BACKGROUND The lethal isotherm for radiofrequency catheter ablation of cardiac myocardium is widely accepted to be 50°C, but this has not been directly measured. The purpose of this study was to directly measure the tissue temperature at the edge of radiofrequency lesions in real time using infrared thermal imaging. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifteen radiofrequency lesions of 6 to 240 seconds in dur...

Background: Drug resistance is widely believed to be an increasingly serious threat to global public health. We have previously reported that short term exposure of microorganisms to diagnostic ultrasound waves could significantly alter their sensitivity to antibiotics. In our previous studies, Klebsiella pneumoniae showed major differences in the sensitivity to antibiotics in exposed and non-e...

BACKGROUND Pulsed radiofrequency treatment has recently been described as a non-neurodestructive or minimally neurodestructive alternative to radiofrequency heat lesions. In clinical practice long-lasting results of pulsed radiofrequency treatment adjacent to the cervical dorsal root ganglion for the management of chronic radicular spinal pain have been reported without neurologic complications...

OBJECTIVE Hyperhidrosis (Hh) and facial blushing (Fb) are conditions caused by hyperactivity of the sympathetic system; they affect around 2% of the population. Severe cases have been typically treated with thoracic sympathectomy through a minimally invasive approach. We sought to determine if severe Hh and/or Fb patients, who are reluctant to go through an operation with general anaesthesia, c...

BACKGROUND Sacroiliac joint pain is a common cause of chronic low back pain. Different techniques for radiofrequency denervation of the sacroiliac joint have been used to treat this condition. However, results have been inconsistent because the variable sensory supply to the sacroiliac joint is difficult to disrupt completely using conventional radiofrequency. Cooled radiofrequency is a novel t...

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common condition among men and has several causes. Among men under the age of 40, pelvic or perineal trauma is the most common cause of ED. Pelvic or perineal trauma often results in arterial injury as the likely mechanism of ED. We present the case of a 14-year-old male diagnosed with a pseudoaneurysm causing arteriogenic ED secondary to blunt force trauma to the...

Introduction: Small-bowel massive bleeding presents a complex diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Angiography can be used for localization and embolization of the overt gastrointestinal bleeding site. Because of the complex anastomotic network of blood vessels supplying the small intestine, precise identification is complicated and surgical resection of the bleeding site is difficult. We descri...

Radiofrequency ablation has an established role in the treatment of non-ischaemic ventricular tachycardia. A few patients present with symptomatic but benign ventricular ectopy that can be mapped to the right ventricular outflow tract. The successful use of radiofrequency ablation in a patient with drug resistant, symptomatic ventricular ectopy is reported. Radiofrequency ablation may have a us...