis: description of two new clinical cases].

Familial amyotrophic chorea and acanthocytosis, also known as the Levine-Critchley syndrome, is a rare inherited disease characterized primarily by central nervous system involvement with progressive demyelinization and autosomic or dominant transmission. Clinical symptoms include orofaciolingual dyskinesia and involuntary choreiform movements associated with skeletal muscle atrophy due to axonal demyelinization and erythrocyte acanthocytosis. A few patients have some cardiac abnormality, including an electrocardiographic pattern of left ventricular hypertrophy, left atrial wave abnormalities, non-specific ST-T wave changes, and a pseudonecrosis pattern with abnormal Q waves in the inferior leads.

[Evaluation of the kinetics of MB creatine kinase in patients undergoing systemic thrombolytic therapy].

This study was aimed to evaluate if the time-course of creatinkinase MB in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is influenced by therapy and which index, derived from the enzymatic curve, is the most reliable marker of successful coronary artery recanalization. We studied the enzymatic curves in 38 patients with transmural myocardial infarction, 19 treated with streptokinase (SK) and 19 with tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). Blood samples were obtained every 2 hours for the first 12 hours and every 6 hours until the level of serum CK returned to baseline.

Standing-up test in young borderline hypertensives.

Seventeen normals (mean age, 34 +/- 4.31 years) and thirteen borderline hypertensives (BH) (mean age, 33 +/- 4.6), immune from any other pathology, were tested (standing-up test) in order to assess possible parasympathetic dysfunctions in young BH, not preselected as hyperkinetic subjects.

Abnormalities in pituitary thyroid axis function tests in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias.

The study was carried out on 60 consecutive patients (23 males and 37 females) aged between 20 and 83 years (means +/- SD, 40.7 +/- 16) who arrived at our Cardiologic Unit with paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmias (PSVA) including junctional paroxysmal tachycardia (n = 32), atrial fibrillation (n = 13), atrial flutter (n = 1), premature beats (n = 13) and with no obvious cardiovascular causes. Serum thyroxine and triiodothyronine were normal in all patients and thyroid scintiscan revealed normal shape and size thyroids without autonomously functioning nodule(s).