Mesenchymal stromal cells secrete a variety of anti-inflammatory factors and may provide a regenerative medicine option for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. The present study investigates the efficacy of multiple intravenous or intracardiac administrations of rat mesenchymal stromal cells or human mesenchymal stromal cells in female rats after controlled cortical impact by in vivo MRI, ...

The effects of Met-enkephalin on Ca2+-dependent K+ channel activity were investigated using the cell-attached patch recording technique on isolated parasympathetic neurones of rat intracardiac ganglia. Large-conductance, Ca2+-dependent K+ channels (BK(Ca)) were examined as an assay of agonist-induced changes in the intracellular free calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]i). These BK(Ca) channels ha...

INTRODUCTION The incidence of multiple intracardiac mass is rare. The differential diagnosis of intracavitary mass lesions includes benign, malignant primary, secondary metastatic cardiac tumors, or thrombus. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 49-year-old Asian woman, who experienced a 2-week history of progressive exertional dyspnea, orthopnea, bilateral lower limb edema and palpitati...

OBJECTIVE To synthesize the accumulated data on the diagnostic performance of intracardiac echogenic foci for Down syndrome, a meta-analysis was performed. DATA SOURCES We conducted MEDLINE and EMBASE searches (1985 to August 2002) using the key words "intracardiac (echogenic) focus/foci," "golfballs," "trisomy 21," and "Down syndrome." Bibliographies of retrieved articles were also screened,...

OBJECTIVE Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations can occur after the Fontan procedure and are believed to be associated with disproportionate pulmonary distribution of hepatic venous effluent. We studied the effect of total cavopulmonary connection geometry and the effect of increased cardiac output on distribution of inferior vena caval return to the lungs. METHODS Ten patients undergoing the...

INTRODUCTION The complete Fontan circulation is the definite palliation for many complex congenital cardiac lesions. After bi-directional Glenn anastomosis (BDG), two well-established techniques - intracardiac tunneling and extracardiac prosthesis - are available for completion, although the choice of technique is still a matter of debate. MATERIAL AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the ...

Precordial and intracardiac phonocardiographic correlation was investigated in 28 cases with ventricular septal defect (VSD) to confirm the diagnostic value of intracardiac phonocardiography and to clarify the clinical as well as physiological significance of the point of maximum intensity (PMI) of the regurgitant systolic murmur of VSD. At the same time, the teleological use of catheterization...

A 62-year-old woman was referred for evaluation of recent-onset dyspnoea at rest and a newly found systolic heart murmur, heard best at the apex of the heart. The patient's history was notable for surgical mitral valve replacement 3 years ago, due to severe mitral regurgitation (myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve). The transthoracic echocardiogram gave the impression of a mitral regurg...

Intracardiac metastasis as the initial presentation of malignant neoplasm is very rare. We report here on a 64-year-old man with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) initially presenting with intracardiac metastasis which was identified with 18-F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET). The patient was admitted with complaints of exertional dyspnea and vague chest discomfort tha...

BACKGROUND Catheter ablation of premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) has been used as a curative therapy in many cases. Intracardiac ultrasound with a magnetic sensor probe has recently become available for catheter ablation. In this study, we assessed a new mapping method, contraction mapping, for determining the optimal ablation sites using intracardiac ultrasound and M-mode. This study sou...