Evaluation of Factors That Influence Dose Variability of Marek's Disease Vaccines.

Marek's disease (MD) vaccines are cell-associated and require special handling and care during administration. Vaccine dose is evaluated by plaque assay and is indicated as the number of plaque-forming units (PFUs) per dose. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the dose variability within each vial of MD vaccines and to assess those factors (from both manufacturing and handling and administration of the vaccine) that could affect vaccine dose variability. Three experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 was to evaluate dose variability in 36 MD vaccine vials and the effect of manufacturing factors on dose variability. Vaccines were titrated 10 times. Dose variability was measured as the coefficient of variability (CV) calculated as standard deviation divided by average PFU and multiplied by 100. Our results showed that all evaluated vaccines had levels of CV ranging from 10% to 34%. Variability existed regardless of manufacturer, vaccine serotype, and batch. Experiment 2 was conducted to evaluate the effect of infectivity rate (IR) on CV. IR was artificially reduced by adding noninfected chicken embryo fibroblast to the reconstituted vaccine before titration. Our results showed that decreased IR results in higher CV. Experiment 3 was to evaluate the handling and administration factors (time and mixing during administration) on CV. Our results showed that CV tends to increase with time and that this effect is more remarkable if vaccines were not mixed. Our study emphasizes the relevance of proper handling of MD vaccines and shows that dose variability can jeopardize the uniformity of vaccination in a flock and therefore the success of vaccination.

Evaluación de factores que influyen en la variabilidad de las dosis de las vacunas contra la enfermedad de Marek. Las vacunas contra la enfermedad de Marek (MD) están asociadas a células y requieren un manejo y cuidado especiales durante la administración. La dosis de la vacuna se evalúa mediante un ensayo de placa y se indica como el número de unidades formadoras de placa (UFP) por dosis. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron evaluar la variabilidad de la dosis dentro de cada vial de vacunas contra la enfermedad de Marek y evaluar los factores (tanto de fabricación como de manipulación/administración de la vacuna) que podrían afectar la variabilidad de la dosis de la vacuna. Se realizaron tres experimentos. El experimento número 1 consistió en evaluar la variabilidad de la dosis en 36 viales de vacuna de Marek y el efecto de los factores de fabricación en la variabilidad de la dosis. Las vacunas fueron tituladas 10 veces. La variabilidad de la dosis se midió como el coeficiente de variación (CV) calculado como desviación estándar dividido por las UFP promedio y multiplicado por 100. Nuestros resultados mostraron que todas las vacunas evaluadas tenían coeficientes de variación que variaban del 10% al 34%. La variabilidad existía independientemente del fabricante, el serotipo de la vacuna y el lote. El experimento número 2 se realizó para evaluar el efecto de la tasa de infectividad (IR) en el coeficiente de variación. La tasa de infectividad se redujo artificialmente mediante la adición de fibroblastos de embrión de pollo no infectados a la vacuna reconstituida antes de la valoración. Los resultados mostraron que la disminución en la tasa de infectividad resulta en mayores coeficientes de variación. El experimento número 3 consistió en evaluar los factores de manipulación y administración (tiempo y mezclado durante la administración) sobre los coeficientes de variación. Nuestros resultados mostraron que el coeficiente de variación tiende a aumentar con el tiempo y que este efecto es más notable si las vacunas no se mezclan. Este estudio enfatiza la relevancia del manejo adecuado de las vacunas contra la enfermedad de Marek y muestra que la variabilidad de la dosis puede poner en peligro la uniformidad de la vacunación en una parvada y por lo tanto el éxito de la vacunación.

Highly virulent Marek's disease virus strains affect T lymphocyte function and viability of splenocytes in commercial meat-type chickens.

