Adjusted Troponin I for Improved Evaluation of Patients with Chest Pain.

The use of cardiac troponins (cTn) is the gold standard for diagnosing myocardial infarction. Independent of myocardial infarction (MI), however, sex, age and kidney function affect cTn levels. Here we developed a method to adjust cTnI levels for age, sex, and renal function, maintaining a unified cut-off value such as the 99 percentile.

Laparoscopic excision of a gastric diverticulum in a child.

Gastric diverticulum is a rare entity; the patient usually presents with vague abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. Diverticulectomy is required for patients with intractable symptoms or complications. We report the laparoscopic excision of a gastric diverticulum in a 15-year-old girl who had been symptomatic for 5 years.

Possible new syndrome of microcephaly with cortical migration defects, Peters anomaly and multiple intestinal atresias: a multiple vascular disruption syndrome.

A possible new multiple vascular disruption symdrome is described. The male patient had microcephaly with cortical migration defects, Peters anomaly and multiple inestinal atresias.

Microscopic analysis and significance of vascular architectural complexity in renal cell carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of measuring microvessel fractal dimension (MFD) as a parameter of architectural microvascular complexity in localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Forty-nine patients with low-stage clear cell RCC were assessed in a 9-year follow-up retrospective study. Tumor vessels were visualized with the endothelial marker CD34.

Laparoscopic accessory splenectomy in recurrent chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura.

Splenectomy is the definitive treatment for most cases of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). We present the case of a patient who was discovered to have ITP at age 5 and was treated medically for 3 years with decreasing response to medication. At age 8, he underwent splenectomy, after which the platelet count stabilized at approximately 200,000/mm3.