Transapical aortic valve implantation without angiography: proof of concept.

Background: Cardiac computed tomographic scans, coronary angiograms, and aortographies are routinely performed in transcatheter heart valve therapies. Consequently, all patients are exposed to multiple contrast injections with a following risk of nephrotoxicity and postoperative renal failure. The transapical aortic valve implantation without angiography can prevent contrast-related complications.

Use of bone anchors for flap fixation in burned patients.

Unlabelled: Mitek or Arim anchors were developed for use in orthopaedic surgery to facilitate soft tissue fixation to bone. We believe this tool can be useful in difficult cases when securing various flaps to bone, we present a retrospective study of deep thickness burns patients.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective study, including severely burned patients who underwent flap reconstruction with Mitek or Arim anchor fixation between 1999 and 2007 in our unit.

Serum procalcitonin level and other biological markers to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children: a European multicenter case cohort study.

Objective: To validate procalcitonin (PCT) level as the best biological marker to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children in the emergency department.

Design: Secondary analysis of retrospective multicenter hospital-based cohort studies.

Setting: Six pediatric emergency or intensive care units of tertiary care centers in 5 European countries.

Lack of commercial oral drug formulations for children in two hospital group purchasing agreements in france and Canada.

There are a limited number of commercial oral pediatric drug formulations on the market. The incidence of available commercial oral formulations for children has not been studied to date. This study compared the number and the characteristics of oral pediatric drug formulations listed on two hospital group purchasing agreements for the two large urban areas (e.

[Myocardial revascularization and radial artery: different surgical strategies and short-term results].

Background: The radial artery is routinely used as a graft for surgical arterial myocardial revascularization. The proximal radial artery anastomosis site remains unknown. In this study, we analyzed the short-term results and the operative risk determinants after having used four different common techniques for radial artery implantation.

Childhood circumcision: a planned approach.

We prospectively reviewed 3824 boys circumcised during two circumcision festivities. The boys were circumcised in their respective houses under aseptic conditions by teams of nurses, midwives and surgical aids locally trained for that purpose. Complications were seen in 2.

Thoracic aorta emergencies: is the endovascular treatment the new gold standard?

Background: The endovascular treatment for acute traumatic aorta rupture has been proven to be safe in emergency. Technical aspects concerning the device fixation, the materials' durability, and the patients' selection criteria are still under discussion. We present our clinical experience and the mid-term follow-up.

The Vascular Join: a new sutureless anastomotic device to perform end-to-end anastomosis. Preliminary results in an animal model.

Standard vascular techniques don't meet new surgeons' needs for the more complex vascular reconstructions, minimal invasive approaches and robotic surgery. Therefore, alternative ways to perform vascular anastomosis are always welcome. We present a new sutureless vascular connector and the first animal study.

CD40Ig treatment results in allograft acceptance mediated by CD8CD45RC T cells, IFN-gamma, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase.

Treatment with CD40Ig results in indefinite allograft survival in a complete MHC-mismatched heart allograft model in the rat. Here we show that serial second, third, and fourth adoptive transfers of total splenocytes from CD40Ig-treated recipients into secondary recipients led to indefinite donor-specific allograft acceptance. Purification of splenocyte subpopulations from CD40Ig-treated recipients demonstrated that only the adoptively transferred CD8(+)CD45RC(low) subset resulted in donor-specific long-term survival, whereas CD8(+)CD45RC(low) T cells from naive animals did not.

Arterial grafting for myocardial revascularization: how better is it?

Purpose Of Review: Arterial conduits are becoming popular in cardiac surgery. Clinical studies and long-term follow-ups have proven that this technique provides satisfactory long-lasting results. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the main articles from recent literature and compare the latest results.

Removal of selected fracture fixation implants under local anaesthesia.

Aims And Objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of fracture fixation implants (FFI) removal under local anaesthesia.

Materials And Methods: We reviewed 176 patients who had osteosynthetic materials inserted for the treatment of fractures and whose implants were removed under local anaesthesia. Pain and tolerance were determined using a pain severity score determined by the patients.