In previous studies, we have demonstrated that very virulent plus Marek's disease viruses (vv+MDV) are highly immunosuppressive in commercial meat-type chickens. The specific objectives of this work were to evaluate if vv+MDV immunosuppression (MDV-IS) is induced by reduction of lymphocyte responsiveness and/or viability. Three experiments were conducted to (i) compare vv+MDV 686 with a partially attenuated 686-BAC; (ii) compare vv+MDV strains (648A and 686) with vMDV (GA) and vvMDV (Md5); and (iii) compare chickens vaccinated with Md5-BACΔMEQ and with CVI988 + HVT. In each experiment, spleens were collected at 28-30 days post infection and lymphocytes were isolated and investigated in three ways: their proliferative response to Concanavalin A (ConA) was analysed by MTT proliferation assay; cell death, and expression of CD45 and MHC-I was studied by flow cytometry; and MHC-IA and ß-2 microglobulin (B2M) expression was evaluated by real time RT-PCR. Splenocytes of chickens inoculated with vv+MDV were severely impaired to proliferate when exposed to ConA. Furthermore, vv+MDV induced severe splenocyte death that did not occur after infection with v or vvMDV strains. Vaccination with CVI988 + HVT, and at less level with Md5-BACΔMEQ reduced these negative effects. This is in contrast to our previous results in which Md5-BACΔMEQ but not CVI988 + HVT protected against MDV-IS suggesting that although cell death and decrease lymphocyte function seem to be related to MDV virulence and certainly will be associated with immunosuppression, they might not fully explain the previously reported MDV-IS. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS vv+MDV induces extensive death in splenocytes in meat-type chickens 28-30 dpi. vv+MDV impairs lymphocyte function in meat-type chickens 28-30 dpi. Vaccination protects against splenocyte death and reduced lymphocyte function. Cell lysis and reduced lymphocyte function do not fully explain MDV-IS.

Enhanced thermoelectric properties of lightly Nb doped SrTiO3 thin films.

Novel thermoelectric materials developed for operation at room temperature must have similar or better performance along with being as ecofriendly as those commercially used, e.g., Bi2Te3, in terms of their toxicity and cost. In this work, we present an in-depth study of the thermoelectric properties of epitaxial Nb-doped strontium titanate (SrTi1-x Nb x O3) thin films as a function of (i) doping concentration, (ii) film thickness and (iii) substrate type. The excellent crystal quality was confirmed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The thermoelectric properties were measured by the three-omega method (thermal conductivity) and van der Pauw method (electrical resistivity), complemented by Seebeck coefficient measurements. A maximum power factor of 8.9 × 10-3 W m-1 K-2 and a thermoelectric figure of merit of 0.49 were measured at room temperature in 50 nm-thick films grown on lanthanum strontium aluminate. The mechanisms behind this high figure of merit are discussed in terms of a possible two-dimensional electron gas, increase of the effective mass of the electrons, electron filtering and change in strain due to different substrates. The overall enhancement of the thermoelectric properties suggests that SrTi1-x Nb x O3 is a very promising n-type candidate for room- to high-temperature applications.

Study of ceramic membrane behavior for okadaic acid and heavy-metal determination in filtered seawater.

The performance of several MF and UF ceramic membranes that filter the seawater surrounding mussel rafts is studied for preventive detection of toxic episodes. The modified fouling index applied to UF membranes (MFI-UF) is used to compare fouling rates and membrane fouling levels. The reduction of several quality parameters such as turbidity, alkalinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and chlorophyll content is explained by the higher quality of the UF rather than the MF permeates. Membrane rejection rates of Pb+2 and okadaic acid, the main toxin that provokes toxic episodes due to bloom-forming algae, are measured under different pH and pressures. Measurements are taken particularly at filtration times before and after the formation of stable caking on the membrane surface. The results indicated that trace concentrations of heavy ions were mainly rejected by the membrane charge, until the saturation point was reached, and that no rejections occurred when the pH was lower than the isoelectric point of the membranes. However, most of the okadaic acid was rejected due to the formation of cake on the membrane surface. The rejection of okadaic acid depended on the membrane pore size and transmembrane pressure, yielding negative rejections under specific filtration conditions.

Sensor system based on flexible screen-printed electrodes for electrochemical detection of okadaic acid in seawater.

The monitoring of marine dinophysistoxin okadaic acid in seawater can serve as an early alert system for preventing the potential negative effects this toxin can have on the food industry and human health in general. A disposable sensor system for electrochemical detection of this toxin has been developed using screen-printed electrodes. The method described is based on the inhibition of protein phosphatase type 2A by okadaic acid, evaluating the enzyme activity. p-Nitrophenyl phosphate, 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate and phenyl phosphate have been tested as substrates achieving good limits of detection of 2.7·10-12 M of okadaic acid. The proposed method has been successfully applied to okadaic acid determination in seawater samples. A study of divalent cations present in seawater that can interfere with the measurement has been carried out. The electrode systems were printed on both rigid and textile backing materials to observe the influence of those materials on the final performance of the sensor.

