Pulmonary Blood Volume Measured by Dual-Energy Computed Tomography Can Help Distinguish Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension.

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between whole lung enhancement (WLE) and pulmonary blood volume (PBV) obtained through dual energy computed tomography pulmonary angiography (DECTPA) and echocardiography-derived systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP). Methods: Sixty-eight patients who underwent DECTPA were enrolled in the study after giving informed consent. A transthoracic echocardiography was performed for all the subjects within 48 h of their DECTPA study to measure SPAP. The correlation of the two DECTPA-derived parameters, WLE and PBV, with SPAP was assessed. In addition, the predictive strength of these parameters was compared with that of traditional computed tomography (CT) signs of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Results: The SPAP value showed a moderate correlation with main pulmonary artery (MPA) diameter (r = 0.48, P < 0.001), while having a weak correlation with WLE (r = -0.33, P = 0.007), PBV (r = -0.31, P = 0.01) and MPA/ascending aorta (MPA/AA) ratio (r = 0.26, P = 0.03). On regression analysis, MPA diameter (B ± SE: 1.8 ± 0.6, P = 0.004) and WLE (B ± SE: -0.5 ± 0.3, P = 0.042) had significant association with SPAP. In addition, SPAP ≥30 mmHg was related to the right to left ventricular diameter (RV/LV) ratio [OR (CI 95%): 24.39 (1.3-573.2), P = 0.04] and reversely associated with PBV [OR (CI 95%): 0.96 (0.93-0.98), P = 0.005]. Acquired cutoff value of 83% for PBV showed sensitivity and specificity of 73% to identify SPAP ≥30 mmHg [AUC (CI 95%):0.727 (0.588-0.866), P = 0.008]. Conclusions: Automated postprocessing calculation of iodine distribution analysis by DECTPA could be considered as an adjunctive tool to investigate for PH.

Effect of routine abdominal drainage on postoperative pain after uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis: A randomised controlled trial.

This is a prospective randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of routine abdominal drainage on postoperative pain after uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis. This study was a single-center randomized controlled trial performed at the general surgery ward of Taleghani hospital, in Tehran, Iran, from July 2018 to October 2018. Patients were randomly divided into two parallel groups, one receiving routine abdominal drainage and the other receiving no treatment. Postoperative pain was measured by the Universal Pain Assessment Tool (UPAT) 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 h postoperatively. A total of 60 patients (30 patients in the study and control groups) were included. GLM repeated measure analysis showed a significant time*treatment effect for routine abdominal drainage in decreasing UPAT scores from baseline to 24 h after surgery (F = 4.59, df = 3.98, P-value = 0.001). Our findings demonstrated that abdominal drainage significantly reduces postoperative pain 0, 2, 4, 6, and 12 h after surgery (P-value<0.05). We also showed that abdominal drainage increases the time to first morphine sulfate administration and decreases the total dose of morphine sulfate administration (P-value<0.001). Moreover, we demonstrated that abdominal drainage decreases the average postoperative pain (P-value<0.001) and does not lead to any considerable side effects. However, 24 h after surgery, no significant pain-relieving effect was evident for abdominal drainage. In conclusion, insertion of abdominal drainage leads to decreased postoperative pain. Future studies need to investigate the optimal time for removal of the abdominal drain. This trial was prospectively registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials with a registration ID of IRCT20130706013875N2.

Myocardial strain by cardiac magnetic resonance: A valuable predictor of outcome after infarct revascularization.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prognostic value of left ventricular strains by cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) in patients with re-perfused myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: The study enrolled 58 patients with re-vascularized MI who underwent CMR within a week from acute MI. An 18-month follow-up was carried out for the composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). A 3 to 6-month post-MI ejection fraction (EF) was also measured. The predictive value of global longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains (GLS, GCS, and GRS, respectively) for MACE and the follow-up EF was evaluated. RESULTS: All the global strains showed significant impairment in MACE positive cases (P < 0.05 for all). On univariate regression, MACE was reversely associated with early post-MI EF (OR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83-0.98, P: 0.01), and directly associated with GLS (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.03-1.69, P: 0.02), GCS (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.00-1.50, P: 0.04) and EDVI (OR:1.02, 95 %CI: 1.00-1.04, P: 0.01). On multivariate regression model, only the interaction between EF and GLS showed a significant association with MACE (OR[CI95%]: 1.1 [1.06-1.21]). EF < 30% and GLS > -8.9% had the highest sensitivity (78.9% and 89.5%, respectively) and specificity (45.2% and 54.8%, respectively) to predict MACE. The combination of EF < 30% and GLS > -8.9% increased the sensitivity to 94.7%. In addition, the cutoff values of 35.1% for early post-MI EF and -10% for GLS could identify patients with impaired follow-up EF with more than 80% sensitivity and specificity [AUC (CI95%): 0.893(0.76-1.00) for EF and AUC (CI95%):0.836(0.67-1,00) for GLS, P < 0.05 for both)]. CONCLUSIONS: GLS by CMR-FT is a powerful prognosticator of MACE and functional recovery in MI survivors, with incremental value added to early post-MI EF alone.

