Case report: Prosthetic aortic valve endocarditis due to Staphylococcus epidermidis with acquired resistance in the walK gene.

We report the case of a patient with infective endocarditis on a prosthetic aortic valve due to Staphylococcus epidermidis, not a candidate for prosthetic replacement surgery. After three months of supressive treatment with dalbavancin, fever reappears, with growth of S. epidermidis.

The importance of previous season performance on world-class 200- and 400-m individual medley swimming.

We examined the degree to which 200-m and 400-m Individual Medley (IM) performance was related to sprint-, middle- and long-distance events before a swimmer reached a Top-20 world ranking. A retrospective longitudinal modelling study was conducted. Data on Top-20 swimmers between 2010 and 2018 were obtained from publicly available websites.

Percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy: a 12-year series.

Background/aims: Interventional radiologists have played a main role in the technical evolution of gastrostomy, from the first surgical/endoscopical approaches to percutaneous interventional procedures. This study evaluated the results obtained in a 12-year series.

Methods: During the period December 1996 to December 2008, 254 new consecutive gastrostomies and 275 replacement procedures were performed in selected patients.

Division scheme optimization for the molecular evaluation of the intervertebral disc by Gadolinium-Enhanced MRI.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of reducing the number of segments in which the intervertebral disc (IVD) can be subdivided on the accuracy in estimating its sGAG content by computation of the parameter DeltaT1 from delayed Gadolinium-Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC) protocol.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three herniectomy patients underwent dGEMRIC acquisitions for IVD. Thirty-one tissue samples were obtained at herniectomy from the same patients and biochemically analysed for their sGAG content.

Molecular MR imaging for the evaluation of the effect of dynamic stabilization on lumbar intervertebral discs.

The dynamic stabilization of lumbar spine is a non-fusion stabilization system that unloads the disc without the complete loss of motion at the treated motion segment. Clinical outcomes are promising but still not definitive, and the long-term effect on instrumented and adjacent levels is still a matter of discussion. Several experiments have been devised in order to gain a better understanding of the effect of the device on the intervertebral disc.

MR imaging of the knee in patients with medial unicompartmental arthroplasty: comparison among sequences at 1.5 T.

Purpose: This study was done to test a series of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging sequences of the knee after medial unicompartmental arthroplasty.

Materials And Methods: Four patients who had undergone Oxford III medial unicompartmental arthroplasty underwent 1.5-T MR imaging of the operated knee using coronal sequences: T1-weighted spin-echo (SE), T1-weighted turbo SE (TSE), proton-density (PD)- and T2-weighted TSE, T1-weighted gradient echo (GE), short-tau inversion recovery (STIR), multi echo data image combination (MEDIC), T2*-weighted GE, volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE), and dual-echo steady state (DESS).

Can the MRI signal of aggressive fibromatosis be used to predict its behavior?

Purpose: Aggressive fibromatosis is an invasive non-metastasizing soft-tissue tumor. Until recently, the standard treatment combined surgery and radiation therapy, but new studies reported that conservative strategies with or without medical treatment could be the best management. The aim of this study was to analyze and correlate the size and MR imaging signal features of aggressive fibromatosis with its behavior in order to choose the best treatment.

Safety of unprotected carotid artery stent placement in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients: a retrospective analysis of 30-day combined adverse outcomes.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the outcome of carotid artery stent placement (CAS) without the use of embolic protection devices (EPDs) in a large cohort of patients.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent from all patients were obtained. Preprocedure color Doppler ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, or computed tomography (CT) were used to evaluate stenosis severity (70% or greater).

Protein biochip array of adhesion molecule expression in peripheral blood of patients with nasal polyposis.

Nasal polyposis is a chronic non-infectious inflammatory disease of the nasal and paranasal cavity mucosa of unknown multifactorial origin in which inflammatory cells, and in particular eosinophils, seem to play a pivotal role. Eosinophil migration from the bloodstream to nasal polyps is considered to be specific and is a complex process involving several different molecules such as ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and L-, P- and E-selectins. The aim of this study was to investigate, using a protein biochip array technology, the concentrations of these molecules in the peripheral blood of a group of patients affected by nasal polyposis.

Quantitative assessment of intervertebral disc glycosaminoglycan distribution by gadolinium-enhanced MRI in orthopedic patients.

Our hypothesis was that the enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC) imaging protocol could be used in patients to quantify the sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) in intervertebral discs (IVD). To test this hypothesis, 23 patients with degenerative disc pathology scheduled for surgery were studied by a specific dGEMRIC protocol: each patient underwent two MRI scans, before and 3.5 hr after Gd(DTPA)2-injection of a nonconventional dose of 40 mL.

Superior thyroid artery lesion after US-guided chemical parathyroidectomy: angiographic diagnosis and treatment by embolization.

