The variable clinical course of peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Background: In Europe, peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare disorder, often difficult to diagnose and it has a variable clinical course. The aim of this report was to describe and discuss the individual variability of this disorder and its management.

Patients And Methods: Three cases of PPCM manifesting as severe heart failure are compared.

[Kidney failure in a patient with chronic B-lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) with underlying cast nephropathy. The value of free immunoglobulin light chain identification for early diagnosis of this complication].

We describe a case of an untreated female patient monitored over 8 years for chronic B-lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). Over the 8 years, the patient has gradually developed severe kidney failure, even though the criteria for B-CLL treatment had not been fulfilled. Kidney biopsy revealed renal damage due to lamda free light chains cast nephropathy as well as an infiltration of renal parenchyma with B-CLL cells.

[Diffuse plane normolipemic xanthomatosis and necrobiotic xanthogranuloma associated with monoclonal gammopathy--determining the disease stage with PET-CT and treatment experience. Two case studies and literature review].

Unlabelled: Monoclonal gammopathy may manifest itself through a range of skin disorders, including plane normolipemic xanthoma and necrobiotic xanthogranuloma. The present paper describes two patients with these cutaneous symptoms. The first has extensive areas of skin affected by flat xanthomas, monoclonal gammopathy with > 10% infiltration of bone marrow with clonal plasmocytes and, according to PET-CT, unclear lymphadenopathy in the retroperitoneal area.

[Transplantation of the heart--indications, complications, therapy--our experience from investigations of 100 patients after cardiac transplantation].

Transplantation of the heart has become an accepted method for the treatment of terminal cardiac failure. Despite obvious advances in the care of patients after trasplantation a number of problems exist. The authors summarize their experience with the long-term follow-up of 100 adult patients with transplantations made in the Brno Centre of Cardiovascular and Transplantation Surgery.

[Composite carcinoma-carcinoid of the large intestine].

The authors give an account of a bioptically revealed adenocarcinoma of the large bowel which was combined with a carcinoid. The carcinoid constituent of the tumor had massive metastases as revealed by the postmortem examination.