Divergent immunohistochemical expression of CD21 and CD23 by follicular dendritic cells with increasing grade of follicular lymphoma.

Background: Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical differences have been described in FDCs of primary and secondary follicles, illustrating the highly compartmentalized structure of lymph follicles. Differences in FDC immunophenotype in different grades of FL may reflect some parallelism between reactive and neoplastic conditions in terms of FDC-B cell interaction and may be used as a valuable additional tool for grading FL.

Methods: A total of 60 paraffin blocks from patients with follicular lymphoma, 30 cases each of grade 1 and 3, were retrieved from our archive.

Insulin treatment corrects hepcidin but not YKL-40 levels in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus matched by body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, C-reactive protein and Creatinine.

Background: It has been shown that hepcidin and YKL-40 levels change in persons with insulin resistance in different circumstances. However, variations of the levels of these parameters through the stages of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus are unclear. We hypothesized that hepcidin levels will decrease in persons with prediabetes, while these levels will tend to correct when persons with diabetes are treated with insulin.

Left ventricular markers of global dyssynchrony predict limited exercise capacity in heart failure, but not in patients with preserved ejection fraction.

Background: The aim of this study was to prospectively examine echocardiographic parameters that correlate and predict functional capacity assessed by 6 min walk test (6-MWT) in patients with heart failure (HF), irrespective of ejection fraction (EF).

Methods: In 147 HF patients (mean age 61 ± 11 years, 50.3% male), a 6-MWT and an echo-Doppler study were performed in the same day.

Predictors of exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Heart failure is a major and growing societal problem characterized by high mortality, frequent hospitalization, reduced quality of life and a complex therapeutic regimen. The six-minute walking test (6-MWT) may serve as a useful and reproducible test for assessing exercise capacity in heart failure patients and has been suggested as a simple, well-tolerated and inexpensive alternative to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). The CPET and 6-MWT are the most broadly used for assessing functional limitation in patients with heart failure.

MRSA endocarditis of bovine Contegra valved conduit: a case report.

Background: Different techniques are used for the right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction, including homo- or porcine xenografts, which have several limitations. Contegra, a bovine jugular vein graft, is an interesting alternative to overcome these limitations. It consists of a bovine jugular vein with a naturally integrated valve in it.