A 71-year-old woman presented with a life-threatening thyroid hemorrhage after US-guided chemical parathyroidectomy. The diagnosis was made by angiography followed by immediate embolization of a pseudoaneurysm of the left superior thyroid artery. Embolization controlled the hemorrhage, obviating the need for surgery.

Ruptured suprarenal artery aneurysm: angiographic diagnosis and treatment by selective embolization.

The case of a 78-year-old man with retroperitoneal hemorrhage due to a ruptured right inferior suprarenal artery aneurysm is presented. The diagnosis was made by angiography which allowed immediate embolization of the neck of the aneurysm, controlling hemorrhage and obviating the need for surgery. The patient made a full recovery with no evidence of further hemorrhage.

[Treatment of superior vena cava syndrome by metal stents. Preliminary experience].

This study was aimed at verifying the feasibility of stent placement in superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS). From April, 1993, to February 1995, fifteen patients (12 men, 3 women, age range: 48-72 years, average age: 58 years), were treated for malignant stenoses involving superior vena cava in 9 cases, right innominate vein in 3, left innominate vein in 2 and subclavian veins in 1. All patients had been submitted to CT angiography and digital venography to assess side, length and type of the stenosis.

Malignant biliary obstruction treated by Wallstents and Strecker tantalum stents: a retrospective review.

Purpose: To evaluate retrospectively the role and the effectiveness of self-expandable Wallstents and balloon-expandable Strecker stents in patients with inoperable malignant obstruction of the biliary tree.

Methods: Fifty patients with malignant biliary obstruction were treated from August 1991 to August 1992 by percutaneous placement of 55 metallic endoprostheses (39 Wallstents, 16 Strecker stents). All patients were followed by clinical evaluation, laboratory data, and ultrasonographic examination until death.

[Retrospective analysis of color Doppler ultrasonography and flowmetry findings in solid nodular pathology of the breast].

The authors tried to identify useful flowmetric values and color-Doppler patterns for the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant solid breast lesions. To this purpose, 106 patients with breast nodules detected at mammography and/or high resolution US were examined. A US scanner with a linear 7.

[Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)].

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic (TIPS) is radiological technique that has opened up new therapeutic horizons in the treatment of portal hypertension. Technically, the procedure includes catheterizing of the suprahepatic veins, prevalently right or middle, by means of transjugular access, and the creation of an intrahepatic path with the main portal branch. Later dilatation of the path by angioplasty and the application of a metallic stent at the site of the shunt complete the operation.

[Treatment of malignant occlusions of bile ducts by one-step technique using metallic endoprostheses. A multicenter study of 50 cases].

Long-term patency and ease of insertion of self-expandable metallic stents seem to overcome the disadvantages of plastic stents, changing the therapeutic approach to unresectable biliary tree malignancies. Their high cost is the main problem of metallic stents and reducing hospitalization time is a real opportunity to overcome this problem. Self-expandable stents could be the turning point to reduce overall costs.

[The percutaneous treatment of purulent intrathoracic fluid collections in HIV+ patients].

Eighteen HIV+ patients with purulent fluid intrathoracic collections (16 pleural empyemas and 2 lung abscesses) and persistent sepsis were treated with percutaneous drainage; all patients had received antibiotics for 5-7 days at least. Empyemas and lung abscesses were cured (according to clinical and radiographic criteria) in all patients (100%). One major complication was successfully treated--i.

[Technical and methodologic considerations on a new approach to the transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt].

The authors report their experience with 10 transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) in nine patients with severe portal hypertension; indications were rebleeding after sclerosing treatment in 8 cases and unmanageable ascitis in one case. The passage of the needle from the hepatic venous system into the portal venous system during the procedure may be technically difficult with both skin markers and US guidance, and several passages through liver parenchyma may be needed: this step is certainly the most critical one, for maneuver duration--and therefore risks--depend on it. Thus, in the last 6 patients a new method was used to easily identify portal bifurcation: a thin stainless platinum-tip guide-wire (0.

[Malignant occlusion of the bile ducts. Treatment with metallic endoprosthesis: Wallstent vs Strecker's stent].

Stenting is the method of choice to relieve jaundice in the patients with inoperable malignant obstructions of the biliary tree. Over the last fifteen years, thousands of patients have been treated, if endoscopy failed or was unfeasible, with percutaneous transhepatic procedures: despite this wide experience, the role of conventional plastic endoprostheses is still debated, because these devices exhibit major limitations. The main objection to the use of Carey-Coons endoprostheses is the fact that a high rate of early occlusions has always been observed with plastic stents with a wide outer diameter (12-16 F).

[Echography in the study of thoracic pathology. II-- Guided biopsy].

The usefulness of ultrasonic studies for guiding the needle during biopsy of solid lesions or evacuation of saccate effusions and empyemas. Is a explained possible diagnostic protocol is then proposed which includes the ultrasonic examination in the diagnostic approach to parietal, mediastinic or diaphragmatic lesions.