Myxofibrosarcoma of the orbit: case report and review of literature.

A 17-year-old man was referred with a 6-month history of painless left inferior eyelid edema. Ophthalmic examination was normal except for the presence of a reddish conjunctiva in the left eye medial canthus. MRI demonstrated a 20-mm well-defined extraconical mass between the medial and inferior rectus muscle without destruction of the medial orbital wall.

Terlipressin as rescue therapy for refractory pulmonary hypertension in a neonate with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

We report the case of a 38-week gestational age neonate, with isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia presenting with refractory persistent pulmonary hypertension, systemic hypotension, and hypoxemia, resistant to usual therapeutics. Arginine vasopressin is responsible for systemic vasoconstriction and decreases pulmonary hypertension. We theorized that terlipressin, its long-acting analogue, could have the same properties.

[Retinal nerve fiber layer in OCT 3: prospective study of 53 normal children].

Purpose: To measure the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL thickness) in normal children using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and evaluate the effects of several factors on RNFL thickness, in order to complete results of other studies on this topic.

Material And Method: One hundred and four eyes of 53 normal children were investigated using OCT (Stratus OCT 3, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA, USA) measuring the RNFL thickness. These 28 boys and 25 girls had a mean age of 9.

[Management of newborns with meconium-stained amniotic fluid: prospective evaluation of practice].

Objective: Regional guideline for immediate tracheal suctioning (ITS) in vigorous and non-vigorous infants born through meconium-stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) has been established in 2003. The objective of this study was to evaluate guideline application.

Study Design: Prospective cohort.

Early and late outcomes of clopidogrel and coumadin combination for patients on oral anticoagulants undergoing coronary stenting.

Background: In patients under oral anticoagulant requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent implantation, the optimal association between aspirin, clopidogrel and oral anticoagulant (OAC) remains cumberstome. Triple therapy and dual therapy using aspirin and OAC have been evaluated and are associated with a high frequency of major bleedings. The combination of clopidogrel and OAC has never been evaluated.

[Papillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measurement using optical coherence tomography in children with ocular hypertension and juvenile glaucoma].

Purpose: To compare retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) measurements taken with OCT in normal, ocular hypertensive, and glaucomatous eyes of children 4-18 years old.

Materials And Methods: The study included 181 eyes: 106 normal, 37 with ocular hypertension, and 38 with juvenile glaucoma. Diagnostic groups were classified based on intraocular pressure, optic nerve head appearance, visual field examination, and central corneal thickness measurement.

Accuracy of Doppler-derived pulmonary artery hypertension to predict heart failure with normal ejection fraction.

Recent advances have highlighted the clinical relevance of pulmonary artery hypertension in terms of diagnosis and prognosis in heart failure with normal ejection fraction. We addressed the usefulness of Doppler-derived pulmonary artery systolic pressure to predict heart failure with normal ejection fraction in stable patients with exertional dyspnea. 25 patients referred for clinically indicated catheterism with evidence of heart failure according to the European diagnostic flowchart on "how to diagnose heart failure with normal ejection fraction" and 12 controls referred for clinically indicated catheterism without this condition according to the diagnostic flowchart on "how to exclude heart failure with normal ejection fraction" were included.

Predictors of B-type natriuretic peptide and left atrial volume index in patients with preserved left ventricular systolic function: an echocardiographic-catheterization study.

Background: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and left atrial volume index (LAVi) are used as surrogate measures for global myocardial function and are recommended for the diagnosis of heart failure with normal ejection fraction. Little is known, however, about predictors in patients with preserved systolic function.

Aims: To identify factors that influence the relation of BNP and left atrial size to invasively determined left ventricular end-diastolic pressure in stable patients with preserved left ventricular systolic function.

A clampless and sutureless aorto-prosthetic end-to-side anastomotic device: an experimental study.

Objectives: A feasibility study.

Methods: Eight pigs (all females; mean weight: 29 kg) underwent a conventional transperitoneal aortic approach with implantation of an aorto-prosthetic end-to-side anastomosis using a Clampless device and deployment of a 5-mm polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft. After proximal ligature, a conventional end-to-end anastomosis was then performed between the graft and the left iliac artery.

Bacillus licheniformis septicemia in a very-low-birth-weight neonate: a case report.

Nosocomial infections in neonatal intensive care units are a preoccupying issue. Bacillus sp. can be pathogenic in immuno-compromised hosts, including premature infants.

[Deep sclerectomy in congenital glaucoma: results of a study lasting more than 3 years].

Purpose: To assess the outcome of deep sclerectomy surgery with intraoperative antimitotic application in children with primary and secondary congenital glaucomas.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-seven eyes of 22 children aged from 1 day to 14 years were included in this study; 30 eyes had primary congenital glaucoma and were divided into two groups according to the management delay. Eighteen eyes were managed early (group 1) and 12 eyes were diagnosed late (group 2).

Experience with remifentanil-sevoflurane balanced anesthesia for abdominal surgery in neonates and children less than 2 years.

