[Prehospital emergency setting caused by hemorrhagic oropharyngeal bullae in a child with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa Hallopeau-Siemens]. / Notfalleinsatz aufgrund hämorrhagischer Blasenbildung im oberen Respirationstrakt eines Säuglings bei dystrophischer Epidermolysis bullosa Hallopeau-Siemens.

Two painful large hemorrhagic bullae developed within minutes of each other in a four-month-old infant with autosomal recessive inherited epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica Hallopeau-Siemens. There was no significant impairment of spontaneous respiration. The emergency physician sedated the infant with midazolam administered by the nasal route. A community pediatrician called for assistance opened a bulla, which impressively improved the symptoms and avoided the necessity of an admission to hospital. The presented case demonstrates the importance of exchange of information within the group of emergency physicians regarding rare diseases not only in rural areas. In our opinion its also helpful to involve colleagues in private practice into the emergency system.

Endocarditis after nipple piercing in a patient with a bicuspid aortic valve.

Piercing the skin for cosmetic reasons can be dangerous in young adults who have previously undergone surgery for congenital defects of the heart. We report the case of a 24-year-old man in whom coarctation of the aorta had been corrected 15 years earlier. Two months after piercing his left nipple without antibiotic prophylaxis, he developed a local mastitis, followed by bacterial endocarditits that required replacement of the aortic valve.

[Surgical treatment of atrial septal aneurysms with patent foramen ovale in patients with cerebral ischemia as an alternative to life-long anticoagulant therapy: surgical strategy and results in 5 patients]. / Chirurgische Therapie des Vorhofseptumaneurysmas mit persistierendem Foramen ovale bei Patienten mit zerebralen Ischämien als alternative Therapie zur lebenslangen Antikoagulation--Befunde und operative Strategie bei 5 Patienten.

There is a significantly higher incidence of cerebral ischemia among patients with an atrial septal aneurysm and/or a patent foramen ovale. According to the information provided by modern diagnostic procedures--and in particular by transesophageal echocardiography--two pathogenic mechanisms should be considered as possible causes of the cerebral ischemia. Thrombi may develop locally in the left atrium or atrial septal aneurysm and lead to embolization or, alternatively, thrombi from the inflow region of the inferior vena cava may become trapped in the atrial septal aneurysm and pass through the patent foramen ovale to bring about embolization in the arterial bloodstream. Current treatment consists of life-long anticoagulation with coumarin derivatives in order to prevent further neurological complications. With this treatment, however, the risk of producing hemorrhages cannot be regarded as trivial, especially in old people. Surgical intervention with the insertion of a button device has so far only been attempted in a few isolated cases, and it is in any case no use if there is only an atrial septal aneurysm without a patent foramen ovale. As an alternative to administering anticoagulants for the rest of the patient's life, we operated on five cases of atrial septal aneurysm with patent foramen ovale followed by the appearance of cerebral ischemia. As with the surgical treatment of atrial septal defects in general, the risk of the operation (or of subsequent complications) is very slight indeed. No such problems arose in any of our patients, no blood transfusions were necessary, and after short postoperative treatment they could all be discharged. For younger patients with little risk from the treatment itself, we regard surgical intervention in cases of atrial septal aneurysm with a patent foramen ovale and cerebral ischemia as an important therapeutic alternative.

Lower cardiac troponin T levels in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass and receiving high-dose aprotinin therapy indicate reduction of perioperative myocardial damage.

Nowadays in many European heart centers the activation of the fibrinolytic system, always occurring during cardiopulmonary bypass, is routinely reduced by high-dose application of the proteinase inhibitor aprotinin (total of > 4 million KIU). In this study parameters of myocardial ischemic injury were investigated with the aim of identifying further benefits of aprotinin, particularly the protection of the myocardium during the ischemic period of aortic crossclamping. Forty patients with coronary artery disease who underwent aorta-coronary bypass grafting were randomly and in a double-blind fashion divided into two groups, one that received high-dose aprotinin therapy and one that received only saline solution. Markers such as troponin T, with high specificity for detection of myocardial ischemia and infarction, and markers with more general specificity such as creatine kinase, its isoenzyme, and lactate dehydrogenase showed significantly increased values after ischemia in both groups. In patients who received high-dose aprotinin therapy 3 days after cardiopulmonary bypass all parameters measured showed significantly lower levels compared with those in the control group. Therefore we can presume that the application of high-dose aprotinin provides myocardial protection from perioperative ischemic injury.