Hemorrhoids screening and treatment prior to LVAD: is it a necessity?

Continuous-flow left ventricle assist devices (CF-LVADs) has become an essential modality in the management of stage D heart failure (HF) with significant improvement in survival and quality of life. Due to the durability of such devices and long term support complications such as bleeding and aortic insufficiency has emerged. Bleeding accounts for more than 20 % with the majority being from the gastrointestinal tract.

Relation between iron-overload indices, cardiac echo-Doppler, and biochemical markers in thalassemia intermedia.

Cardiovascular impairment is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with thalassemia intermedia. In this study, echocardiographic assessment of left heart condition was performed in patients with thalassemia intermedia, and its relation to hematologic variables--amino terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), ferritin, hemoglobin--and liver iron concentration (LIC) was investigated. Echocardiographic assessment was performed using pulse-wave Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging.