Endovascular repair of delayed traumatic aortocaval fistula.

Aortocaval fistula (ACF) is an uncommon condition that can result in a number of adverse clinical sequelae. We describe a case of an ACF that occurred several years after open repair of a penetrating injury of the abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava. Whereas ACF can have sudden and catastrophic presentations, our patient had a subacute presentation of high-output heart failure.

Role of echocardiography in managing acute pulmonary embolism.

The role of echocardiography in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains incompletely defined. Echocardiography cannot reliably diagnose acute PE, and it does not improve prognostication of patients with low-risk acute PE who lack other clinical features of right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Echocardiography, however, may yield additional prognostic information in higher risk patients and can aid in distinguishing acute from chronic RV dysfunction.

Detection of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Using Bayesian Additive Regression Trees: The MESA.

Background We developed a new left ventricular hypertrophy ( LVH ) criterion using a machine-learning technique called Bayesian Additive Regression Trees ( BART ). Methods and Results This analysis included 4714 participants from MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) free of clinically apparent cardiovascular disease at enrollment. We used BART to predict LV mass from ECG and participant characteristics using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging as the standard.

Palliative Care Training in Cardiology Fellowship: A National Survey of the Fellows.

Objectives: To address perspectives of cardiology fellows on the current state of palliative education and palliative and hospice resource utilization within their fellowship experiences.

Methods: We conducted an online national survey of cardiology fellows during the 2015 to 2016 academic year. Survey questions aimed to assess perceived importance of palliative care education, level of palliative care education during fellowship, and the structure of palliative care support at respondent institutions.

Future therapies for chronic hepatitis C.

Therapy for hepatitis C has been fairly stagnant for the past decade, but the past few years have seen major progress and evolution, beginning with the approval of two HCV protease inhibitors in 2011. In spite of considerable improvements in response rates with these agents, a need for additional agents with improved potency and tolerability remains. Toward this goal and over the course of just a few months, the HCV therapy pipeline has already become crowded with direct-acting antivirals, host-targeted agents and unique interferons, all of which are positioned to be part of the next wave of therapeutic options.

Cocaine mediated apoptosis of vascular cells as a mechanism for carotid artery dissection leading to ischemic stroke.

In arterial dissection, blood may enter the arterial wall through an intimal tear, splitting the arterial wall and activating the coagulation cascade at the site of endothelial damage. Dissection of extracranial and intracranial vessels may lead to ischemic stroke through thromboembolic or hemodynamic mechanisms. Major blunt trauma or rapid acceleration-deceleration may cause dissection, but in patients with inherent arterial wall weakness, dissection can occur spontaneously or as a result of minor neck movement.

Interactions with the Abelson tyrosine kinase reveal compartmentalization of eyes absent function between nucleus and cytoplasm.

Eyes absent (Eya), named for its role in Drosophila eye development but broadly conserved in metazoa, possesses dual functions as a transcriptional coactivator and protein tyrosine phosphatase. Although Eya's transcriptional activity has been extensively characterized, the physiological requirements for its phosphatase activity remain obscure. In this study, we provide insight into Eya's participation in phosphotyrosine-mediated signaling networks by demonstrating cooperative interactions between Eya and the Abelson (Abl) tyrosine kinase during development of the Drosophila larval visual system.

Tandem chimerism as a means to increase protein complexity in the human genome.

The "one-gene, one-protein" rule, coined by Beadle and Tatum, has been fundamental to molecular biology. The rule implies that the genetic complexity of an organism depends essentially on its gene number. The discovery, however, that alternative gene splicing and transcription are widespread phenomena dramatically altered our understanding of the genetic complexity of higher eukaryotic organisms; in these, a limited number of genes may potentially encode a much larger number of proteins.