Metabolite systems profiling identifies exploitable weaknesses in retinoblastoma

Retinoblastoma (RB) is a childhood eye cancer. Currently, chemotherapy, local therapy, and enucleation are the main ways in which these tumors are managed. The present work is the first study that uses constraint-based reconstruction and analysis approaches to identify and explain RB-specific survival strategies, which are RB tumor specific. Importantly, our model-specific secretion profile is also found in RB1-depleted human retinal cells in vitro and suggests that novel biomarkers involved in lipid metabolism may be important. Finally, RB-specific synthetic lethals have been predicted as lipid and nucleoside transport proteins that can aid in novel drug target development.

Renal artery stenting: one year outcome on BP control and antihypertensive medication

AIM

There is lot of controversy regarding the efficacy of renal artery stenting in atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate blood pressure control and requirement of antihypertensive drugs after renal artery stenting.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Eighty patients who have undergone renal artery stenting for atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis with hypertension were evaluated and followed up for one year. Those with procedural complications were excluded. The systolic and diastolic BP control, number of medications, their dosage and serum creatinine levels were assessed at 3 months and at one year. At the end of one year 3 patients had total cure (all 3 had bilateral renal artery stenting). In 30 patients, there was reduction in number of drugs and in 11 patients there was reduction in dosage of antihypertensive drugs. In 16 patients there was a need to change the class of drugs. In 16 patients same drugs and dosage were continued. In 4 patients, the dose was increased.

CONCLUSIONS

At the end of one year, 3 patients had cure, 44 patients improved and there was no change in 33 patients. Our results are comparable to other reported series. Renal artery stenting is a cost effective approach in properly selected patients of renal artery stenosis with hypertension.

Alcohol septal ablation for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy - 8 years follow up

Background

Alcohol septal ablation is emerging as an alternative to surgical myectomy in the management of symptomatic cases of Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). This involves injection of absolute alcohol into 1st septal perforator thereby producing myocardial necrosis with resultant septal remodelling within 3–6 months. This results in reduction of septal thickness and LV outflow gradients with improvement in symptoms.

Methods

Fifty three patients had undergone alcohol septal ablation, there were 2 early and 2 late deaths and 4 patients lost to follow up. Forty-five (85%) of them were followed up to a mean period of 96 ± 9.2 months. Clinical, ECG, and Echocardiographic parameters were evaluated during follow up.

Results

Only 4 out of 51 patients remained in NYHA class III or IV at the end of 6 months. Significant reduction of LV outflow gradients (79 ± 35 to 34 ± 23 mmHg) and septal thickness (23 ± 4.7 mm to 19 ± 3 mm) were observed during 6 months follow up. Beyond 6 months there was no further decrease in either septal thickness or LVOT gradients noted. Ten percent of patients needed pacemaker implantation. There was 92% survival at the end of 8 years.

Conclusion

Alcohol septal ablation is a safe and effective nonsurgical procedure for the treatment of HOCM. By minimizing the amount of alcohol to ≤2 ml, one can reduce complications and mortality. The long-term survival is gratifying.

Left ventricular non compaction a tertiary care centre experience

AIM

To analyse the clinical profile of consecutive cases of Left Ventricular Non Compaction (LVNC), a condition characterized by excessive and prominent Left Ventricular (LV) trabeculations which may be associated with LV systolic dysfunction.

METHODS

Twenty six consecutive cases from January 2003 to December 2008 with echocardiographic evidence of hypertrabeculation of LV were evaluated by clinical examination, electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic features. Diagnosis was based on 3 published definitions.

RESULTS

Out of 26 cases of LVNC (18 Males: 8 Females) aged between 1 day and 63 years, isolated LVNC was seen in 16 cases and rest of the cases were associated with congenital heart disease (CHD), Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). All patients were previously undiagnosed cases of LVNC. Left ventricular ejection Fraction ranged from 20-60% in these cases.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the increased detection of patients fulfilling echocardiographic criteria of LVNC and its association with other disorders. It also shows that milder phenotypes exist and the disease is detected incidentally in some cases.

Life threatening protamine reaction during bypass surgery--a case report

An anaphylactic reaction to protamine sulphate during cardiac surgery is a rare but known entity. Preoperative prediction and outcome of such a reaction is still unclear. We report a case of severe anaphylactic reaction to protamine sulphate in a diabetic while performing beating heart bypass surgery. We also reviewed the literature and discussed the management of such cases.

