Role of transesophageal echocardiography in the assessment of patients with blunt chest trauma: correlation of echocardiographic findings with the electrocardiogram and creatine kinase monoclonal antibody measurements.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of transesophogeal echocardiography (TEE) for detecting cardiac damage after blunt chest trauma (BCT).

Background: Multiple methods have been used to detect cardiac damage after a BCT, but none has been demonstrated to be sensitive, specific, and feasible enough.

Methods: This multicenter prospective trial was designed to evaluate the usefulness of TEE in the assessment of patients with BCT and to compare the TEE findings with those provided by the electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac isoenzymes assay.

Hemangiopericytoma in a male breast. Report of a case with cytologic, histologic and immunochemical studies.

A hemangiopericytoma in a male breast was studied by fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy. The FNA smears contained tissue clumps showing knob-like formations of atypical cells, spindle-shaped cells and fragments of capillaries lined by normal endothelial cells. Immunocytochemical study showed a positive reaction for vimentin, but a negative reaction for desmin and keratin.

A conservative procedure for the diagnosis of catheter-related infections.

A prospective study was done in 139 intravascular catheters (IVCs) that had been removed for different reasons. The purpose of the study was to compare laboratory procedures for the diagnosis of catheter-related infections and also to attempt to clarify the present controversy regarding the portal of entry of such infections. The IVCs were removed by one of us and multiple samples were studied according to a standard procedure.

Sleep apnea syndrome in an adult patient with mandibular hypoplasia.

Sleep apnea syndrome is a condition which may be related to mandibular hypoplasia of a congenital as well as developmental nature. It is extremely unusual in adults; however, a case of sleep apnea syndrome gradually developing in an adult patient is illustrated in this report. Correction by means of maxillary and mandibular osteotomies was indicated.