Time-Course Reduction in Patient Exposure to Radiation From Coronary Interventional Procedures: The Greater Paris Area Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry.

Background: The frequency of complex percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) has increased in the last few years, with a growing concern on the radiation dose received by the patients. Multicenter data from large unselected populations on patients' radiation doses during coronary angiography (CA) and PCI and temporal trends are lacking. This study sought to evaluate the temporal trends in patients' exposure to radiation from CA and PCI.

Circadian variability patterns predict and guide premature ventricular contraction ablation procedural inducibility and outcomes.

Background: Infrequent intraprocedural premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) may impede radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) outcome, and pharmacologic induction is unpredictable.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether PVC circadian variation could help predict drug response.

Methods: Consecutive patients referred for RFA with detailed Holter monitoring and frequent monomorphic PVCs were included.

Evaluation of bleeding risk in patients on anticoagulation for mechanical cardiac valve operated for benign prostatic obstruction.

Objective: To evaluate bleeding risk in patients on anticoagulation for mechanical cardiac valve operated for benign prostatic obstruction (BPO).

Material And Method: Fifty-eight patients operated between 1998 and 2014, in seven French departments of Urology were included. Forty-five patients were operated by conventional surgery (transurethral resection of the prostate 38, open simple prostatectomies 7), and 13 patients were operated by Greenlight™ photovaporization of the prostate (PVP).

Is bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting a safe option for chronic dialysis patients?

Background: The use of bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting has been proposed for dialysis patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, primarily because of hypothetical long-term survival benefits.

Aims: To investigate the outcome of BITA grafting in dialysis patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the use of BITA grafting in 105 consecutive patients with end-stage renal failure on chronic dialysis in three European centres with extensive experience in BITA.

Contribution and limits of clinical specimens for the screening of intestinal multi-drug-resistant bacteria in view of laboratory automation.

The detection of multi-drug-resistant bacteria carriers constitutes a race against time for infection preventionists. Alongside standard analysis for diagnostic purposes and a rectal screening strategy, the authors tested a heavy-loaded selective method against 562 clinical specimens from 439 patients to detect extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The approach identified five more specimens positive for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae than standard analysis, and six out of nine known VRE/CPE carriers (three new CPE/VRE strains were also identified in this cohort).

Clinical and autoimmune features of a patient with autism spectrum disorder seropositive for anti-NMDA-receptor autoantibody.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunctions in social interactions resulting from a complex interplay between immunogenetic and environmental risk factors. Autoimmunity has been proposed as a major etiological component of ASD. Whether specific autoantibodies directed against brain targets are involved in ASD remains an open question.

Diabetes and male sex are key risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: Although much has been written about the conventional cardiovascular risk factor correlates of the extent of coronary artery calcification (CAC), few studies have been carried out on symptomatic patients. This paper assesses the potential ability of risk factors to associate with an increasing CAC score.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (Euro-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia healthcare-associated infections: identification of two main pathogenic genetic backgrounds.

Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic multi-drug-resistant bacterium responsible for healthcare-associated infections. Strategies for in-hospital infection control and management of carriers and environmental reservoirs remain controversial.

Aim: To determine the population structure of S.

Recent advances in biochemical and molecular diagnostics for the rapid detection of antibiotic-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: a focus on ß-lactam resistance.

The rapid detection of resistance is a challenge for clinical microbiologists who wish to prevent deleterious individual and collective consequences such as (i) delaying efficient antibiotic therapy, which worsens the survival rate of the most severely ill patients, or (ii) delaying the isolation of the carriers of multidrug-resistant bacteria and promoting outbreaks; this last consequence is of special concern, and there are an increasing number of approaches and market-based solutions in response. Areas covered: From simple, cheap biochemical tests to whole-genome sequencing, clinical microbiologists must select the most adequate phenotypic and genotypic tools to promptly detect and confirm β-lactam resistance from cultivated bacteria or from clinical specimens. Here, the authors review the published literature from the last 5 years about the primary technical approaches and commercial laboratory reagents for these purposes, including molecular, biochemical and immune assays.

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of plasmablastic lymphoma patients: analysis of 135 patients from the LYSA group.

Background: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL), initially described in 1997 in the oral cavity of HIV positive patients, is now recognized as a distinct aggressive and rare entity of diffuse large B-cells lymphoma by the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Since the original description, others cases have been reported. However, these are largely derived from case reports or small series limiting any definitive conclusions on clinical characteristics and outcome.

