Use of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide to detect cardiac origin in critically ill cancer patients with acute respiratory failure.

Objective: To assess the accuracy of plasma N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations (NT-proBNP) as a diagnostic tool to recognize acute respiratory failure (ARF) of cardiac origin.

Methods: Prospective observational study in 100 medical intensive care unit (ICU) patients. NT-proBNP was measured at ICU admission, and diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction was performed using echocardiography.

[[Anaphylactic reactions to aprotinin: intradermal diagnostic tests] ].

A 66-year-old patient, undergoing heart surgery, developed an anaphylactic reaction following the first administration of a test-dose of aprotinin. Skin tests were performed six months later. Prick-tests with 10(-2) and 10(-1) aprotinin dilutions were negative but intradermal reaction with a 10(-3) dilution was clearly positive.

New report of severe coronary artery disease in an eighteen-year-old girl with pseudoxanthoma elasticum. Case report and review of the literature.

An eighteen-year-old woman with pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) suffered from mild angina pectoris over a ten-year period. Severe triple-vessel disease with mild left ventricular dysfunction was demonstrated on angiography. No revascularization was feasible.