Electrocardiographic Recognition of Epicardial Arrhythmias.

The great majority of arrhythmias can be ablated with current techniques using an endocardial approach. However, an epicardial approach may be required in some cases. ECG-based criteria have been developed to aid recognition of arrhythmias with an epicardial origin, which allows for a planned epicardial ablation procedure.

Cerebral vasomotor reactivity and dementia after ischemic stroke.

Objectives: Cerebral hemodynamic features of patients with post-stroke dementia (PSD) are still obscure. We compared cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) assessed in the acute phase of ischemic stroke (IS) in patients with and without PSD. VMR was also assessed and compared in demented and non-demented patients in the late phase of IS.

Mannitol attenuates kidney damage induced by xanthine oxidase-associated pancreas ischemia-reperfusion.

Background: Ischemia and subsequent reperfusion (IR) may induce local and remote organ reperfusion injury. It may be propagated by xanthine oxidase (XO)-generated oxidant stress. We investigated whether pancreas IR directly and acutely induces renal dysfunction and if this outcome could be prevented by mannitol.

Methylene blue attenuates pancreas ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced lung injury: a dose response study in a rat model.

Background: Oxidants (and their generator, xanthine oxidase [XO]) play a role in inducing acute lung injury (ALI) expressed both structurally and functionally. Such damage has recently been demonstrated in the presence of pancreas ischemia-reperfusion (IR). We now investigated whether methylene blue (MB), a clinically used coloring agent and antioxidant in itself, protected the lung exposed to pancreas IR.

Mannitol prevents acute lung injury after pancreas ischemia-reperfusion: a dose-response, ex vivo study.

Oxidants and their generator, xanthine oxidase (XO), play a major role in the damaging of the structural and functional integrity of the lung. Such damage has been recently demonstrated in the presence of pancreas ischemia-reperfusion (IR). We investigated whether mannitol, a clinically used agent and antioxidant, prevented lung damage after pancreas IR.

Effects of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with buprenorphine and morphine alone and in combination during the first 12 postoperative hours: a randomized, double-blind, four-arm trial in adults undergoing abdominal surgery.

Background: Intense pain in the first 12 hours after major abdominal surgery requires the use of large amounts of analgesics, mainly opioids, which may produce undesirable effects. Buprenorphine (BUP) is not typically used intravenously in this setting, particularly in combination with morphine (MO), due to concerns that BUP might inhibit the analgesic effect of MO.

Objective: This study compared the analgesic effect of BUP and MO separately and in combination for postoperative pain control in patients undergoing abdominal surgery.

Escape rhythm from a partially disconnected pulmonary vein.

We present a 34-year-old patient with recurrent episodes of drug refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation referred for pulmonary vein (PV) isolation at our institution. During isolation of the right superior PV, a dissociated escape rhythm was observed on a portion of the PV that was disconnected, while the rest of the PV showed clear left atrium to PV conduction. This report demonstrates the rare possibility of escape PV rhythm from only partially disconnected PV, highlighting that dissociated PV rhythm does not necessarily reflect complete PV isolation.

How should a nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma be monitored after debulking surgery?

Transsphenoidal surgery is the treatment of choice for nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas but is seldom curative. Tumour progression rates are high in patients with postoperative remnants. Therefore, long-term monitoring is necessary to detect tumour growth, which may be asymptomatic or manifest with visual field defects and/or pituitary dysfunction.

Renal oxidative stress following CO2 pneumoperitoneum-like conditions.

Background: Physiologic renal changes associated with pneumoperitoneum (PNP) have been described and various underlying mechanisms have been suggested. We investigated the possibility that PNP-associated renal damage is pressure dependent, and that oxidative stress is thereby involved.

Materials And Methods: Seventy Wistar rat kidneys (n=10 per group) were isolated.

Primary liposarcoma of the mediastinum.

Patient. A 62-year-old man presented with effort dyspnea, non-productive cough and weakness of 4 month duration. He had no findings on physical examination.

A daidzein-daunomycin conjugate improves the therapeutic response in an animal model of ovarian carcinoma.

The use of daunomycin against neoplasms is limited due to its severe cardiotoxicity. The cytotoxicity of daunomycin can be minimized by linking it to an affinity tag. Since ovarian cancer cells are sensitive to isoflavone action, we synthesized a daidzein daunomycin conjugate.

Fifteen years of bone tumor cryosurgery: a single-center experience of 440 procedures and long-term follow-up.

Background: This summary of a single center's extensive cumulative experience in bone tumor cryosurgery assesses the long-term outcome of bone conservation surgery in which adjuvant cryosurgery plays a pivotal role.

Materials And Methods: We performed 440 cryosurgical procedures between January 1988 and December 2002. Two-thirds of the series comprised a variety of primary benign-aggressive and low-grade malignant lesions, and one-third were primary high-grade and metastatic bone tumors.

Daidzein but not other phytoestrogens preserves bone architecture in ovariectomized female rats in vivo.

Ovariectomy of immature female rats, results in significant decrease of trabecular bone volume and in cortical bone thickness. Previously, we found that estradiol-17beta (E(2)) restored bone structure of ovariectomized (Ovx) female rats to values obtained in intact sham-operated female rats. E(2) also selectively stimulated creatine kinase (CK) specific activity a hormonal-genomic activity marker.

Vitamin D modulation of the activity of estrogenic compounds in bone cells in vitro and in vivo.

Vitamin D analogs modulate different organs, including modulation of energy metabolism, through the induction of creatine kinase (CK) activity. Skeletal organs from vitamin D-depleted rats showed lower constituent CK than those from vitamin D-replete rats. Moreover, estradiol-17beta (E2) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which increased CK in organs from intact female or male rats, respectively, stimulated much less CK in vitamin D-depleted rats.

Carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum-related liver injury is pressure dependent: A study in an isolated-perfused organ model.

Background: Disturbed liver function tests are associated with the pneumoperitoneum applied for biliary and non-biliary laparoscopic surgical procedures. The extent, duration and reversibility of such an injury are unknown. An isolated organ model was used to assess reversibility of liver injury in a CO(2)-pneumoperitoneum-like environment.

Effect of small bowel perforation during laparoscopy on end-tidal carbon dioxide: observation in a small animal model.

Introduction: There are currently no reports in the literature regarding changes in end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO(2)) when the small bowel is deliberately or inadvertently perforated during laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of small bowel perforation during laparoscopy on ETCO(2) in a rat model.

Materials And Methods: Two groups of Wistar rats (n = 8/group) were anesthetized, tracheostomized, and mechanically ventilated at a fixed tidal volume and respiratory rate.

Cerebral vasomotor reactivity of patients with acute ischemic stroke: Cortical versus subcortical infarcts: an Israeli-Turkish collaborative study.

Background: Cerebral hemodynamic features of patients with different types of acute ischemic stroke are still obscure. We compared cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) in acute cortical (CI) and subcortical (SI) brain infarcts.

Methods: Acute stroke patients (within 72 h of stroke onset) underwent transcranial Doppler and the Diamox test (1 g acetazolamide IV).

Nontoxic effect of tacrolimus on normally perfused isolated liver and protective effect on hypoperfused liver.

Background: Cyclosporine A has been shown to detrimentally affect post-transplantation vascular tone. Tacrolimus (FK506), an immunosuppressant whose mechanism of action is similar to that of cyclosporine A, is more potent in vitro and has a reportedly high level of safety. The effects of tacrolimus on hepatic vasculature and metabolism in isolated, dually perfused (through both the hepatic artery and porta) rat liver under normal conditions and again in association with a state of hypoperfusion followed by reperfusion, imitating the liver's clinical state during organ transplant, were investigated.

Back pain in adolescents: assessment with integrated 18F-fluoride positron-emission tomography-computed tomography.

The aim of the present study was to assess the ability of a novel bone imaging technique to diagnose accurately the cause for back pain as an isolated and presenting complaint in adolescents. An integrated 18F-fluoride positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) study was performed at the same setting without changing the patients' position, followed by generation of fused images of functional and anatomical data. Fifteen subjects were included in the study.

Acute lung injury following pancreas ischaemia-reperfusion: role of xanthine oxidase.

Background: Acute pancreatitis can lead to increased pulmonary vascular permeability and respiratory failure. Oxidants (and their generator, xanthine oxidase (XO)) play an important role in injuring the structural integrity of the pulmonary epithelium and endothelium, but their importance in the induction of acute lung injury following pancreas ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) has not been defined.

Materials And Methods: Rats (n = 48) received a regular or a tungsten (oxidoreductase inhibitor)-enriched diet for 14 days.

Serum levels of anti heat shock protein 70 antibodies in patients with stable and unstable angina pectoris.

Background: The heat shock protein (HSP) family comprises approximately 24 proteins displaying a high degree of sequence homology between different species. The induction of self-HSP immune reactivity is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases. Antibodies to HSP60/65 have been demonstrated in the sera of patients with coronary artery disease.

A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of orlistat for the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & Aims: Few controlled studies have addressed the issue of effective medical treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We herein assessed the effect of orlistat in patients with NAFLD.

Methods: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on 52 patients with NAFLD diagnosed by ultrasound (US) and confirmed by liver biopsy (40 patients).

Responsiveness to estradiol-17beta and to phytoestrogens in primary human osteoblasts is modulated differentially by high glucose concentration.

We have reported previously, that female-derived bone cells responded to 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) and to raloxifene (Ral), whereas male-derived cells responded only to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) when the stimulation of creatine kinase specific activity (CK), which is a marker for hormone responsiveness, was measured. In cells derived from pre-menopausal women, E(2), G, D and Ral stimulated CK to higher extent compared to post-menopausal bone cells, whereas quecertin (Qu), carboxy-biochainin A (cBA) and carboxy-genistein (cG) stimulated CK in both age groups similarly, and biochainin A (BA) stimulated post-menopausal cells to a bit higher extent than pre-menopausal cells. Since the skeletal protective effects of estrogens are not discernable in diabetic women, we tested in this study, the effects of high glucose concentration in the growth medium, on the effects of estrogenic compounds on CK in human-derived bone cells (hObs).

Diabetes modulates differentially creatine kinase-specific activity responsiveness to estradiol-17beta and to raloxifene in rat organs.

Diabetes mellitus increases the risk for CVD in women. While there is considerable evidence suggesting beneficial effects of estrogen on decreasing lipid peroxidation, atherosclerotic processes, and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes negates most estrogen protective effects as well as the skeletal protective effects of estrogens, which are not discernable in diabetic women. In the present study, we examined the in vivo effects of estradiol-17beta (E2), on creatine kinase (CK)-specific activity, in estrogen-responsive organs from healthy and diabetic rats.

Cerebral vasomotor reactivity of bilateral severe carotid stenosis: is stroke unavoidable?

We evaluated the cerebral hemodynamic features of severe bilateral carotid stenosis by assessing and comparing cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR) in the middle cerebral (MCA) and vertebral arteries (VA) by transcranial Doppler and the Diamox (1 g acetazolamide i.v.) test.