Comparison of backing materials of screen printed electrochemical sensors for direct determination of the sub-nanomolar concentration of lead in seawater.

An anodic stripping voltammetric method is reported in this study for the determination of sub-nanomolar Pb concentration using disposable sensors, each consisting of three (counter, working and reference) screen-printed electrodes. Sensor performance was optimized for the determination of Pb through several surface modifications, by using single-walled carbon nanotubes, electro-reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles. A scanning electron microscopy study of the deposition of electrogenerated gold nanoparticles of various sizes on the working electrode surface showed that spherical nanoparticles of around 100 nm provided the best results. The modification of working electrodes with graphene and gold nanoparticles permitted the determination of Pb2+ in seawater (Detection Limit: 3.21·10-10 M) without modifying the pH of the sample. The electrode systems were printed on both rigid and textile backing materials, to observe the influence of those materials on the final performance of the sensor.

Thermal conductivity of Bi2Te3 nanowires: how size affects phonon scattering.

This work provides an in-depth study of how the thermal conductivity of stoichiometric [110] Bi2Te3 nanowires becomes affected when reducing its diameter from an experimental and theoretical point of view. The thermal conductivity was observed to decrease more than 70% (from 1.78 ± 0.46 W K-1 m-1 to 0.52 ± 0.35 W K-1 m-1) when the diameter of the nanowire was reduced one order of magnitude (from 300 nm to 25 nm). The Kinetic-Collective model was used to understand such a reduction, which can be explained by the impact that surface scattering has in acoustic phonons. The smaller the diameter of the nanowires is, the larger the alteration in the mean free path of the low-frequency phonons is. The model agrees well with the experimental data, and the reduction in the thermal conductivity of the nanowires can be explained in terms of an increment of phonon scattering.

Low thermal conductivity and improved thermoelectric performance of nanocrystalline silicon germanium films by sputtering.

Si x Ge1-x alloys are well-known thermoelectric materials with a high figure of merit at high temperatures. In this work, metal-induced crystallization (MIC) has been used to grow Si0.8Ge0.2 films that present improved thermoelectric performance (zT = 5.6 × 10(-4) at room temperature)--according to previously reported values on films--with a relatively large power factor (σ · S (2) = 16 µW · m(-1) · K(-2)). More importantly, a reduction in the thermal conductivity at room temperature (κ = 1.13 ± 0.12 W · m(-1) · K(-1)) compared to other Si-Ge films (∼3 W · m(-1) · K(-1)) has been found. Whereas the usual crystallization of amorphous SiGe (a-SiGe) is achieved at high temperatures and for long times, which triggers dopant loss, MIC reduces the crystallization temperature and the heating time. The associated dopant loss is thus avoided, resulting in a nanostructuration of the film. Using this method, we obtained Si0.8Ge0.2 films (grown by DC plasma sputtering) with appropriate compositional and structural properties. Different thermal treatments were tested in situ (by heating the sample inside the deposition chamber) and ex situ (annealed in an external furnace with controlled conditions). From the studies of the films by: x-ray diffraction (XRD), synchrotron radiation grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (SR-GIXRD), micro Raman, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), Hall effect, Seebeck coefficient, electrical and thermal conductivity measurements, we observed that the in situ films at 500 °C presented the best zT values with no gold contamination.

Ascorbate-dependent decrease of the mucosal immune inflammatory response to gliadin in coeliac disease patients