Background: Few data report remifentanil use in the neonatal population. We described here our experience with remifentanil-sevoflurane balanced anesthesia in neonates and children less than 2 years who underwent general anesthesia for abdominal surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively studied the pattern of remifentanil infusion associated with sevoflurane inhalation in preterm neonates (PTN; n = 18) (born before 37 weeks of gestation and <45 weeks of postmenstrual age), full-term neonates (FTN; n = 21) (born after 37 weeks of gestation and less than 29 days old) and older children up to 2 years (CUT; n = 24).

Poor prognosis in breast carcinomas correlates with increased expression of targetable CD146 and c-Met and with proteomic basal-like phenotype.

Genomic studies have led to new taxonomic classifications of breast carcinomas. Proteomic investigations using tissue microarrays have yielded complementary results and are useful in identifying potential molecular targets for specific therapies. Searching for new drug targets is particularly important for tumors of poor prognosis, such as breast tumors that lack estrogen receptors and HER2 amplification; in these tumors, certain molecules probably play a significant role in tumor spreading through the stromal microvasculature.

c-Met overexpression in inflammatory breast carcinomas: automated quantification on tissue microarrays.

Inflammatory breast carcinoma (IBC) is a rare but aggressive tumour associated with poor outcome owing to early metastases. Increased expression of c-Met protein correlates with reduced survival and high metastatic risk in human cancers including breast carcinomas and is targetable by specific drugs, that could potentially improve the prognosis. In the present study, we compared c-Met expression in IBC (n=41) and non-IBC (n=480) immunohistochemically (Ventana Benchmark autostainer) in two tissue microarrays (TMA) along with PI3K and E-cadherin.

Tunneled central venous catheter for neonates: A simple technique for prolonged indwelling central catheters in intensive care.

Objective: To describe and evaluate a new technique to insert a 24-gauge Silastic catheter in a central vein with a subcutaneous tunneled catheter in newborns after peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) insertion failure.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit.

Target concentrations of remifentanil with propofol to blunt coughing during intubation, cuff inflation, and tracheal suctioning.

Background: The target blood concentrations of propofol and remifentanil, when used in combination, required to blunt the cough response to tracheal intubation, cuff inflation, and tracheal suctioning without neuromuscular blocking agents are not known.

Methods: In a randomized prospective study, 81 patients were enrolled to determine which of three target remifentanil blood concentrations was required to blunt coughing during intubation, cuff inflation, and tracheal suctioning. Anaesthesia was achieved with propofol at a steady effect-site concentration of 3.

Role of endogenous adenosine as a modulator of syncope induced during tilt testing.

Background: Previous reports that used head-up tilt testing and adenosine administration have suggested that adenosine may be an important endogenous mediator that may trigger a vasovagal response in susceptible patients. However, little is known regarding endogenous adenosine plasma levels (APLs) during vasovagal syncope provoked by tilt testing. The aim of this study was to determine whether APLs differ in patients with a positive head-up tilt test compared with those with a negative test and whether APLs are modified during tilt-induced vasovagal syncope.

Pancreatic concentrations of cefepime.

The concentrations of cefepime in pancreatic pseudocyst fluid (n = 4), pancreatic tissue (n = 4) and pancreatic fistula fluid (n = 1), and simultaneous plasma concentrations, were measured after intravenous administration of a single 2 g dose to nine patients. Mean plasma concentration was 27.4 mg/L between 120 and 200 min after the end of infusion.

Inhibition of Na,K-ATPase by external electrical cardioversion in a sheep model of atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Electrical external cardioversion commonly used to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with myocardial membrane damage and disturbances in ionic homeostasis (hemodynamically unstable). The present study was designed to investigate whether alterations in ionic homeostasis observed were due in part to changes in the myocardial activity of Na,K-ATPase.

Methods And Results: AF was induced by pacing in ten anesthetized sheep divided into two groups.

Specific up-regulation of mitochondrial F0F1-ATPase activity after short episodes of atrial fibrillation in sheep.

Introduction: Ventricular fibrillation induced by either digitalis intoxication or electrical stimulation is reported to alter myocardial energy by impairing the sarcolemmal Na,K-ATPase or the receptor for digitalis and the mitochondrial ATPase synthase or F0F1-ATPase. However, little is known about these membrane functions during atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods And Results: We analyzed the effects of electrically induced AF on biochemical activities of atrial F0F1-ATPase and Na,K-ATPase in sheep.

[Brown syndrome: current status].

Purpose: Brown's syndrome is a form of anatomical strabismus, or retraction syndrome. It is defined by active and passive limitation of upward gaze in adduction in the field of action of the inferior oblique muscle. The etiology of Brown's syndrome remains unknown.

Antibodies against myosin in sera of patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Circulating autoantibodies against myosin heavy chain have been detected in patients with ventricular myocarditis and in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. This study investigated the presence of antibodies against myosin in sera of healthy control persons as compared with patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic therapy.

Methods And Results: An SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) procedure, followed by Western blotting with homogenates and membrane fractions of human left ventricular and atrial specimen as antigens, was used to analyze sera of 10 patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 10 age-matched healthy control subjects.

Direct recording of sinus node potentials using electrode catheter techniques.

Direct recording of sinus node (SN) potentials using electrode catheter techniques is feasible and may be achieved in 50-86% of patients. It takes 15-30 min using commercially available catheters. However, obtaining stable recordings is often difficult, necessitating direct contact of the distal electrode with the endocardial area underlying the sinus node.