Noninvasive cardiac imaging in pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary artery hypertension is a rare disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Initial and serial noninvasive assessment of these patients can be accomplished with transthoracic echocardiography and/or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. These complementary techniques provide the structural and functional information required to care for patients with pulmonary artery hypertension and are discussed in this review.

A change in serum myoglobin to detect acute myocardial infarction in patients with normal troponin I levels.

We sought to determine the sensitivity of a change in myoglobin for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients who had normal levels of troponin I at presentation. Myoglobin increases as soon as 1 to 2 hours after symptom onset in AMI. The change in myoglobin may help identify AMI in patients with normal cardiac levels of troponin I on admission.

Cardiac chagas disease masquerading as an acute myocardial infarction.

Although myocardial infarction is most often the manifestation of epicardial coronary artery disease, Chagas heart disease due to chronic Trypanasome Cruzi infection may present with a syndrome of chest pain and elevations in markers of cardiac myonecrosis. In the setting of an increasingly diverse global population and immigration of peoples from endemic areas of Trypanasome Cruzi, it is important to be aware of the myriad cardiac manifestations of Chagas disease.

Treatment of relapsing paralysis in experimental encephalomyelitis by targeting Th1 cells through atorvastatin.

Statins, known as inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, exhibit numerous functions related to inflammation, such as MHC class II down-regulation, interference with T cell adhesion, and induction of apoptosis. Here we demonstrate that both subcutaneous and oral administration of atorvastatin inhibit the development of actively induced chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in SJL/J mice and significantly reduce the inflammatory infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS). When treatment was started after disease onset, atorvastatin reduced the incidence of relapses and protected from the development of further disability.

Volume of pleural fluid required for diagnosis of pleural malignancy.

Study Objectives: To determine if the diagnosis of pleural malignancy is dependent on the volume of pleural fluid sampled.

Design And Setting: Single-center retrospective chart review.

Patients: Two hundred eighty-two patients who underwent diagnostic thoracentesis between October 1, 1998, and June 30, 1999.