Background: The IL-15/NF-KappaB axis has an important role in coeliac disease (CD) and may represent a molecular target for immunomodulation. Ascorbate (vitamin C) is known to show inhibitory effects on NF-KappaB. Therefore, we studied if ascorbate supplementation to gliadin gliadin-stimulated biopsy culture could down-regulate the mucosal immune response to gliadin in CD. Methods: Duodenal biopsy explants from treated CD patients were gliadin challenged in vitro (100ìg/ml) with and without 20mM ascorbate. An extra tissue explant in basal culture was used as internal control. Secretion levels of nitrites (3h), and IFNGamma, TNFalpha, IFNalpha, IL-17, IL-13, and IL-6 (24h) were measured on the supernatants. IL-15 was assayed by western-blot on whole protein duodenal explants. Results: The addition of ascorbate to in vitro culture gliadin-challenged biopsies blocked the secretion of nitrites (p=0.013), IFNGamma (p=0.0207), TNFalpha (p=0.0099), IFNá (p=0.0375), and IL-6 (p=0.0036) compared to samples from non-ascorbate supplemented culture. Cytokine secretion was downregulated by ascorbate even to lower values than those observed in basal cultures (IFNGamma: p=0.0312; TNFalpha: p=0.0312; IFNá: p=0.0312; and IL-6: p=0.0078). Gliadin-challenge induced IL-15 production in biopsies from treated CD patients, while the addition of ascorbate to culture medium completely inhibited IL-15 production. Moreover, the inhibition of IL-15 by ascorbate took place even in the only treated CD-patient who had basal IL-15 production. Conclusions: Ascorbate decreases the mucosal inflammatory response to gluten in an intestinal biopsy culture model, so it might have a role in future supplementary therapy in CD(AU)

Ascorbate-dependent decrease of the mucosal immune inflammatory response to gliadin in coeliac disease patients.

BACKGROUND: The IL-15/NF-κB axis has an important role in coeliac disease (CD) and may represent a molecular target for immunomodulation. Ascorbate (vitamin C) is known to show inhibitory effects on NF-κB. Therefore, we studied if ascorbate supplementation to gliadin gliadin-stimulated biopsy culture could down-regulate the mucosal immune response to gliadin in CD. METHODS: Duodenal biopsy explants from treated CD patients were gliadin challenged in vitro (100 µg/ml) with and without 20mM ascorbate. An extra tissue explant in basal culture was used as internal control. Secretion levels of nitrites (3h), and IFNγ, TNFα, IFNα, IL-17, IL-13, and IL-6 (24h) were measured on the supernatants. IL-15 was assayed by western-blot on whole protein duodenal explants. RESULTS: The addition of ascorbate to in vitro culture gliadin-challenged biopsies blocked the secretion of nitrites (p=0.013), IFNγ (p=0.0207), TNFα (p=0.0099), IFNα (p=0.0375), and IL-6 (p=0.0036) compared to samples from non-ascorbate supplemented culture. Cytokine secretion was downregulated by ascorbate even to lower values than those observed in basal cultures (IFNγ: p=0.0312; TNFα: p=0.0312; IFNα: p=0.0312; and IL-6: p=0.0078). Gliadin-challenge induced IL-15 production in biopsies from treated CD patients, while the addition of ascorbate to culture medium completely inhibited IL-15 production. Moreover, the inhibition of IL-15 by ascorbate took place even in the only treated CD-patient who had basal IL-15 production. CONCLUSIONS: Ascorbate decreases the mucosal inflammatory response to gluten in an intestinal biopsy culture model, so it might have a role in future supplementary therapy in CD.

[Results of a survey to evaluate the efficacy of a regional awareness campaign on counterfeit street medicines in Bamako, Mali and Nouakchott, Mauritania]. / Evaluation d'une campagne rêgionate de lutte contre les médicaments de la rue à Bamako (Mali) et Nouakchott (Mauritanie).

The purpose of the report is to describe the results of a survey conducted among schoolchildren in Mali and Mauritania to evaluate the efficacy of an awareness campaign (essentially poster-based) on illegal street medicines. Under teacher supervision, a total of 3,182 schoolchildren (n=) completed a written questionnaire. Analysis of responses demonstrated that campaign was effective since 61% of the pupils had seen the posters in pharmacies and 61% had spoken about them with their parents. More than 84% of the pupils had already heard about the dangers associated with illegal medicine. Despite a number of disparities especially with regard to the price and dangers of illegal street medicine, the schoolchildren were knowledgeable about rules of conservation and outlets for purchase of legal medicine. The responses obtained from schoolchildren from Nouakchott and those attending private schools were generally better than those obtained from schoolchildren from Bamako and those attending the public schools.

