Utility of growth differentiation factor-15 as a predictor of cardiovascular surgery outcomes: Current research and future directions.

In a world increasingly confronted by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and an aging population, accurate risk assessment prior to cardiac surgery is critical. Although effective, traditional risk calculators such as the Japan SCORE, Society of Thoracic Surgeons score, and EuroSCORE II may not completely capture contemporary risks, particularly due to emerging factors such as frailty and sarcopenia. These calculators often focus on regional and ethnic specificity and rely heavily on evaluations based on age and underlying diseases.

False lumen thrombus following aortic dissection diagnosed as the source of repeat lower extremity emboli with angioscopy: a case report.

Background: Acute arterial embolization caused by a free-floating thrombus of the false lumen after surgery for acute aortic dissection is a rare complication; hence, determining its cause may be difficult. We report a case in which angioscopy was valuable in diagnosing and treating the unstable thrombus within the false lumen.

Case Presentation: The patient was a 71-year-old woman who underwent hemiarch replacement for Stanford type A acute aortic dissection.

Clinically feasible method for assessing leukocyte rheology in whole blood.

This study reports a novel method for assessment of leukocyte rheological activation with a new designed microchannel array chip to mimic the human microvascular network for microchannel array flow analysis (MCFAN). Study subjects were 79 healthy volunteers and 42 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and 36 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Using the anticoagulants heparin and ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA)-2Na which inhibits platelets and leukocytes by chelating Ca, we were able to quantify leukocyte rheological activation by the subtraction of passage time of blood treated with both heparin and EDTA-2Na from that of blood treated with heparin only.

Right internal jugular vein thrombosis caused by aneurysm of right-sided aortic arch.

A right-sided aortic arch is normally asymptomatic. We report the case of an 84-year-old man with right internal jugular vein thrombosis caused by an aneurysm in a right-sided aortic arch. The patient had undergone open repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm and had an uneventful postoperative course.

Ileosigmoid knot at week 13 of pregnancy: report of a case.

The ileosigmoid knot (ISK) is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction. ISK is a condition in which the ileum wraps around the base of the sigmoid colon and forms a knot, leading to high mortality with rapid progression to bowel gangrene. We herein report a rare case of ISK at week 13 of pregnancy.

[Stanford type a acute aortic dissection with pectus excavatum].

Pectus excavatum is generally an isolated abnormality of the chest wall. However, some patients have a concomitant pectus deformity and cardiac & aortic disease. Decisions must be made regarding the operative approach and whether the pectus excavatum should be corrected during the same session.

Oral vancomycin may have significant absorption in patients with Clostridium difficile colitis.

A patient on haemodialysis with bowel ischemia was given vancomycin 500 mg orally every 6 h for superimposed Clostridium difficile colitis resulting in a high vancomycin serum concentration. When treating C. difficile colitis in patients with significant renal impairment and bowel injury, we recommend administering the lower dose of oral vancomycin.