BACKGROUND We investigated the patient characteristic factors that correlate with identification of i.v. cannulation sites with normal eyesight. We evaluated a new infrared vein finding (VF) technology device in identifying i.v. cannulation sites. METHODS Each subject underwent two observations: one using the conventional method (CM) of normal, unassisted eyesight and the other with the infra...

PURPOSE To compare the performance of newly proposed point-wise linear regression (PLR) with the binomial test (binomial PLR) against mean deviation (MD) trend analysis and permutation analyses of PLR (PoPLR), in detecting global visual field (VF) progression in glaucoma. METHODS 15 VFs (Humphrey Field Analyzer, SITA standard, 24-2) were collected from 96 eyes of 59 open angle glaucoma patien...

Although a relationship between S-T alternans and life-threatening arrhythmia has been recognized, the mechanism is poorly understood. We examine the role of S-T alternans in the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) after reperfusion. The left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 20 min and then abruptly reperfused in 12 intravenously anesthetized open-chest dogs. Sixty u...

objective(s) this study aimed to examine whether acetyl-l-carnitine (alc) was able to reduce cardiac arrhythmias and infarct size in the ischemic-reperfused isolated rat heart. materials and methods the isolated hearts were mounted on a langendorff apparatus then perfused by a modified krebs-henseleit solution during 30 min regional ischemia and 120 min reperfusion (control) or by enriched kreb...

AIMS Although cardiac alternans is a known predictor of lethal arrhythmias, its underlying causes remain largely undefined in disease settings. The potential role of, and mechanisms responsible for, beat-to-beat alternations in the amplitude of systolic Ca(2+) transients (Ca(2+) alternans) was investigated in a canine post-myocardial infarction (MI) model of sudden cardiac death (SCD). METHOD...

BACKGROUND The objective was to analyze locoregional (LR) failure patterns in patients with head-and-neck cancer (HNC) treated using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with whole salivary gland-sparing: parotid (PG), submandibular (SMG), and accessory salivary glands represented by the oral cavity (OC). METHODS Seventy consecutive patients with Stage I-II (23%) or III/IV (77%) HNC treate...

OBJECTIVES This study evaluated the pause-dependency of the J-wave to characterize this phenomenon in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (VF). BACKGROUND The J-wave can be found in apparently healthy subjects and in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death, and risk stratification is therefore needed. METHODS Forty patients with J-wave-associated idiopathic VF were studied for J waves wit...

RATIONALE Structural differences between ventricular regions may not be the sole determinant of local ventricular fibrillation (VF) dynamics and molecular remodeling may play a role. OBJECTIVES To define regional ion channel expression in myopathic hearts compared to normal hearts, and correlate expression to regional VF dynamics. METHODS AND RESULTS High throughput real-time RT-PCR was use...

Ultrasound tissue Doppler imaging (US-TDI) has been used to diagnose regional wall motion (WM) abnormalities in coronary artery disease but has not been applied to oropharyngeal diseases. This study aimed first to validate an US-TDI method to assess cervical esophageal (CE) WM and secondly to use the method to evaluate CE WM in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). First, we enrolled 22 h...