Oral hygiene practices, dental knowledge, dietary habits and their relation to caries among male primary school children in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the frequency of consumption of cariogenic foods, oral hygiene practices and dental health knowledge among Saudi male primary school children in relation to socio-demographics and to find the possible predictors for dental caries among them. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The cross-sectional descriptive study included 1115 Saudi male selected by multistage random sample from 18 public primary schools. Subjects were interviewed by closed ended questionnaire gathering data regarding frequency consumption of some cariogenic foods, oral hygiene practices and dental health knowledge. Students were submitted to dental screening to detect the clinically evident caries lesion. RESULTS: The clinically decayed tooth was diagnosed in 68.9% of the included children, more in urban and younger students. Caries affected the subjects consumed cariogenic foods at greater frequency compared with caries-free children. Only 24.5% of the students brushed their teeth twice or more per day, and 29% of them never received instructions regarding oral hygiene practices. Miswak as an alternative and/or additional method of dental cleaning was used by 44.6%. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that maternal working conditions, large family size and poor oral hygiene practices were the chief predictors for dental caries among the included school children. CONCLUSION: The poor oral hygiene practices, lack of parental guidance and appropriate dental health knowledge with frequent exposure to cariogenic foods in addition to socio-demographics are the main risk factors for dental decay among the surveyed students.

Evaluation des campagnes de sensibilisation sur les pratiques d'achat de médicaments dans la ville de Cotonou

Une évaluation de la campagne de lutte contre le circuit illicite des médicaments de rue (essentiellement basée sur une campagne d'affichage) a été réalisée au Mali et en Mauritanie en milieu scolaire. Les élèves (n=3 182) ont répondu à un questionnaire sous la supervision de leur maître. Les réponses montrent une bonne efficience et efficacité de la campagne puisque 61% des enfants ont vu les affiches dans les pharmacies et 61% en ont parlé avec leurs parents; par ailleurs, plus de 84 % des enfants ont entendu parler du danger des médicaments de rue. Néanmoins au niveau des connaissances, il est noté des disparités en particulier concernant le prix et la dangerosité des médicaments de la rue alors que lesrègles de conservation et leslieux légaux d'achat du médicament sont généralement connus. Les élèves de Nouakchott et ceux du secteur privé donnent globalement de meilleures réponses que les élèves de Bamako et ceux du secteur public

Effect of lipopolysaccharide on D-fructose transport across rabbit jejunum.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate alterations in the transport of D-fructose across the rabbit jejunum when the gut is exposed in vitro to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin causative agent of sepsis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: D-fructose intestinal transport was assesed employing three techniques: sugar uptake measurements in rings of everted jejunum (micromol/D-fructose/ml cell water), transepithelial flux measurements in Ussing-type chambers (micromol D-fructose/cm2/h) and transport assays in preparation of brush border membrane vesicles (pmoles D-fructose/mg protein). Samples were taken from the bathing solution and from the extracts of the tissue for radioactivity counting. RESULTS: Adding LPS (3 microg/ml) to tissue decreased the uptake and mucosal to serosal flux of 5 mM D-fructose across the enterocyte. LPS did not modify sugar uptake across brush border membrane vesicles. The inhibitory effect of LPS was suppressed by W-13 (5 x 10(-6) M), a Ca-calmodulin antagonist, and staurosporine (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) and GF-109203X (10(-6) M) a nonselective and selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor respectively. Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-alpha), an immunoregulatory cytokine involved in septic responses occurring during bacterial infection at concentrations 3 x 10(-4) to 3 microg/ml, did not affect the sugar transport. CONCLUSIONS: LPS can inhibit the intestinal uptake of D-fructose across the rabbit jejunum in vitro by intracellular processes related to PKC and calmodulin protein.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha mediates inhibitory effect of lipopolysaccharide on L-leucine intestinal uptake.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has been proposed as an early proximal mediator of many metabolic and physiologic responses during septic shock. We have previously shown that direct addition to tissue (local effect) or intravenous administration (systemic effect) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) reduces L-leucine absorption across rabbit jejunum. In the present study, we investigated whether the inhibitory effect of LPS on L-leucine intestinal absorption in rabbit is related to TNF-alpha. The results shown that the addition of TNF-alpha to tissue does not produce any effect on L-leucine uptake by the enterocyte. When TNF-alpha was inoculated by intravenous administration, a strong inhibition on the L-leucine uptake (about 40%), mediated by a secretagogue effect on water and Cl-ions was induced. We also found that the LPS intestinal effect induced by intravenous administration, was blocked by a TNF-alpha antagonist, indicating that TNF-alpha is a mediator of the LPS systemic effect on L-leucine intestinal uptake inhibition. The study of possible mediators involved in the TNF-alpha effect showed that nitric oxide and prostaglandins are implicated in the L-leucine intestinal uptake.

