Risk Factors and Long-Term Survival of Octogenarians and Nonagenarians Undergoing Transvenous Lead Extraction Procedures.

Introduction: Transvenous lead extraction (TLE) has become a frequently used tool for the management of complications related to pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. However, it is still a matter of debate whether the lead extraction procedure is a safe treatment choice in the elderly.

Methods: We collected the clinical information from 3,810 patients undergoing TLE in 2 high-volume centers (Poland and Italy) between 2006 and 2017.

Choroidal thickness in lamellar macular holes.

Purpose: (1) To assess the thickness of the central choroid (BM-CSI) in swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) examination of lamellar macular holes (LMHs). (2) To establish correlations between the thickness of the central choroid (BM-CSI) in the LHM and the parameters of best-corrected visual acuity and reading vision in patients with LMH.

Methods: This prospective case-control study assessed a group of 30 patients (30 eyes) with LMHs and a control group of 45 patients (90 eyes).

Transesophageal Echocardiography As a Monitoring Tool During Transvenous Lead Extraction-Does It Improve Procedure Effectiveness?

Background: Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a valuable tool for monitoring the patient during transvenous lead extraction (TLE), but the direct impact of TEE on the effectiveness and safety of TLE has not yet been documented.

Methods: The effectiveness of TLE and short-term survival were compared between two groups of patients: 2106 patients in whom TEE was performed before and after TLE and 1079 individuals in whom continuous TEE monitoring was used. The procedure-related risk of major complications was assessed using a predictive SAFeTY TLE score.

Paediatric Cushing's disease - a literature review of epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, and diagnostics.

Cushing's disease (CD) is characterised by excess production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by a pituitary corticotroph adenoma, which results in hypercortisolaemia. CD is extremely rare in the paediatric population, and few paediatric endocrinology centres have experience in diagnosing and treating this disease. The clinical presentation of hypercortisolaemia is variable, so proper and rapid diagnosis of CD is often challenging.