A New Doppler-Derived Parameter to Quantify Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis: Maximal Systolic Acceleration.

Objective: Doppler ultrasonography (DUS) is used as initial measurement to diagnose and classify carotid artery stenosis. Local distorting factors such as vascular calcification can influence the ability to obtain DUS measurements. The DUS derived maximal systolic acceleration (ACCmax) provides a different way to determine the degree of stenosis.

Innovations in health care services: the CAALYX system.

Purpose: This paper describes proposed health care services innovations, provided by a system called CAALYX (Complete Ambient Assisted Living eXperiment). CAALYX aimed to provide healthcare innovation by extending the state-of-the-art in tele-healthcare, by focusing on increasing the confidence of elderly people living autonomously, by building on the knowledge base of the most common disorders and respective characteristic vital sign changes for this age group.

Methods: A review of the state-of-the-art on health care services was carried out.

CAALYX: a new generation of location-based services in healthcare.

Recent advances in mobile positioning systems and telecommunications are providing the technology needed for the development of location-aware tele-care applications. This paper introduces CAALYX--Complete Ambient Assisted Living Experiment, an EU-funded project that aims at increasing older people's autonomy and self-confidence by developing a wearable light device capable of measuring specific vital signs of the elderly, detecting falls and location, and communicating automatically in real-time with his/her care provider in case of an emergency, wherever the older person happens to be, at home or outside.

Portal vein thrombosis after laparoscopic colectomy: thrombolytic therapy via the superior mesenteric vein.

Portal vein thrombosis is a rare but well-reported complication after laparoscopic surgery. We present a case of portomesenteric venous thrombosis that occurred 8 days after a laparoscopic-assisted right hemicolectomy. Systemic anticoagulation failed to improve symptoms.

Thrombin injection for failed stent graft repair of perforated atherosclerotic aortic ulcer.

We used direct thrombin injection to occlude a pseudoaneurysm that formed from a contained rupture of a penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer at the junction of the thoracic and abdominal aorta after we failed to seal the perforation with an endovascular stent graft. The principles of thrombin injection and the technical modifications specific for use in a false aneurysm of aortic origin are described. An evolving role for thrombin in endovascular therapy is suggested.