Cellular mechanism underlying LPS-induced inhibition of in vitro L-leucine transport across rabbit jejunum.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a known causative agent of sepsis. In previous studies, we have shown that it reduces L-leucine mediated transport across the rabbit jejunum by about 30%. In this study, the mechanism(s) of LPS inhibition on amino acid transport were analysed in detail. LPS did not inhibit L-leucine transport across brush border membrane vesicles, suggesting the need for an intracellular step. The inhibitory effect of LPS was not altered by the addition of protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor (IP(20), 10(-7) M) or an analog of cAMP (DB-cAMP, 3 x 10(-4) M), indicating that the PKA signal transduction pathway was not involved in the LPS effect. However, the inhibitory effect of LPS was suppressed by trifluoroperazine (10(-7) M), a Ca(2+)/calmodulin inhibitor and staurosporine (10(-7) M), an protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. Likewise, LPS inhibition disappeared in media without calcium. These results suggest that LPS could inhibit the intestinal uptake of L-leucine across the small intestine in vitro by intracellular processes related to calcium, involving PKC and calmodulin protein.

Effect of lipopolysaccharide on small intestinal L-leucine transport in rabbit.

In the present study, we have investigated whether the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin from Escherichia coli is able to alter the jejunal transport of L-leucine when the tissue is exposed to endotoxin. The results have shown that the LPS at 3 x 10(-5) microg/ml decreases the uptake of L-leucine into the enterocyte, as well as the mucosal to serosal flux of L-leucine. The secretagogue effect of LPS on the gut did not affect the inhibitory effect of LPS on the intestinal absorption of the amino acid. The endotoxin did not modify amino acid diffusion across the intestinal epithelium. However, from the mediated transport, only the Na+-dependent transport system was affected by LPS with a diminution of the transporter affinity (the apparent Km was increased). In addition, we found a reduction of the Na+, K+-ATPase activity, which could explain the L-leucine Na+-dependent transport inhibition.

The administration of lipopolysaccharide, in vivo, induces alteration in L-leucine intestinal absorption.

The objective of the present study was to determine the alterations in L-leucine intestinal uptake by intravenous administration of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is a constituent of gram negative bacterial, causative agent of sepsis. The amino acid absorption in LPS treated rabbits was reduced compared to the control animals. The LPS effect on the amino acid uptake was due to an inhibition of the Na+-dependent system of transport, through both reduction of the apparent capacity transport (Vmax) and diminution of the Na+/K-ATPase activity. The results have also shown that the LPS decreases the mucosal to serosal transepithelial flux and the transport across brush border membrane vesicles of L-leucine. The study of possible intracellular mechanisms implicated in the LPS effect, showed that the second messengers calcium, protein kinase C and c-AMP did not play any role in this effect. However, the absence of ion chloride in the incubation medium removes the LPS inhibition and the intracellular tissue water was affected by the LPS treatment. Therefore, the inhibition in the L-leucine intestinal absorption, by intravenous administration of LPS, could be mainly produced by the secretagogue action of this endotoxin on the gut.

[The echocardiography of 10 cardiac myxomas with successful surgical treatment]. / Ecocardiografía de 10 mixomas cardíacos con tratamiento quirúrgico exitoso.

Fifteen thousand patients were studied consecutively at the Echocardiographic Laboratory in the University Hospital Calixto García. We found that one out of 1,500 patients studied (0.07%) presented a cardiac myxoma. Average age 40.8 years. Male sex was mainly (60%), and the interval between the onset of the symptoms and the diagnosis was 22.8 months. A previous diagnosis to Echo was performed in 30% of the patients despite of the recurrency and refractory therapeutics of symptoms. The echocardiographic data showed that left atrium and right ventricle dilatation were proportionally related to the tumor size and its mitral obstruction degree since 90% was localized at the left interatrial septum, and was presented at right ventricle septum and in both auricles in 2 patients. All the patients were successfully surgical treated and the 4-year Echo 2D study showed no tumoral recurrency.