Pathological Correlation of a Cardiac Mass with Multimodality Imaging.

Cardiac masses are rarely encountered in clinical practice and can lead to severe hemodynamic consequences. In addition to clinical cues, noninvasive modalities can play an important role in characterization of these masses and therefore their diagnosis and management planning. Here in this case report, we describe the use of various forms of noninvasive imaging techniques to narrow the differential diagnosis and form an operative plan for a cardiac mass later identified as a benign myxoma originating from the right ventricle on histological examination.

Gastrointestinal bleeding in a patient with a continuous-flow biventricular assist device.

The association between continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) and gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding from angiodysplasia is well recognized. However, the association between continuous-flow biventricular assist devices (CF-BIVADs) and bleeding angiodysplasia is less understood. We report a case of GI bleeding from a patient with a CF-BIVAD. The location of GI bleeding was identified by nuclear red blood cell bleeding scan. The vascular malformation leading to the bleed was identified and localized on angiography and then by pathology. The intensity of bleeding, reflected by number of units of packed red blood cells needed for normalization of hemoglobin, as well as the time to onset of bleeding after transplantation, are similar to that seen in the literature for CF-LVADs and pulsatile BIVADs. While angiography only detected a dilated late draining vein, pathology demonstrated the presence of both arterial and venous dilation in the submucosa, vascular abnormalities characteristic of a late arteriovenous malformation.

Unilateral Partial Nephrectomy with Warm Ischemia Results in Acute Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1-Alpha (HIF-1α) and Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Overexpression in a Porcine Model.

PURPOSE: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) during partial nephrectomy (PN) contributes to acute kidney injury (AKI), which is inaccurately assessed using existent clinical markers of renal function. We evaluated I/R-related changes in expression in hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), within kidney tissue and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) in a porcine model of PN. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three adult pigs each underwent unilateral renal hilar cross clamping for 180 min followed by a 15 min reperfusion. The contralateral kidney served as control. Biopsies of clamped kidneys were obtained at baseline (time 0), every 60 min during the hypoxic phase, and post-reperfusion. Control kidneys were biopsied once at 180 min. Peripheral blood was sampled at time 0, every 30 min during the hypoxic phase, and post-reperfusion. HIF-1α and TLR4 expression in kidney tissue and PBL were analyzed by Western blotting. I/R-related histological changes were assessed. RESULTS: Expression of HIF-1α in clamped kidneys and PBL was below detection level at baseline, rising to detectable levels after 60 min of hypoxia, and continuing to rise throughout the hypoxic and reperfusion phases. Expression of TLR-4 in clamped kidneys followed a similar trend with initial detection after 30-60 min of hypoxia. Control kidneys exhibited no change in HIF-1α or TLR-4 expression. I/R-related histologic changes were minimal, primarily mild tubular dilatation. CONCLUSIONS: In a porcine model of PN, HIF-1α and TLR4 exhibited robust, I/R-related increases in expression in kidney tissue and PBL. Further studies investigating these molecules as potential markers of AKI are warranted.