A Case of Premature Triple Vessel Coronary Artery Disease and Valvular Degeneration: A Rare Presentation of Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is one of the inherited causes of coronary artery disease (CAD) and causes calcific valvular degeneration in rare cases. A 13-year-old boy with multiple xanthomas presented with severe chest pain, shortness of breath, and sweating. He was diagnosed with premature CAD leading to non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, secondary to early-onset FH [severely raised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides (TG) on lipid profile]. CT angiogram showed triple vessel disease, and echocardiogram revealed tight aortic stenosis. Percutaneous coronary angioplasty was done, and valvuloplasty was planned on the follow-up assessment. Early diagnosis and prompt management could have prevented these complications.

The Role of Fibroblast Growth Factor-Binding Protein 1 in Skin Carcinogenesis and Inflammation.

Fibroblast growth factor-binding protein 1 (FGFBP1) is a secreted chaperone that mobilizes paracrine-acting FGFs, stored in the extracellular matrix, and presents them to their cognate receptors. FGFBP1 enhances FGF signaling including angiogenesis during cancer progression and is upregulated in various cancers. Here we evaluated the contribution of endogenous FGFBP1 to a wide range of organ functions as well as to skin pathologies using Fgfbp1-knockout mice. Relative to wild-type littermates, knockout mice showed no gross pathologies. Still, in knockout mice a significant thickening of the epidermis associated with a decreased transepidermal water loss and increased proinflammatory gene expression in the skin was detected. Also, skin carcinogen challenge by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene/12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate resulted in delayed and reduced papillomatosis in knockout mice. This was paralleled by delayed healing of skin wounds and reduced angiogenic sprouting in subcutaneous matrigel plugs. Heterozygous green fluorescent protein (GFP)-knock-in mice revealed rapid induction of gene expression during papilloma induction and during wound healing. Examination of wild-type skin grafted onto Fgfbp1 GFP-knock-in reporter hosts and bone marrow transplants from the GFP-reporter model into wild-type hosts revealed that circulating Fgfbp1-expressing cells migrate into healing wounds. We conclude that tissue-resident and circulating Fgfbp1-expressing cells modulate skin carcinogenesis and inflammation.

Percutaneous Ilio-sacral Screw Fixation for Unstable Pelvic Ring Injuries.

This prospective interventional study was planned to determine the clinical and radiological outcome of percutaneous iliosacral screw fixation for unstable pelvic ring injuries. It was conducted from March 2008 to June 2014 at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad. It comprised 50 patients with unstable pelvic ring injuries. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Majeed pelvic score and Lindahl criteria were used for functional and radiological outcomes assessment. The mean age of the patients was 47.82±8.94 years. Moreover, 33(66%) participants were males and 17(34%) were females. The mean pre-operative Majeed and VAS scores were 38.98±6.28 and 9.04±0.67, respectively. Operating time and blood loss were reduced significantly. VAS score for post-operative pain was 3.82±1.26 at 1 month and decreased further to 2.68±1.30 at 12 months post-operatively (p<0.001). Radiological outcome and the post-operative Majeed scores were good to excellent in 43(86%) cases. Thus Percutaneous iliosacral screw fixation of unstable pelvic ring injuries resulted in excellent radiological and functional outcome with significantly decreased post-operative VAS score for SI joint pain.

Information technology for patient safety.

BACKGROUND: Research on patient care has identified substantial variations in the quality and safety of healthcare and the considerable risks of iatrogenic harm as significant issues. These failings contribute to the high rates of potentially avoidable morbidity and mortality and to the rising levels of healthcare expenditure seen in many health systems. There have been substantial developments in information technology in recent decades and there is now real potential to apply these technological developments to improve the provision of healthcare universally. Of particular international interest is the use of eHealth applications. There is, however, a large gap between the theoretical and empirically demonstrated benefits of eHealth applications. While these applications typically have the technical capability to help professionals in the delivery of healthcare, inadequate attention to the socio-technical dimensions of their use can result in new avoidable risks to patients. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Given the current lack of evidence on quality and safety improvements and on the cost-benefits associated with the introduction of eHealth applications, there should be a focus on implementing more mature technologies; it is also important that eHealth applications should be evaluated against a comprehensive and rigorous set of measures, ideally at all stages of their application life cycle.