On-farm supplementation of rumen-protected niacin: A randomized clinical trial.

B vitamins, including niacin (vitamin B), are synthesized by rumen microbes, but supplementation may provide additional benefits for ruminant health and productivity. Supplementing rumen-protected niacin (RPN) during the transition period can reduce lipolysis after calving and, consequently, may improve health and fertility of dairy cattle later in lactation. Our objective was to determine if supplementing RPN during the first 21 DIM would improve the health of dairy cows on a commercial dairy farm.

X-ray burns--painful, protracted, and preventable.

Very high doses of x-ray may produce deep burns in the backs of patients having fluoroscopically guided cardiac interventional procedures. While these incidents are uncommon they can be prevented by judicious limitation of fluoroscopy and timely repositioning of the x-ray tube. Better education and improved methods for dose mapping should make these distressing complications a thing of the past.

Choice of pacemakers in patients aged 75 years and older: ventricular pacing mode vs. dual-chamber pacing mode.

Half of all pacemakers implanted in the United States are for patients aged 75 years and older. The expectations and needs of an older group are different from patients who are younger, yet it is only recently that different pacing mode benefits for elderly persons have been tested in clinical trials. Some of the results have been surprising and suggest new algorithms for management.

Keeping the autopsy alive.

The recent decline in autopsy rates has many causes and has been the subject of vigorous debate amongst clinicians, pathologists, and investigators. For cardiologists, the lack of direct information on the vessel wall may impede the ability to develop and interpret new imaging methods and to understand the effects of the newest interventions.

Radiation burns as a severe complication of fluoroscopically guided cardiological interventions.

Radiation-induced skin burns can be produced by high doses of fluoroscopic X rays. Though uncommon, such injuries can cause considerable distress to the patient and they can lead to deep ulcers requiring skin grafts. Factors that increase the chance of a burn can be readily identified and in nearly all instances they can be avoided or minimized.

Optimal investigation of the elderly and very elderly patient with atrial fibrillation--what must be done?

The investigation of atrial fibrillation should be tailored to match the needs of the patient. Those needs may differ between younger and older patients. While many different investigations might be used, the emphasis in this review will be on what must be done.

Executive Summary: Pivotal Research in Cardiovascular Syndromes in the Elderly.

The PRICE-1 conference was designed to identify near term priorities for funding cardiovascular research in the elderly. Twenty topics were identified with either break throughs in fundamental mechanisms of aging with cardiovascular systems or with critical importaance to cardiovascular carve of the elderly. (c) 2000 by CVRR, Inc.

Randomized trial of contrast media utilization in high-risk PTCA: the COURT trial.

Background: Previous in vitro and in vivo studies have suggested an association between thrombus-related events and type of contrast media. Low osmolar contrast agents appear to improve the safety of diagnostic and coronary artery interventional procedures. However, no data are available on PTCA outcomes with an isosmolar contrast agent.

Worse six-month outcome for patients with multiple stents in a single coronary artery.

Background: Before the "era" of optimal stent deployment, very few data concerning multiple stents in a single coronary artery showed restenosis rates up to 60%.

Objective: To evaluate the 6-month outcome of patients receiving multiple Palmaz-Schatz stents (> or =2 stents) in a single coronary artery compared to those receiving single stents.

Methods: Three hundred and forty-eight patients having multiple stents were compared to 174 patients receiving single stents during a 6-month follow-up.

Long-term outcome after primary angioplasty: report from the primary angioplasty in myocardial infarction (PAMI-I) trial.

Objectives: This study sought to compare the two-year outcome after primary percutaneous coronary angioplasty or thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Primary angioplasty, that is, angioplasty without antecedent thrombolytic therapy, has been shown to be an effective reperfusion modality for patients suffering an acute myocardial infarction. This report reviews the two-year clinical outcome of patients randomized in the Primary Angioplasty in Myocardial Infarction trial.

Frequent inactivation of PTEN in prostate cancer cell lines and xenografts.

Loss of chromosome 10q is a frequently observed genetic defect in prostate cancer. Recently, the PTEN/MMAC1 tumor suppressor gene was identified and mapped to chromosome 10q23.3.

Real-time measurement of skin radiation during cardiac catheterization.

A novel skin dose monitor was used to measure radiation incident on maximal X-ray exposed skin during 135 diagnostic and 65 interventional coronary procedures. For the diagnostic studies (n = 135), mean skin dose was 180 +/- 64 mGy; for PTCA (n = 35), it was 1021 +/- 674 mGy, single stents (n = 25) 1529 +/- 601 mGy, and multiple stents with rotational atherectomy (n = 5) 2496 +/- 1028 mGy. The dose independently increased with more cine runs, more fluoroscopy, and greater patient weight.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in Jamaica. Preliminary results.

This is the first detailed report from the Anglophone Caribbean of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The procedure resulted in complete dilatation of the occluded vessels in the five patients in whom it was undertaken, with significant improvement in exercise duration in the Bruce protocol (p < 0.001; 95% CI 2.

The use of the Gianturco-Roubin intracoronary stent: the New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) registry experience.

The objective of this study is to compare the in-hospital and follow-up outcome in patients receiving the Gianturco-Roubin stent (GRS) who were enrolled in the New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI) registry. The GRS was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 1992 for the treatment of acute or threatened closure after a percutaneous intervention. The application of intracoronary stenting has broadened substantially in the last few years, but less is known about the use of this device for other indications.

Initial experience with reuse of coronary angioplasty catheters in the United States.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the performance of angioplasty catheters, restored under a strict manufacturing process, in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Most countries outside the United States routinely reuse disposable medical equipment, resulting in significant cost savings. Because of quality and legal concerns, reuse in the United States has been limited.

A novel gene which is up-regulated during colon epithelial cell differentiation and down-regulated in colorectal neoplasms.

To identify new molecular markers for differentiation of normal and neoplastic colon epithelium, we have studied changes in gene expression during the in vitro differentiation of the HT29-D4 colon carcinoma cell line. Using a modified differential display procedure, we cloned a novel cDNA, designated differentiation-related gene 1 (Drg1). Drg1 mRNA has a length of approximately 3 kb and is induced approximately 20-fold during in vitro differentiation of the colon carcinoma cell lines HT29-D4 and Caco-2.