Takayasu's arteritis mimicking aortic intramural hematoma in a female patient with chest pain.

We report the case of a young female patient who presented with chest pain, having a background of systemic complaints and a history of essential thrombocytosis. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was suggestive of an intramural hematoma of the distal ascending aorta and transverse arch, confirming computed tomography findings. However, surgery revealed only diffuse aortic wall thickening without hematoma or dissection, despite an epiaortic ultrasonogram corroborating the TEE findings.

Loss of extracellular superoxide dismutase leads to acute lung damage in the presence of ambient air: a potential mechanism underlying adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The extracellular superoxide dismutase 3 (SOD3) is highly expressed in both blood vessels and lungs. In different models of pulmonary injury, SOD3 is reduced; however, it is unclear whether this contributes to lung injury. To study the role of acute SOD3 reduction in lung injury, the SOD3 gene was deleted in adult mice by using the Cre-Lox technology.

Fulminant mixed humoral and cellular rejection in a cardiac transplant recipient: a review of the histologic findings and literature.

Mixed acute cellular and humoral rejection is diagnosed uncommonly among heart transplant recipients and usually occurs within the first post-transplant month. We report a case of fatal, fulminant, mixed, acute cellular and humoral rejection in a 33-year-old woman 6 weeks after orthotopic heart transplantation. She had been treated with intravenous methylprednisolone for International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Grade 2 rejection at post-operative Day 28.

Survival and incidence of acute rejection in heart transplant recipients undergoing successful withdrawal from steroid therapy.

Background: Steroid-free immunosuppression is feasible in selected patients after heart transplantation. Survival and incidence of acute rejection are important parameters to evaluate when weighing risks and benefits of steroid withdrawal.

Methods: One hundred thirty-seven patients were retrospectively reviewed who underwent heart transplant at Emory University between January 1988 and April 1994 and survived >1 year.