We narrate the case of a term baby who presented at 30 h of age in congestive cardiac failure due to vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation. A successful interventional radiology embolisation of the feeding vessels to the aneurysm was performed on day 5. Twenty hours following the procedure, the baby ...

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common disease among elderly individuals. However, the precise pathophysiology of AAA remains unknown. In AAA, an intraluminal thrombus prevents luminal perfusion of oxygen, allowing only the adventitial vaso vasorum (VV) to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the aortic wall. In this study, we examined ...

Pulmonary calcification is uncommon in children. It is rarely described following cardiac surgery. Here, the authors describe the case of an infant who developed extensive pulmonary calcification following the repair of truncus arteriosus.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a nanoporous CREG-eluting stent (CREGES) in inhibiting neointimal formation in a porcine coronary model. In vitro proliferation assays were performed using isolated human endothelial and smooth muscle cells to investigate the cell-specific pharmacokinetic effects of CREG and sirolimus. We ...

Lymphatic vessels play a pivotal role in fluid drainage and egress of immune cells from the lung. However, examining murine lung lymphatics is hampered by the expression of classical lymph endothelial markers on other cell types, which hinders the unambiguous identification of lymphatics. The expression of CD90/Thy-1 on lymph endothelium ...

ABSTRACT: An 81-year-old man was incidentally found to have a large pericardial cyst on a chest computed tomography. Before surgical removal, an echocardiogram demonstrated that the cyst was more likely a large (7.5 cm) right coronary arterial aneurysm. A cardiac blood-pool study demonstrated a blood-filled structure adjacent to the heart, ...

Pulmonary venous developmental anomalies have been evaluated conventionally with echocardiography and catheter angiography, multidetector CT angiography (MDCTA) and MR angiography are playing increasing roles in their characterisation. Here, we report a rare case of a 15-year-old boy, who presented with cyanosis and dyspnoea which he had had since childhood. Cardiac ...

Through a median sternotomy, we performed a single-stage repair of severe aortic coarctation, ventricular septal defect, patent foramen ovale, and mitral valve insufficiency. The severe aortic coarctation was repaired by interposing a synthetic graft between the distal ascending aorta and the descending aorta. We first repaired the coarctation with the ...

A 14-year-old asymptomatic girl without relevant medical history was referred to our department for heart murmur evaluation. The echocardiogram showed cardiac chambers with normal size and function. Noteworthy was the presence of an apparently fibrous tissue joining the ventricular surfaces of the aortic non-coronary and right coronary leaflets with the ...

ANGIOMYOLIPOMA (AML) IS THE MOST COMMON BENIGN TUMOR OF THE KIDNEY, WHICH IS COMPOSED OF A MIXTURE OF THREE TISSUE COMPONENTS: blood vessels, smooth muscle and adipose cells. Occasionally, AML may extend into the renal vein or the vena cava, but so far at least, intracardiac extension was rarely reported. ...

CT scans in four cases of chronic superior vena cava or left brachiocephalic vein obstruction demonstrate a systemic-to-cardiac collateral venous pathway through anastomoses between the pericardial branches of systemic veins and the presumed adventitial veins of the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk. These adventitial veins then drain into tributaries of ...

We report the case of a 40-year-old man with known Marfan syndrome who presented with severe aortic valve regurgitation secondary to significant aortic root dilatation. To rule out coronary artery disease and to evaluate the rest of the thoracic aorta before surgery, cardiac computed tomography (CT) was performed. A brief ...

ADAMTS (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs) is a recently identified family of extracellular metalloproteinases that has been shown to participate in tissue destruction. We hypothesized that ADAMTS-1 and ADAMTS-4 expression is increased in aortic tissues from patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections. We examined ADAMTS-1 and ADAMTS-4 ...

Coronary artery anomalies are found in approximately 1.3 % of symptomatic adult patients undergoing coronary arteriography and encompass a wide variety of anatomic patterns. Single coronary arteries are found in 0.024-0.066 % of this group. The particular type of a single coronary artery with an anatomically correct course of either artery (so-called ...

Neural crest cells constitute a multipotent cell population that gives rise to diverse cell lineages. The neural crest arising from the postotic hindbrain is known as the 'cardiac' neural crest, and contributes to the great vessels and outflow tract endocardial cushions, but the neural crest contribution to structures within the ...

Background: It is mostly agreed that arterial adaptations occur, among others, in response to changes in mechanical stimuli. Models like bed rest, spinal cord injury or limb suspension have been applied to study vascular adaptations to unloading in humans. However, these models cannot distinguish the role of muscle contractions and ...

