Successful maternal-foetal outcome using nitric oxide and sildenafil in pulmonary hypertension with atrial septal defect and HIV infection.

Pulmonary hypertension associated with pregnancy carries a poor prognosis. We describe successful maternal-foetal outcome for a 30-year-old woman who was found to have severe pulmonary hypertension, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and an atrial septal defect. Prior to delivery, she was managed with subcutaneous enoxaparine, sildenafil, nitric oxide, careful maintenance of a euvolemic status and antiretroviral therapy. She was planned for an elective Caesarean section to reduce the risk of maternal-foetal HIV transmission, but went into labour in the coronary care unit. During delivery, antibiotic prophylaxis was given, although there was insufficient time for intravenous zidovudine. Peripartum, the patient was continued on nitric oxide and subcutaneous enoxaparine. She was eventually weaned off the nitric oxide and recovered well.

Investigation of plasmas produced by laser ablation using single and double pulses for food analysis demonstrated by probing potato skins.

We report on investigations of plasmas produced by laser ablation of fresh potatoes using infrared nanosecond laser radiation. A twin laser system consisting of two Nd:YAG oscillators was used to generate single or double pulses of adjustable interpulse delay. The potatoes were irradiated under ambient air with moderate pulse energies of about 10 mJ. The expansion dynamics of the ablation plume was characterized using fast imaging with a gated camera. In addition, time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy was applied to study the spectral line emission of the various plasma species. The electron density was deduced from Stark broadening, and the plasma temperature was inferred from the relative emission intensities of spectral lines. The relative concentrations of metals were estimated from the comparison of the measured emission spectra to the spectral radiance computed for a plasma in local thermal equilibrium. It is shown that the plasma produced by double pulses has a larger volume and a lower density. These properties lead to an increase of the signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 2 and thus to an improved measurement sensitivity.

Malignant rhabdoid tumour of the oesophagus: a case report.

Malignant extrarenal rhabdoid tumour (MERT) of the gastrointestinal tract is rarely reported in the literature. This report describes the clinical and pathological features of a malignant rhabdoid tumour of the oesophagus in a Chinese man. Ivor-Lewis oesophagectomy had been performed. The tumour behaved aggressively and the patient died from disseminated malignancy one year later. This is only the second case report of a malignant rhabdoid tumour affecting the oesophagus.