Microplastics and additives in patients with preterm birth: The first evidence of their presence in both human amniotic fluid and placenta.

Considering the well documented, almost ubiquitous nature of microplastics in different environments, the exposure of pregnant women to microplastics may pose risks to the unborn children. The study focused on investigating the presence of microplastics in amniotic fluid and placenta, and brings the first evidence of the simultaneous presence of microplastics and additives in both human amniotic fluid and placentas. In total, 20 samples of amniotic fluid and placenta from 10 patients were analyzed for the presence of microplastics and plastic additives by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy - attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) after alkaline digestion with KOH.

Early ganglion stellate blockade as part of two-step treatment algorithm suppresses electrical storm and need for intubation.

Background: For the treatment of patients with electrical storm (ES), we established a two-step algorithm comprising standard anti-arrhythmic measures and early ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion blockade (SGB). In this single-center study, we evaluated the short-term efficacy of the algorithm and tested the hypothesis that early SGB might prevent the need for intubations.

Methods: Overall, we analyzed data for 70 ES events in 59 patients requiring SGB (mean age 67.

Amniotic fluid soluble CD93 is elevated in the presence of intra-amniotic inflammation in preterm prelabor rupture of the fetal membranes.

Objective: To determine the soluble form of CD93 (sCD93) concentration in amniotic fluid from pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) based on the presence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or intra-amniotic inflammation.

Methods: A total of 144 women with a singleton pregnancy complicated by PPROM were included in this study. Amniotic fluid samples were obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis.

Acute Histological Chorioamnionitis and Birth Weight in Pregnancies With Preterm Prelabor Rupture of Membranes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

To assess the association between the birth weight of newborns from pregnancies with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) and the presence of acute histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) with respect to the: i) fetal and maternal inflammatory responses and ii) acute inflammation of the amnion. This retrospective cohort study included 818 women with PPROM. A histopathological examination of the placenta was performed.

Preterm prelabor rupture of membranes without microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity and intra-amniotic inflammation: a heterogeneous group with differences in adverse outcomes.

Objective: The absence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity and intra-amniotic inflammation at the time of hospital admission is the most common condition associated with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM). Although the intensity of intra-amniotic inflammatory response does not exceed the threshold for the diagnosis of intra-amniotic inflammation in this subgroup of PPROM, whether there could be differences in outcomes concerning the intensity of intra-amniotic inflammatory response remains unclear. Therefore, the main aims of this study on PPROM without microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity and intra-amniotic inflammation were (i) to characterize the association between the intensity of intra-amniotic inflammatory response, measured according to amniotic fluid interleukin (IL)-6 concentrations, and the presence of acute histological chorioamnionitis and acute inflammation in the amnion; (ii) to characterize the association between the intensity of intra-amniotic inflammatory response and fetal inflammatory response, and (iii) to describe the short-term morbidity of infants based on the intensity of intra-amniotic inflammatory response.

Major heart defects: the diagnostic evaluations of first-year-olds.

Background: Severe or critical congenital heart defects (CHDs) constitute one third of the heart defect cases detected only after birth. These prenatally unrecognised defects usually manifest as cyanotic or acyanotic lesions and are diagnosed postnatally at various times. The aim of the study was to identify their clinical symptoms and determine individual risk periods for CHD manifestation.

Chronic refractory angina pectoris treated by bilateral stereotactic radiosurgical stellate ganglion ablation: first-in-man case report.

Background: Refractory angina pectoris (AP) significantly impairs quality of life in patients with chronic coronary syndrome. Several minimally invasive methods (coronary sinus reducer, cell therapy, laser or shockwave revascularization, and spinal cord stimulation) or non-invasive methods (external counterpulzation) have been studied. However, their routine clinical use has not been widely implemented.

Birth weight and intra-amniotic inflammatory and infection-related complications in pregnancies with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To assess the association between the birth weight of newborns and microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or intra-amniotic inflammation in pregnancies with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Methods: A total of 528 pregnancies with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes were included in this retrospective cohort study. Transabdominal amniocentesis to determine the presence of MIAC (through culturing and molecular biology methods) and intra-amniotic inflammation (according to amniotic fluid interleukin-6 level) was performed as part of standard clinical management.

Differences in risk profiles and long-term outcomes in acute heart failure patients with preserved and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction in the Czech Republic: The AHEAD registry sub-analysis.

Background: The latest European heart failure guidelines define patients as those with reduced (HFrEF), mid-range, and preserved (HFpEF) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; <40%, 40%-49%, and ≥50%, respectively). We investigated the causes of rehospitalizations/deaths in our institution's heart failure patients and focused on differences in the clinical presentation, risk profile, and long-term outcomes between the HFrEF and HFpEF groups in a real-life scenario.

