Comparison of valvar and right ventricular function following transcatheter and surgical pulmonary valve replacement.

Objective: Trans-catheter (TC) pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) has become common practice for patients with right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (RVOTO) and/or pulmonic insufficiency (PI). Our aim was to compare PVR and right ventricular (RV) function of patients who received TC vs surgical PVR.

Design: Retrospective review of echocardiograms obtained at three time points: before, immediately after PVR, and most recent.

Pneumocephalus and Sixth Nerve Palsy after Epidural Steroid Injection: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Pneumocephalus has been described as an unintended outcome after epidural injections. However, oculomotor palsy from pneumocephalus after epidural injection is very rare.

Case Report: We report a case of pneumocephalus-induced sixth nerve palsies and diplopia in an 87-year-old woman after epidural steroid injection.

Decreased reticuloendothelial system clearance and increased blood half-life and immune cell labeling for nano- and micron-sized superparamagnetic iron-oxide particles upon pre-treatment with Intralipid.

Background: Superparamagnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles are useful as contrast agents for anatomical, functional and cellular MRI, drug delivery agents, and diagnostic biosensors. Nanoparticles are generally cleared by the reticuloendothelial system (RES), in particular taken up by Kupffer cells in the liver, limiting particle bioavailability and in-vivo applications. Strategies that decrease the RES clearance and prolong the circulation residence time of particles can improve the in-vivo targeting efficiency.