Metabolism of contractile cardiomyocyte in experimental pulmonary stenosis complicated or not complicated by heart failure was studied by histochemical methods. In pulmonary stenosis not complicated by heart failure, intensification of glycolysis, more intense oxidation of free fatty acids and their metabolites, and acceleration of the citric acid cycle were found ...

We report a case of a 13-year old girl with pectus excavatum who had a Nuss procedure and two years later a new cardiac murmur appeared which on investigation was diagnosed as supravalvular pulmonary artery stenosis. Following removal of the Nuss bar the stenosis resolved.

A case of a 49 year old man with a giant basilar artery aneurysm requiring rapid ventricular pacing is presented. Rapid ventricular pacing decreased aneurysm size and increased operative exposure, which aided surgical decision making. It also provided decreased wall tension in the aneurysm.

A 2-yr-old male Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) died during a fight with a conspecific. At necropsy, significant abnormalities included severe cardiomegaly with cardiac malformations consisting of a large atrial septal defect, a membranous ventricular septal defect, overriding aorta, and stenosis of the pulmonary valve with secondary concentric hypertrophy of ...

Decreased expression of elastin results in smaller, less compliant arteries and high blood pressure. In mice, these differences become more significant with postnatal development. It is known that arterial size and compliance directly affect cardiac function, but the temporal changes in cardiac function have not been investigated in elastin insufficient ...

Hearts having a common arterial trunk belong to a family of congenital cardiac malformations for which traditional systems of classification and nomenclature are plagued by internal paradoxes, incompatibility between systems due to the lack of potential for identification of synonyms, or irreconcilable inconsistencies with our current knowledge of cardiac development ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Variations in the major arteries of the upper limb are estimated to be present in up to one fifth of people, and may have significant clinical implications. CASE PRESENTATION: During routine cadaveric dissection of a 69-year-old fresh female cadaver, a superficial brachioulnar artery with an aberrant path was ...

A 32-year-old man was urgently referred to our hospital with severe tricuspid insufficiency following a car accident. The completely flail anterior leaflet, due to the rupture of the papillary muscles, was revealed by a two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. In the operation, we also detected a tear on the anterior leaflet and ...

We examined a 63-year-old woman with progressive dyspnea. Two years prior to admission to our hospital, she had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and treated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) with a cumulative dose of 164 g. In addition, 2 months earlier, she had been diagnosed with connective tissue disease-related pulmonary artery ...

Venous valves play a crucial role in blood circulation, promoting the one-way movement of blood from superficial and deep veins towards the heart. By preventing retrograde flow, venous valves spare capillaries and venules from being subjected to damaging elevations in pressure, especially during skeletal muscle contraction. Pathologically, valvular incompetence or ...

A 68-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of back pain and syncope. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed pericardial effusion, a collapsed right ventricle, a giant aneurysm connected to the coronary sinus, a dilated left main trunk coronary artery, and a dilated left circumflex artery (LCx). Furthermore, there was a coronary ...

The lecture covered the role of lipids in the pathogenesis and treatment of non-cardiac vascular disease. The following conditions were considered: abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), peripheral arterial disease (PAD), carotid artery disease and atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS).

The purpose of the present study was to compare the differences between the role of volume-regulated Cl(-) channels (VRCCs) in veins and arteries. We used the whole cell patch clamp and fluorescence imaging techniques to evaluate swelling-induced Cl(-) current (I(Cl,vol)) and changes in the intracellular concentrations of Cl(-) ([Cl(-)](i)) induced ...

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to elucidate the precise anatomy of the perforating branch of the superficial temporal artery in relation to subcutaneous forehead lift (SFL).Ten hemifaces of 6 fresh adult Korean cadavers were used in this study. In 4 hemifaces, following injection of red latex, dissection was ...

Notch3 is critically important for the structure and myogenic response of distal arteries, particularly of cerebral arteries. However, signaling pathways acting downstream of Notch3 remain largely unknown. Transcriptome analysis using tail arteries of Notch3-null mice identified a core set of 17 novel Notch3-regulated genes confirmed in tail or brain arteries. ...

Conjoined twins are very rare examples of congenital malformations. In 75% of thoracoomphalopagus conjoined twins, the intracardiac anatomy determines outcome and long-term survival. We successfully separated one case of thoraco-omphalopagus conjoined twins, with one having d-transposition of the great arteries. After control of sepsis, the twin underwent an arterial switch ...

Variations in the venous pattern of the arm are common. In this case report, we are presenting the variations of the brachial vein and the basilic vein.During the routine dissections which were done by medical undergraduate students, we observed some variations in the veins of the upper limb. In the ...