Balloon valvuloplasty of stenosed Carpentier-Edwards bioprosthesis at pulmonary position

Bioprostheses frequently become calcified and stenosed, especially when implanted in younger patients. The general recommendation in such cases is to repeat surgery. Balloon valvuloplasty has hitherto been attempted with mixed success. Calcification and limitation of the balloon size due to the valve ring can lead to suboptimal long-term results. We report a case where balloon dilation of the stenosed bioprosthesis at pulmonary position was successfully performed with good immediate result. Cardiac catheterization after 3 years showed only a minimal increase (5 mmHg) in the gradient.

Adenosine myocardial SPECT--its efficacy and safety and correlation with coronary angiogram

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of adenosine Tc99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion study under controlled conditions and to correlate the adenosine Tc99m sestamibi perfusion defects and the coronary angiography in patients investigated for coronary artery disease.

METHODS

This prospective study included 122 consecutive patients who underwent adenosine Tc99m sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion study. Seventy two patients had coronary angiographic correlation. All the patients who were referred by the cardiologists for stress myocardial perfusion scan who could not be stressed physiologically for one reason or the other were included in the study.

RESULTS

Among the coronary angiography group the overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of adenosine Tc99m sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion study for detecting significant coronary obstruction (diameter > or = 50%) were 94.4%, 79%, 85% and 92% respectively. The side effects were transient and required no treatment.

CONCLUSION

We conclude adenosine Tc99m sestamibi single photon emission computed tomogram myocardial perfusion study is a reliable test with high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of coronary artery disease.

Profile of female patients undergoing coronary angiogram at a tertiary centre

OBJECTIVE

To study clinical profile, risk factors and pattern of coronary artery involvement in females.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Female patients undergoing coronary angiography at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai during 1996-1998 for angina were analysed for risk factors.

RESULTS

Out of 5997 angiograms, 660 (11%) were females of which 574 (88%) post-menopausal. 48% had atypical chest pain, 11% had unstable angina, 1% had acute myocardial infarction (MI). Past history of MI was present in 48%. Risks factors were hypertension in 60%, diabetes in 52%, obesity in 41%, dyslipidemia in 32%, family history in 36%. 71% patients used oral contraceptive. None of the patients were smoker, 34.8% pre-menopausal and 72.2% post-menopausal had coronary artery disease. Single vessel disease 33% vs 22.1% two vessel disease 43.3 vs 31.2%. Triple vessel 22.3 vs 46.6% and diffuse disease 10% vs 38.7% was seen in pre-menopausal vs post-menopausal females, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Family history was the predominant risk factor in pre-menopausal and diabetes mellitus and hypertension in post-menopausal females. Diffuse and triple vessel disease were significantly common in post-menopausal females.

Percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation in drug-resistant hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy: 18-month follow-up results

OBJECTIVE

Surgery has been the only therapeutic option in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) who are resistant to standard treatment. Percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation (PTSMA) by alcohol-induced occlusion of the septal artery for the reduction of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient is a novel method. However, long-term clinical follow-up is insufficient. This study reports the acute and mid-term results after PTSMA in symptomatic patients with HOCM.

METHODS

Six patients (4 men and 2 women) with symptomatic HOCM and inadequate response to pharmacologic therapy had their major septal branches ablated with alcohol. Mean duration of follow-up was 1.5 years.

RESULTS

There was reduction in LVOT gradient in all patients (100%) with a mean reduction of 50 mmHg. Two patients developed complete heart block (CHB) and 3 patients developed bifascicular block. CHB persisted in 1 patient. Two patients died within 8 days of the procedure; one due to cerebrovascular accident and 1 due to asystole. The patient who died of asystole had CHB but refused permanent pacemaker implantation. CHB reverted in 1 patient and bifascicular blocks persisted in 3 patients. Clinical and echocardiographic follow-up was achieved in the 4 surviving patients after 1.5 years. All surviving patients had LVOT gradient reduction and clinical improvement.

CONCLUSION

PTSMA for HOCM is a non-surgical technique for reducing LVOT gradient. Heart blocks are one potential complication, and may require pacemaker implantation. Long-term follow-up and a larger series of patients are required to determine conclusive therapeutic significance.

