Tuberculous aortitis in an human immunodeficiency virus-positive Ivorian migrant: A case report.

We report an unusual case of a 35-year-old Ivorian migrant with an abdominal mass and medical history relevant for human immunodeficiency virus-2 positivity with a CD4/CD8 ratio of 0.63; Mantoux and lymphocyte stimulation tests (QuantiFERON) were positive. 3D-CT images revealed a voluminous non-homogeneous retroperitoneal mass in the right abdominal region presenting no significant contrast impregnation.

Orbital metastases from breast cancer: A single institution case series.

Background And Objectives: Among orbital tumors, metastatic lesions have a prevalence of 1% to 13%; on the other hand, breast cancer is the most common malignancy causing orbital metastases. The aim of this study is to present our experience dealing with orbital metastases caused by breast cancer, to assess characteristics and clinic-pathological data of patients suffering from this rare occurrence and to find indexes related with their prognosis and survival.

Methods: Records of 28 patients diagnosed with orbital metastases from breast cancer at the Department of Ophthalmology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Centre of Milano over a 27-year period (1992-2018) were retrieved and analyzed.

Aortic valve replacement by ministernotomy in redo patients with previous left internal mammary artery patent grafts.

Objective: Aortic valve surgery with a patent left internal mammary artery (LIMA) on the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery is challenging in terms of myocardial protection and graft injury. Minimally invasive techniques may require minimal dissection of adhesions and may eventually decrease the risk of injuries.

Methods: Since 1997, more than 1000 ministernotomies have been performed by our surgical unit.

Open aortic arch surgery: how to reduce air embolism risk during antegrade cerebral perfusion.

Antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) is used widely, with the aim of obtaining cerebral protection during open aortic arch surgery. ACP is considered by many to be the reason for improvements in the clinical outcome of this type of surgery. However, perioperative cerebral complications may still occur.

Congenital musculoskeletal abnormalities associated with aortic, pulmonary and iliac aneurysms.

We present the case of a young patient with severe congenital musculoskeletal abnormalities. associated with different pathologies, with involvement of the arterial tree on both the systemic and pulmonary circulation, and involvement of the lungs due to thoracic hypoplasia. The presence of such extensive pathology raises the question of the suitability of such patients to undergo major corrective cardiac surgery procedures.

Reconstruction of anterior descending artery after removal of stents.

A 65-year-old man who had previously undergone multiple stenting on the coronary tree, was referred for urgent surgery. The left anterior descending coronary artery was found to be completely stented from the proximal to the distal portion. Open endarterectomy was required for removal of multiple thrombosed stents and reconstruction of the left anterior descending artery using left internal mammary artery.

Treatment of malperfusion during surgery for type A aortic dissection.

During surgery for acute type A aortic dissection, malperfusion may occur during cardiopulmonary bypass. Retrograde perfusion trough femoral cannulation is considered a predisposing factor. However, this may occur even with antegrade perfusion, because of the presence of multiple flaps or compression of the true lumen by the false lumen.

Aortic valve infective endocarditis: could multi-detector CT scan be proposed for routine screening of concomitant coronary artery disease before surgery?

Usefulness of the coronary artery study has been questioned in patients with infective valve endocarditis. Fatal events are reported in the literature due to embolization of endocarditic vegetations during cardiac catheterization. For this reason, many authors do not recommend preoperative invasive coronary studies in these patients.

Dystrophin-glycoprotein complex and vinculin-talin-integrin system in human adult cardiac muscle.

Costameres were identified, for the first time, in skeletal and cardiac muscle, as regions associated with the sarcolemma, consisting of densely clustered patches of vinculin; they have many characteristics common to the cell-extracellular matrix-type of adherens junctions. Costameres are considered 'proteic machinery' and they appear to comprise two protein complexes, the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) and the vinculin-talin-integrin system. In comparison to skeletal muscle, few studies have focused on cardiac muscle regarding these two complexes, and study is generally relative to dystrophin or to cardiac diseases, such as cardiomyopathies.

Distribution of costameric proteins in normal human ventricular and atrial cardiac muscle.

In the mature heart, the intercalated disc and costameres provide the cell-cell and cell-matrix junctions respectively. Intercalated disc is situated at the bipolar ends of the cardiomyocytes and the myofibrils are anchored at this structure. The costameres mediate integration with the extracellular matrix that covers individual cardiomyocytes laterally.