The objective of this study was to determine the possibility of creating a novel animal model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in rabbits by the periarterial application of papain. Twelve New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into two groups: (1) the papain group, which received 2mg of papain (n=8) and ...

Primary cardiac malignancies are rare, and the majority are benign. Malignant tumors are often found to be sarcomas arising from structural cells such as muscle, connective tissue, and blood vessels. We report a case of a 62-year-old woman who presented with pulmonary embolism secondary to a primary pulmonary artery chondrosarcoma. ...

Aneurysms of sinus of Valsalva are rare congenital or acquired cardiac anomalies. They most commonly involve the right or non-coronary sinuses. Herein we report a very rare case of a ruptured congenital right sinus of Valsalva aneurysm into the right ventricular outflow tract followed conservatively for at least 10 years ...

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that also gives raise to widespread changes in peripheral organs and tissues. We tested the hypothesis that vascular dysfunction may occur in Huntington's disease by studying R6/1 mice which express exon 1 of the mutant huntingtin gene. We assessed arterial function in R6/1 and ...

Objective: The aim of tissue engineering is, for instance, to create a new valve or organ which is similar to the native one. This new construct may have the capability of growth, repair and remodelling. One instance were tissue engineering offers an enormous advantage is in the treatment of Tetralogy ...

Abstract  The widely used peripheral vein site of cannulation (i.e., the femoral vein) cannot always be employed in the setting of re-redo procedures. We propose a safe and simple surgical technique for a femoral vein cannulation using the greater saphenous vein as the inflow tract for the venous drainage in ...

During a routine dissection at the Department of Anatomy, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, one cadaver was found to have multiple variations of the arteries of the upper limbs. The variations pertained to the course of the brachial artery as well as to its distribution. An unusual formation of the superficial ...

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage is a rare congenital anomaly which can lead to right heart enlargement. It may present in isolation or more commonly in association with other congenital cardiac anomalies. We present three different cases of partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage in adults. The importance of identifying partial ...

The mitral valve is a complex structure that is altered by disease states. The classical image of the mitral valve is a bicuspid valve with two leaflets and two papillary muscles. The reason for the present study is to study the morphology and morphometry of the mitral valve. This study ...

Objectives: To investigate the 'I-shaped' sign as a novel echocardiographic marker for antenatal diagnosis of d-transposition of the great arteries (dTGA) in routine cardiac examination, and to compare its prevalence in dTGA, other congenital heart diseases (CHDs), and normal structural hearts. Methods: This retrospective evaluation involved 1,134 pregnant women undergoing ...

This report presents a case of pulmonary air embolism during implantation of a cardiac resynchronisation therapy system. For left ventricular pacing the thinnest available coronary sinus lead was used in association with a standard subclavian vein introducer sheath. It is hypothesised that the difference of size between the small lead ...

Heart valve disease is a serious and growing public health problem for which prosthetic replacement is most commonly indicated. Current prosthetic devices are inadequate for younger adults and growing children. Tissue engineered living aortic valve conduits have potential for remodeling, regeneration, and growth, but fabricating natural anatomical complexity with cellular ...

Rationale: Growth and remodeling of the pharyngeal arch arteries is vital for the development of a mature great vessel system. Dysmorphogenesis of the fourth arch arteries can result in interruption of the aortic arch type-B, typically found in DiGeorge syndrome (DGS). Tbx1 haploinsufficient embryos, which model DGS, display fourth arch ...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The use of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) flap for reconstructive surgery of the mandible seems to be a practicable although underestimated option. STUDY DESIGN: This study was conducted on 15 cadavers that had been neoprene-latex injected in the middle and inferior pedicles. METHODS: Lengths of the SCM were equally divided ...

Chronic hypoxia increases vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thereby promotes angiogenesis. The present study explores the hypothesis that hypoxic increases in VEGF also remodel artery wall structure and contractility through phenotypic transformation of smooth muscle. Pregnant and nonpregnant ewes were maintained at sea level (normoxia) or 3,820 m (hypoxia) ...

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that fetal pulmonary arterial circulation reacts to changes in fetal oxygenation status at near-term gestation. Study Design: A total of 20 rhesus macaques underwent fetal Doppler ultrasonography at near-term gestation. Right pulmonary artery (RPA), umbilical artery (UA), ductus arteriosus (DA), and ductus venosus (DV) blood ...

Osteolysis of vertebrae due to inflammatory aortic aneurysm is rarely observed. However, it is estimated that up to 10 % of infectious aneurysms coexist with bone tissue destruction, most commonly the vertebrae. Inflammatory aneurysms with no identified infection factor, along with infiltration of adjacent muscle and in particular extensive destruction of ...