Three-dimensional Bolton-Brush Growth Study landmark data: ontogeny and sexual dimorphism of the Bolton standards cohort

OBJECTIVE

The treatment of craniofacial reconstructive surgery patients may benefit from comparison to average referent three-dimensional landmark data. These data may be useful for diagnosis, treatment planning, prosthetic design, or outcomes assessment. With regard to subadult patients, we hypothesize that the pattern of ontogenetic shape change of same sex, same ethnicity, referent populations will show gross uniformity. We present a preliminary shape analysis of 50 three-dimensional landmarks derived from 317 Bolton-Brush Growth Study biorthogonal image pairs. We determine which landmarks can be collected from scanned radiographs reliably by four operators for the precisely locatable points, ontogenetic trends in landmark configuration shape change, and patterns of sexual dimorphism.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were Bolton standards individuals (16 male and 16 female) who contributed biplane cephalograms seven or more times with annual or greater spacing between ages 3 and 18 years.

DESIGN

After removing outliers, we searched for ontogenetic heterogeneity, including sexual dimorphism and within sex-specific Procrustes coordinate shape spaces.

RESULTS

A cut-off of 4.3-mm interoperator error left 32 landmarks in our analysis. Three different approaches (principal component analysis, age-trend analysis, and principal components of age residuals) all found no patterns of individual variation around sex-specific average trends of shape change. Male shape change peaks at age 15, a correlate of the growth spurt.

CONCLUSIONS

Simultaneous frontal and lateral anatomic landmark identification improves three-dimensional localization reliability. Three-dimensional craniodental shape change from ages 8 to 18 within the Bolton standards presents little heterogeneity. Considerations of ethnicity aside, these may be initial grounds for use of these data as a normative referent.

Significance of ST alternans during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Repolarisation ST alternans was observed during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in nine patients. Six had ST alternans on surface electrocardiogram (ECG) while three patients developed ST alternans only on intracoronary ECG recordings. The pattern of occurrence of ST alternans in successive inflations varied. Ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 6 of 28 (21.42%) of inflations associated with ST alternans while in a control group of 50 patients undergoing PTCA who did not have ST alternans, ventricular arrhythmias were noted in only 6 of 342 inflations (1.75%; p < 0.001). It is suggested that ST alternans is a regional ischemic phenomenon.

Clinically isolated left coronary ostial stenosis: a manifestation of cardiovascular syphilis--case history

The authors report a case of clinically isolated left coronary ostial stenosis in a thirty-seven-year-old man as a manifestation of cardiovascular syphilis. Notably he was free of the usual risk factors for coronary artery disease, and the rest of the coronary tree was angiographically normal.

Severity of rheumatic mitral regurgitation

Thirty patients below the age of 15 years (range 8-1/2 to 15 years, mean 11.8 years) have been studied for the severity of rheumatic mitral regurgitation. Moderately severe to severe pulmonary venous hypertension was found in 76.6% and pulmonary arterial hypertension in 60%. Left ventricular volumes could be calculated in 13 patients. The end-diastolic volume was elevated in 11 and the endsystolic volume in 12 cases. The regurgitant fraction, calculated in nine patients was 0.6 or more in seven cases. The clinical and hemodynamic severity of mitral regurgitation in children was identical to that seen in adults in the absence of active rheumatic carditis. Children with dominant rheumatic mitral regurgitation can develop congestive failure on the basis of valvar damage per se.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in patients over the age of 65 years

PTCA performed in 672 patients (646 patients < 65 years and 26 patients > or = 65 years) from March 1986 to September 1990 consisting of 619 males and 53 females are being discussed for the purpose of comparison of the results between patients in the < 65 years and > or = 65 years age groups. It was found that diabetes mellitus (50 vs 24.4.%, P < 0.01), obesity (46.1 vs 26%, P < 0.05), and hyperlipidaemia (66 vs 37.1%, p < 0.01) had a higher incidence among the elderly. Of the total 1047 lesions observed, 662 lesions in the < 65 years age group and 37 lesions in the > or = 65 years age group were dilated by PTCA (1.02 lesions/patient and 1.4 lesions/patient respectively). The lesion morphology showed higher degree of irregular contour in the < 65 years age group (23.6 vs 8.1%, p < 0.05), though the number of lesions with PTCA attempted in all age groups were almost similar. Major complications included one MI (3.8%) and two deaths (7.6%) in the > or = 65 years age group. During followup (mean duration: 8.2 months > or = 65 years and 13.5 months < 65 years age group) significantly higher percentage of patients < 65 years were asymptomatic when compared to elderly (50.2 vs 15.4% p < 0.05). Angina status was same more often in the elderly (23.1 vs 2.8% p < 0.01). The cumulative rate for repeat PTCA was similar for elderly and younger patients.