Tetralogy of Fallot in adults--107 cases

Clinical and haemodynamic profile of 107 adult patients above the age of 15 years with TOF was analysed. Cardiac catherization and selective cine-angiography were performed in all cases. Infundibular pulmonary stenosis, mal-alignment type of ventricular septal defect, mitral-aortic fibrous continuity and equal systolic pressures in both the ventricles and aorta were considered mandatory for the diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot. Aortic regurgitation was seen in 26 cases (24%), tricuspid regurgitation in 22 cases (21%), absent pulmonary valve in 3 cases (3%), branch pulmonary artery stenosis in 9 case (8.4%), major aortopulmonary collaterals in 15 cases (14%), right atrial pressure was more than 10 mmHg in 10 cases (11%) and right ventricular end diastolic pressure more than 9 mmHg in 73 cases (68%). The left ventricular end diastolic pressure was above 13 mmHg in 58 cases (54%).     

Selection of patients for laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy prior to radical prostatectomy: a decision analysis

Indications for laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy prior to radical prostatectomy have not been established. Criteria to predict lymph node metastases were derived from the preoperative evaluations of 164 prostate cancer patients undergoing pelvic lymphadenectomy. Decision analysis was used to determine which criteria would be optimal indicators for laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy prior to intended radical prostatectomy. Besides a digital rectal examination suggesting uncontained tumor, which was the best indication for laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy, the most useful criteria were sonographic tumor volume > or = 3 cc and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) > or = 20 ng/mL. If either parameter was met, the sensitivity for identifying patients with pelvic lymph node metastases was 88 percent and the positive predictive value was 42 percent. When both were met, the sensitivity fell to 47 percent but the positive predictive value increased to 67 percent. A combination of Gleason biopsy score and PSA was the best criterion that was independent of transrectal ultrasonography. Using a PSA > or = 15 ng/mL for tumors with Gleason biopsy score > or = 7 or a PSA > or = 25 ng/mL for tumors with a Gleason biopsy score of 5-6 had a sensitivity of 71 percent and positive predictive value of 48 percent for identifying patients with pelvic lymph node metastases. In selecting patients for laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy prior to radical retropubic prostatectomy, criteria with a positive predictive value greater than 39 percent maximize the utility of laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy. Prior to radical perineal prostatectomy, laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy will identify pelvic lymph node metastases that would otherwise be undetected by prostatectomy alone. The sensitivity of selection criteria, therefore, should be increased, as long as the positive predictive value remains above 20 percent.     

Differences in therapeutic effort because of the socioeconomic level of patients with acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVES: To assess the hypothesis of the existence of differential therapeutic effort according to the socioeconomic status of the patients admitted to the hospital by acute myocardial infarction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We study retrospectively 592 patients admitted to the intensive care units from six public hospitals from the Spanish region of Valencia, using data from two cohort studies focused on the study of in-hospital inequalities in health. The socioeconomic status was measured using the British occupational classification. The therapeutic effort predicted for the severity of illness was determined using a regression model that included the logarithm of Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) score as the dependent variable and Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) score and Killip group as predictors. The patients whose observed TISS was 3 or more pointless than predicted were considered as infra-treated. The effect of potential confounders was controlled using unconditional logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The proportion of infra-treated patients was inversely related to socioeconomic status chi 2 for tendency = 4.31, P = 0.0378). The logistic regression analysis showed a negative association between age and therapeutic effort (p < 0.0001) but not between therapeutic effort and socioeconomic status, after controlling the effect of age (p = 0.2150). DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that older patients receive less relative therapeutic effort, measured by TISS score, than younger patients. The differential therapeutic effort observed in the crude analysis seem attributable to the higher age of the patients in the lower socioeconomic strata.     

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies interact with primary granule constituents on the surface of apoptotic neutrophils in the absence of neutrophil priming

The pathogenic role of antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) remains controversial because of the difficulty in explaining how extracellular ANCA can interact with intracellular primary granule constituents. It has been postulated that cytokine priming of neutrophils (PMN), as may occur during a prodromal infection, is an important trigger for mobilization of granules to the cell surface, where they may interact with ANCA. We show by electron microscopy that apoptosis of unprimed PMN is also associated with the translocation of cytoplasmic granules to the cell surface and alignment just beneath an intact cell membrane. Immunofluorescent microscopy and FACS analysis demonstrate reactivity of ANCA-positive sera and antimyeloperoxidase antibodies with apoptotic PMN, but not with viable PMN. Moreover, we show that apoptotic PMN may be divided into two subsets, based on the presence or absence of granular translocation, and that surface immunogold labeling of myeloperoxidase occurs only in the subset of PMN showing translocation. These results provide a novel mechanism that is independent of priming, by which ANCA may gain access to PMN granule components during ANCA-associated vasculitis.     

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy for prevention of sudden cardiac death

Patients with known symptomatic VT or VF are at high risk for sudden cardiac death. Various therapeutic choices can be used to reduce the incidence of arrhythmic sudden cardiac death. These include beta-blockers, class I and III antiarrhythmic agents, VT focal ablations, and ICD therapy. The overall incidence of sudden cardiac death in ICD recipients is less than 2% per year, a rate of survival not achieved with any of the available antiarrhythmic agents. VT surgical therapy can produce comparable survival results, but the minimal operative mortality is higher than that with ICD therapy. In patients with noninducible VT/VF or inducible polymorphic VT, and in those refractory to or intolerant of antiarrhythmic agents and poor left ventricular function, ICD therapy may be the only realistic option.