Efficacy of Novel Noncontrast Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Methods in Indicating Fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVE: In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), myocardial fibrosis is routinely shown by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. We evaluated the efficacy of 2 novel contrast-free CMR methods, namely, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and feature-tracking (FT) method, in detecting myocardial fibrosis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 26 patients with HCM. Visual and quantitative comparisons were made between DWI and LGE images. Regional longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strains were compared between LGE-positive and LGE-negative segments. Moreover, global strains were compared between LGE-positive and LGE-negative patients as well as between patients with mild and marked LGE. RESULTS: All 3 strains showed significant differences between LGE-positive and LGE-negative segments (P < 0.001). The regional longitudinal and circumferential strain parameters showed significant associations with LGE (P < 0.001), while regional circumferential strain was the only independent predictor of LGE in logistic regression models (OR: 1.140, 95% CI: 1.073 to 1.207, P < 0.001). A comparison of global strains between patients with LGE percentages of below 15% and above 15% demonstrated that global circumferential strain was the only parameter to show impairment in the group with marked myocardial fibrosis, with borderline significance (P=0.09). A review of 212 segments demonstrated a qualitative visual agreement between DWI and LGE in 193 segments (91%). The mean apparent diffusion coefficient was comparable between LGE-positive and LGE-negative segments (P=0.51). CONCLUSIONS: FT-CMR, especially regional circumferential strain, can reliably show fibrosis-containing segments in HCM. Further, DWI can function as an efficient qualitative method for the estimation of the fibrosis extent in HCM.

Patients' Characteristics, Histopathological Findings, and Tumor Stage in Different Types of Malignant Melanoma: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is currently the most fatal of skin cancers accounting for 50000 deaths annually. Five distinct melanomas are described histopathologically: superficial spreading, lentigo maligna, nodular, acral lentiginous and mucosal melanoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of patients with various types of malignant melanoma and evaluate histopathological findings. In this retrospective study, we obtained our data from the records of 111 patients with melanoma. Biopsied specimens were collected and re-evaluated. Demographic information and histopathological findings were noted. SPSS 16 was used for analyzing data. Chi-square and one-way ANOVA was conducted for comparing categorical and numerical variables respectively. The mean age of patients was 59.33±14.68 years old. Most common melanoma type was acral lentiginous (40.5%), followed by nodular (35.1%) and mucosal (10.8%). The highest tumor thickness was viewed in nodular melanoma followed by mucosal melanoma. The highest rate of metastasis, microsatellitosis, perineural invasion and Clark level of the invasion were reported in nodular and acral lentiginous respectively. The most frequent rate of ulceration and vascular invasion was reported in mucosal melanoma. Distribution of melanoma types varies largely in different regions. Lack of classic presentations in some types necessitate specific public education about warning signs. Histopathological and pathological characteristics in melanoma can aid in better staging and management of the tumor.

Sitting Nasal Intubation With Fiberoptic in an Elective Mandible Surgery Under General Anesthesia.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with mandible deformity may die, as a result of airway management failures. The awake nasal fiberoptic intubation is known as the optimum intubation method, in the mentioned patients, although, in several cases, fiberoptic intubation fails. CASE PRESENTATION: The present case discusses a patient with severe deformity of mandible that was admitted for correction with free-flap. The following intubation techniques were used for her airway management, respectively: blind awake nasal intubation, awake oral fiberoptic and awake nasal fiberoptic, which failed all. We therefore decided to perform awake nasal intubation, with fiberoptic, in sitting position. CONCLUSIONS: In this case, after failure of awake fiberoptic intubation, awake direct laryngoscopy and blind nasal intubation, finally awake nasal intubation in sitting position, using fiberoptic led to success.