Bacteremia caused by a metronidazole-resistant Prevotella sp. strain.

Metronidazole resistance among Prevotella spp. is rare. We report here the first case of bacteremia due to a high-level metronidazole-resistant Prevotella sp.

Incidence and impact of perioperative complications in 175 fetoscopy-guided laser coagulations of chorionic plate anastomoses in fetofetal transfusion syndrome before 26 weeks of gestation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perioperative complications in fetoscopy-guided laser therapy in fetofetal transfusion syndrome.

Study Design: Details of fetofetal transfusion syndrome cases who were delivered between 1999 and 2004 in a single center were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: One hundred seventy-five procedures were performed percutaneously with the use of local anesthesia.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection in a young woman: from emergency coronary artery bypass grafting to heart transplantation.

Primary spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) as cause of acute myocardial infarction is a rare entity with complex pathophysiology. SCAD must be considered every time that a healthy young patient presents an onset of acute myocardial ischemic syndrome or sudden death. Mostly it appears in young women without traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease and a significant proportion of them are hutted during the peripartum or early postpartum period.

[Laparoscopic rectal excision for cancer using total mesorectaol excision (TME). Long term outcome of a series of 179 patients].

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and the five-year survival of 179 consecutive patients with rectal carcinoma operated with a laparoscopic procedure between April 1992 and April 2003.

Methods: Patients with obstructing, bulky cancers were excluded from this study. Tumor stage was defined according to the TNM classification.

Time-based gene expression programme following diaphragm injury in a rat model.

It was hypothesised that diaphragm injury activates a time-based programme of gene expression in muscle repair. Gene expression of different substances, such as proteases (calpain 94 (p94)), transcription factors (myogenin and cFos), growth factors (both basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II), and structural proteins (myosin heavy chain (MHC) and titin), was quantified by RT-PCR in rat diaphragms exposed to caffeine-induced injury. Injured and noninjured (control) rat hemidiaphragms were excised at different time points (1-240 h).

A 6-month follow-up of nutritional status in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: A follow up of nutritional status in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: Specialized unit for patients with Alzheimer's disease in Dijon hospital, France.

A single internal ribosome entry site containing a G quartet RNA structure drives fibroblast growth factor 2 gene expression at four alternative translation initiation codons.

The 484-nucleotide (nt) alternatively translated region (ATR) of the human fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) mRNA contains four CUG and one AUG translation initiation codons. Although the 5'-end proximal CUG codon is initiated by a cap-dependent translation process, the other four initiation codons are initiated by a mechanism of internal entry of ribosomes. We undertook here a detailed analysis of the cis-acting elements defining the FGF-2 internal ribosome entry site (IRES).

Microphthalmia transcription factor analysis in posterior uveal melanomas.

Purpose: The protein encoded by the Microphthalmia gene (MITF) is a transcription factor essential for the development and survival of melanocytes. It serves as a master regulator in modulating extracellular signals. Because of its central role in melanocytes survival and to assess its potential use as a histopathological marker for melanoma, MITF expression was examined in human choroidal melanomas.

Ten-year echocardiographic and clinical follow-up of aortic Carpentier-Edwards pericardial and supraannular prosthesis: a case-match study.

Background: There are little comparative data on Carpentier-Edwards supraannular and pericardial second-generation bioprostheses. The aim of this work was to compare their hemodynamic and clinical outcomes in patients with aortic stenosis.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including 150 patients operated on for aortic stenosis between 1989 and 1993.

The adverse renal effects of prostaglandin-synthesis inhibition in the fetus and the newborn.

Objectives: To summarize experimental animal data and to provide a limited literature review on the adverse renal effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the developing fetus and the maturing newborn.

Data: The experimental data were obtained from anesthetized, ventilated, six- to eight-day-old rabbits that received an intravenous bolus of either acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), ibuprofen (IBU) or indomethacin (INDO). In one set of experiments, ASA was also tested in 12-week-old (young adult) rabbits.