“
“Aortic graft-enteric fistula is a life-threatening complication of aortic AZ 628 ic50 reconstruction surgery. It is a rare condition but its frequency is rising because of an increase of patients

who underwent to aortic aneurysm repairs with prosthetic implants.\n\nWe report a case of a 72 years-old man with a secondary aorto-duodenal fistula. The man presented haematochezia and mild normocytic anaemia; the patient had undergone an aortic-bifemoral bypass 8 years earlier because of subrenal abdominal aortic aneurysm. An urgent upper endoscopy showed the aortic graft crossing the third segment of the eroded duodenal wall with no signs of bleeding from the prosthesis. He underwent an emergent operation to repair the graft-enteric fistula, to have the partial removal of the graft, as well as an aneurysmectomy and implantation of new endoaortic graft. The post-operative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged two weeks after the operation. He received a regular follow up.\n\nA secondary aorto-duodenal fistula

is rarely diagnosed in an early phase as a herald haemorrhage. A precocious identification of this condition is thus essential to refer the patient to an urgent operation and to reduce the associated mortality.”
“To date, most published echocardiographic methods have assessed left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony (DYS) alone as a predictor for response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We hypothesized that selleck chemicals the response is instead dictated by multiple correctable factors.\n\nA total of 161 patients (66 +/- 10 years, EF 24 +/- 6%, QRS > 120 ms) were investigated pre- and post-CRT (median of 6 months). Reduction in NYHA Class >= 1 or LV reverse remodelling (end-systolic GSK461364 volume reduction >= 10%) defined response. Four different pathological mechanisms were identified.

Group1: LVDYS characterized by a pre-ejection septal flash (SF) (87 patients, 54%). Elimination of SF (77 of 87 patients) resulted in reverse remodelling in 100%. Group 2: short-AV delay (21 patients, 13%) resolution (19 of 21 patients) resulted in reverse remodelling in 16 of 19. Group 3: long-AV delay (16 patients, 10%) resolution (14 of 16 patients) resulted in NYHA Class reduction >= 1 in 11 with reverse remodelling in five patients. Group 4: exaggerated LV-RV interaction (15 patients, 9%) reduced post-CRT. All responded clinically with fall in pulmonary artery pressure (P = 0.003) but did not volume respond. Group 5: patients with none of the above correctable mechanisms (22 patients, 14%). None responded to CRT.\n\nCRT response is dictated by correction of multiple independent mechanisms of which LVDYS is only one. Long-axis DYS measurements alone failed to detect 40% of responders.”
“Prostate cancer is a very common malignancy among Western males. Although most tumors are indolent and grow slowly, some grow and metastasize aggressively.