Herpes simplex virus-1 as a rare etiology of isolated acute cerebellitis: case report and literature review

Journal of NeuroVirology - Acute cerebellitis is one of the most common cerebellar disorders and occurs due to para-infectious, post-infectious, or post-vaccination cerebellar inflammation. Herpes...     

Primary complete repair of partial double aortic arch and Kommerell diverticulum

Tracheal and esophageal stenosis caused by double aortic arch and Kommerell diverticulum is a rare but important pathologic entity in adult patients. Clinical symptoms are caused by esophageal or tracheal stenosis, or both. The present article describes a surgical method of complete repair with division of the rudimentary left arch, resection of the diverticulum, and transposition of the left subclavian artery. This method was transferred from pediatric patients and led to excellent clinical results in 2 consecutive adult patients compared with the previous technique with division of the left arch alone.     

Tombstoning ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Tombstoning ST elevation myocardial infarction can be described as a STEMI characterized by tombstoning ST-segment elevation. This myocardial infarction is associated with extensive myocardial damage, reduced left ventricle function, serious hospital complications and poor prognosis. Tombstoning ECG pattern is a notion beyond morphological difference and is associated with more serious clinical results.Despite the presence of a few reports on tombstoning ST elevation, there is no report which reviews STEMI demonstrating this electrocardiographic pattern.     

Extent of coronary collateral vessel decrease with advanced age

OBJECTIVE: Animal experiments show that angiogenesis, responsible for the development of collaterals, impairs with increasing age. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between the extent of coronary collaterals and age in patients who had total occlusion in at least one of their epicardial coronary arteries. METHODS AND RESULTS: The records of 2160 consecutive patients who had undegone coronary angiography were examined. The coronary collaterals of the 720 patients who had total occlusion in at least one epicardial artery were evaluated according to the Rentrop scoring system. The patients were divided into four groups according to age: age < 50 years (group 1), > or = 50 years and < 60 years (group 2), > or = 60 years and < 70 years (group 3) and > 70 years (group 4). A Rentrop score of 1 to 3 was accepted as a reliable measure of presence of coronary collaterals. The gender distribution was statistically comparable among the groups. The percentage of the coronary collaterals was as follows: 67% in group 1, 47% in group 2, 48% in group 3 and 28% in group 4. The extent of coronary collaterals was significantly lower in group 4 compared with group 1 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The extent of coronary collaterals seems to decrease significantly with advanced age.     

The relationship between chronic kidney disease and SYNTAX score

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. We evaluated the association between CKD and severity of coronary artery stenosis by calculating SYNTAX Score in patients with left main coronary artery and/or 3-vessel coronary artery disease. Coronary angiograms of 217 patients were assessed. Chronic kidney disease was staged using the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, mL/min per 1.73 m(2)) prior to coronary angiography. Patients were divided into 5 groups according to the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI) Clinical Practice Guidelines (14). Patients with eGFR >90 mL/min per 1.73 m(2) (group 1), patients with eGFR 60 to 89 mL/min per 1.73 m(2) (group 2), patients with eGFR 30 to 59 mL/min per 1.73 m(2) (group 3), patients with eGFR >15 to < 30 per 1.73 m(2) and dialysis patients with eGFR < 15 per 1.73 m(2) were combined as group 4. The risk of significant lesion complexity increased progressively with decreasing kidney function (P = .001). Estimated glomerular filtration rate was a strong predictor of higher SYNTAX Score.