Methods And Results: We followed 1274 patients discharged from heart failure hospitalization in 2 centres.

Extracellular granzyme A in amniotic fluid is elevated in the presence of sterile intra-amniotic inflammation in preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Introduction: To determine the levels of granzyme A in amniotic fluid in pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), based on the presence of microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI).

Methods Of Study: A total of 166 women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM were included. Amniocentesis was performed at the time of admission and assessments of MIAC (using both cultivation and non-cultivation techniques) and IAI (interleukin-6 in amniotic fluid) were performed on all subjects.

Echogenic foci in fetal heart from a pediatric cardiologists point of view.

Objectives: To evaluate the occurrence and the significance of echogenic foci in the fetal heart and to assess the prognosis of the fetus and child.

Setting: Department of Pediatrics and Prenatal Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Ostrava.

Design: Original article.

Fetal Portal System Flowmetry and Intra-Amniotic Inflammation in Preterm Prelabor Rupture of Membranes.

Objectives: To determine the pulsatility index (PI) in the fetal splenic vein, the main portal vein, the left portal vein, and the ductus venosus with respect to the presence or absence of intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI) in preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Method: Women with singleton pregnancies and PPROM, ranging in gestational age from 22+0 to 36+6 weeks, were included. Amniotic fluid samples were obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis and the amniotic fluid level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was assessed by a point-of-care test.

Parents' request for termination of pregnancy due to a congenital heart defect of the fetus in a country with liberal interruption laws.

This study aimed to evaluate the prenatal rate of congenital heart defects (CHDs) and the frequency of termination of pregnancy (TOP) due to a CHD, depending on the severity of the defect and concomitant diseases of the fetus. The data were assessed retrospectively between 2002 and 2017. Ultrasound examination was performed mostly in the second trimester.

Congenital heart defects according to the types of the risk factors - a single center experience.

The main aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHDs) between pregnant women with and those without the risk factors. The secondary aim was to determine the influence of the specific risk factors, divided into subgroups, on the development of the CHD. The presented results were obtained over the course of a 15-year study between years 2002 and 2016.

[Development of prenatal diagnostics of congenital heart defects, profit of standardized scanning planes].

Objective: To audit the development and success rate of prenatal detection of congenital heart defects (CHDs), and to evaluate the effectiveness of diagnostics performed in standardized scanning planes.

Setting: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Ostrava.

Design: Retrospective study.

OCT guidance during stent implantation in primary PCI: A randomized multicenter study with nine months of optical coherence tomography follow-up.

Aims: To assess the possible merits of optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI).

Methods And Results: 201 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized either to pPCI alone (angio-guided group, n=96) or to pPCI with OCT guidance (OCT-guided group, n=105) and also either to biolimus A9 or to everolimus-eluting stent implantation.

[Ultrasound diagnosis of fetal inflammatory response syndrome in women with preterm premature rupture of membrane].

Objective: The aim of this review is to analyze the existing possibilities of using ultrasound in the diagnosis of the fetal inflammatory response.

Design: Review.

Settings: Gynekologicko-porodnická klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava.

Intraamniotic inflammation and umbilical cord blood interleukin-6 concentrations in pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: To evaluate umbilical cord blood interleukin (IL)-6 concentrations and the occurrence of fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) with respect to microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC) and/or intraamniotic inflammation (IAI) in pregnancies complicated by preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Methods: One-hundred-eighty-eight women with singleton pregnancies complicated by PPROM between gestational ages of 24 + 0 and 36 + 6 weeks were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained by venipuncture from the umbilical cord after the delivery of the newborn.

Amniotic fluid calreticulin in pregnancies complicated by the preterm prelabor rupture of membranes.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the amniotic fluid calreticulin concentrations in women with the preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) based on the microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC), intraamniotic inflammation (IAI) and microbial-associated IAI.

Methods: One hundred sixty-eight women with singleton pregnancies were included in this study. Amniotic fluid samples were obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis and were assayed for calreticulin concentrations by ELISA.

Correlation of geomagnetic activity with implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks and antitachycardia pacing.

Objective: To investigate a potential relationship between implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapies and daily geomagnetic activity (GMA) recorded in a large database.

Patients And Methods: The ALTITUDE database, derived from the Boston Scientific LATITUDE remote monitoring system, was retrospectively analyzed for the frequency of ICD therapies. Daily GMA was expressed as the planetary K-index and the integrated A-index and was graded as levels I (quiet), II (unsettled), III (active), and IV (storm).