Dose-dependent atorvastatin associated with angioedema.

Purpose: To describe a case of angioedema associated with increasing the dose of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (atorvastatin) from 20 to 40 mg daily in a patient previously stable on angiotensin II receptor blocker (losartan) and calcium channel blocker (amlodipine) as antihypertensive agents.

Summary: A 79-year-old woman with no known drug allergies and a history of multiple clinical conditions presented to the emergency department with facial and periorbital swelling, edema of the lower extremities, shortness of breath, and generalized itching and skin rash, that started 2 days after increasing her atorvastatin dose from 20 to 40 mg daily. She was concurrently on losartan 50 mg and amlodipine 5 mg daily for the management of hypertension.

Superficial femoral artery access for endovascular aortic repair.

Objective: The majority of endovascular aneurysm repair procedures are performed through the common femoral artery (CFA). Arterial access is gained by surgical cutdown or percutaneous approach. The surgical approach has a relatively high local complication rate.

Self-cleaning superhydrophobic epoxy coating based on fibrous silica-coated iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles.

Inspired by the self-cleaning lotus leaf, a facile method of fabricating superhydrophobic silica coated magnetite nanoparticles using a cost-effective process is presented in this work. The structural characterizations and magnetic properties of the obtained core-shell magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). TEM analysis revealed that the particles present flower-like dendrimeric fibers morphology.

Characterization of pulmonary venous hypertension patients with reactive pulmonary hypertension as compared to proportional pulmonary hypertension.

Background: Patients with pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH) secondary to left heart disease can be further classified according to their hemodynamic profile: pulmonary hypertension (PH) in proportion to the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and PH out of proportion to the PCWP or reactive PH. Currently, there are no measures that enable prediction of the development of reactive PH in patients with left heart disease.

Objectives: In this study, we aim to characterize PVH patients with reactive PH as compared to proportional PH in an attempt to create a distinct profile for patients with left heart disease carrying a high risk for the development of reactive PH.