Shoulder position influences the location of the musculocutaneous nerve in the axillary fossa.

In the axillary fossa, the musculocutaneous nerve (MC) is generally distant from the axillary artery and from the other brachial plexus nerves. In that way, MC requires a specific block. We observed that the location of MC is influenced by the position of the patient's arm and shoulder.

Outcome and incidence of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy in patients with cardiac amyloidosis.

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is associated with a poor prognosis with the proposed mechanism of sudden cardiac death in the majority of patients being pulseless electrical activity. However, the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) indications in CA patients are unclear. We performed a detailed evaluation of our CA population undergoing ICD implantation and assessed appropriate ICD therapy and survival predictors.

Gender and age effects on risk factor-based prediction of coronary artery calcium in symptomatic patients: A Euro-CCAD study.

Background And Aims: The influence of gender and age on risk factor prediction of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in symptomatic patients is unclear.

Methods: From the European Calcific Coronary Artery Disease (EURO-CCAD) cohort, we retrospectively investigated 6309 symptomatic patients, 62% male, from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and USA. All of them underwent risk factor assessment and CT scanning for CAC scoring.

Psoas abscess and chronic Q fever: a contiguous or hematogenous complication? A case report and literature review.

Few cases of psoas abscesses (PA) during chronic Q fever have been reported, and the route of transmission remains unknown. Here, we report a new case and have performed a systematic literature review to determinate the spreading route of this complication. Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched.

Nonbiopsy Diagnosis of Cardiac Transthyretin Amyloidosis.

Background: Cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is a progressive and fatal cardiomyopathy for which several promising therapies are in development. The diagnosis is frequently delayed or missed because of the limited specificity of echocardiography and the traditional requirement for histological confirmation. It has long been recognized that technetium-labeled bone scintigraphy tracers can localize to myocardial amyloid deposits, and use of this imaging modality for the diagnosis of cardiac ATTR amyloidosis has lately been revisited.

Presentation and impact of catheter-associated thrombosis in patients with infected long-term central venous catheters: a prospective bicentric observational study.

Background: Catheter-associated thrombosis (CAT) in patients with infected long-term central venous catheter (LTCVC) has been poorly studied.

Methods: We prospectively included patients with infected LTCVC and collected clinical data. Doppler ultrasound was systematically performed to screen for CAT.

Acquisition of Broad-Spectrum Cephalosporin Resistance Leading to Colistin Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae.

An extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and colistin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolate was recovered from a patient who was treated with cefotaxime. This isolate harbored a blaCTX-M-15 ESBL gene that was associated with an ISEcp1 insertion sequence. Transposition of that tandem occurred within the chromosomal mgrB gene, leading to inactivation of the mgrB gene and consequently to acquired resistance to colistin.

Laboratory-based strategy using a new marketed polymerase chain reaction assay to manage diarrheic episodes among patients from rehabilitation and long-term care facilities.

Management of Norovirus and Clostridium difficile gastroenteritis is challenging for rehabilitation and long-term care facilities. We evaluated the contribution of a 2-step laboratory-based strategy, including a new ready-to-use Norovirus polymerase chain reaction assay to promote isolation precautions. C difficile and Norovirus were successively identified from 17% and 23% of 52 episodes of diarrhea, respectively, during the winter season, leading to 100% adequate isolation measures.

Clinical characterisation of polydactyly in Maine Coon cats.

Objectives Polydactyly has been reported in a number of vertebrate species, including the domestic cat. It is a common characteristic in some breeding lines of the Maine Coon. The aim of this study was to assess the limb phenotype of polydactyl cats using physical and radiographic examinations.

The coronary calcium score is a more accurate predictor of significant coronary stenosis than conventional risk factors in symptomatic patients: Euro-CCAD study.

Aims: In this retrospective study we assessed the predictive value of the coronary calcium score for significant (>50%) stenosis relative to conventional risk factors.

Methods And Results: We investigated 5515 symptomatic patients from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the USA. All had risk factor assessment, computed tomographic coronary angiogram (CTCA) or conventional angiography and a CT scan for coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring.

Baseline Characteristics and Prognostic Implications of Pre-Existing and New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: Results From the FRANCE-2 Registry.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with pre-existing atrial fibrillation (AF) and of patients who presented with new-onset AF after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Background: Little is known regarding the impact of AF after TAVI.

Methods: The FRANCE-2 registry included all patients undergoing TAVI (N = 3,933) in France in 2010 and 2011.