605 The earliest description of calcific aortic stenosis is attributed to the French physician Lazare Rivière who, in 1663, reported the necropsy findings from a patient with palpitations, progressive dyspnea, and loss of peripheral pulses. He noted left ventricular enlargement and identified large caruncle-like masses obstructing the left ventricular outflow to the aorta. Although other report...

The 14th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections generated a lot of excitement with the announcement of clinical studies employing the use of 2 new classes of antiretroviral drugs that target the viral integrase enzyme and the viral coreceptor CCR5. In addition, a number of presentations on cellular restriction factors provided surprises regarding the mechanism by which cellular...

605 The earliest description of calcific aortic stenosis is attributed to the French physician Lazare Rivière who, in 1663, reported the necropsy findings from a patient with palpitations, progressive dyspnea, and loss of peripheral pulses. He noted left ventricular enlargement and identified large caruncle-like masses obstructing the left ventricular outflow to the aorta. Although other report...

18F-FDG is formed through radiochemical synthesis from cyclotron-produced 18F (K. Breslow, written communication, June 2000). Production of 18F is through proton bombardment of enriched 18O-water. 18F-fluoride is bound to 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-2-O-trifluoromethanesulfonyl-Dmannopyranose (mannose triflate) under conditions of a stereospecific second-order nucleophilic substitution reaction, whi...

t t t linician scientists are rare and surgical clinician scientists re even rarer. The number of MDs (compared with MD/PhDs nd PhDs) as first-time applicants for National Institutes of ealth (NIH) research project grant support has plummeted. If his progression continues, there will be no first-time MD pplicants [1]. This trend is ongoing in the midst of a biotechology revolution in which the ...

Cardiac arrhythmias are a major epidemiological and public health problem and contribute significantly to sudden cardiac death, heart failure, stroke, suffering, debilitation, and healthcare expenses. In the United States alone, sudden cardiac death is estimated to kill 250 000 to 400 000 people annually.1 Most sudden death is due to cardiac arrhythmias,2 with ventricular tachycardia and fibril...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent, disabling disorder of the joints that affects a large population worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure. This review provides critical insights into the basic knowledge on OA that may lead to innovative end efficient new therapeutic regimens. While degradation of the articular cartilage is the hallmark of OA, with altered interactions between cho...