Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a new, rapidly evolving technology used in severe cases of aortic stenosis. Some TAVR procedures have failed to deliver the prosthetic valve due to challenges. In these cases, it is difficult to pass a bulky prosthesis through a narrowed and calcified aortic valve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAortitis includes a broad range of disorders involving inflammation of the aorta. While most forms of aortitis can be linked to a specific cause, patients with idiopathic aortitis (IDA), are asymptomatic and usually diagnosed after surgical removal. The specific pathophysiology is not well understood, but can be strongly associated with tobacco smoking, young age at presentation, and family history of aortic aneurysm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 63-year-old man was admitted with chest pain after a previous aortic valve replacement. Computed tomographic scan identified a 7-cm pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta, and he was referred for repair. At operation, endoaortic occlusion of the aorta was used to arrest the heart and decompress the aorta to facilitate sternal reentry, dissection, and subsequent control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Severe traumatic injury elicits a neuroendocrine response that activates the sympathetic nervous system. Our previous work suggests that norepinephrine (NE) influences the bone marrow (BM) erythropoietic response. However, the dose-response relationship between NE and erythropoiesis remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Lung contusion (LC) and hemorrhagic shock (HS) result in early organ failure (lung and bone marrow [BM]), possibly through sequestration of mobilized BM hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) into the lung. Postinjury mesenteric lymph has been shown to cause early organ failure. Thus, we hypothesized that diversion of mesenteric lymph would improve early organ dysfunction through decreased mobilization of BM HPC to the lung.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF