This review compares the mouthparts and their modes of operation in blood-feeding Arthropoda which have medical relevance to humans. All possess piercing blood-sucking proboscides which exhibit thin stylet-shaped structures to puncture the host's skin. The tips of the piercing structures are serrated to provide anchorage. Usually, the piercing organs are ...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revising the labeling requirements for blood and blood components intended for use in transfusion or for further manufacture by combining, simplifying, and updating specific regulations applicable to labeling and circulars of information. These requirements will facilitate the use of a labeling system using ...

Millions of patients in the UK benefit from the use of both plasma derivatives and blood components that are seen as critical interventions in current medicine. Measures are in place to significantly reduce the risks associated with blood transfusion and plasma derivatives; however, these measures themselves are not risk free. ...

Although blood donation is generally safe, a variety of risks and complications exist, the most common being iron deficiency, vasovagal reactions and citrate-related events. In the last decades, extensive efforts have significantly improved recipient and product safety, but there is still great potential to optimise donor care. Many therapies in ...

Purpose: A single center, prospective study was performed to assess the efficacy and safety of Griflow® Dual a gravity-fed device for intravenous delivery of human immunoglobulin Flebogamma®. Methods: A total of 2 infusions in 2 visits per patient were assessed using G2 and G3 Griflow® Dual models that provide different ...

Young blood donors between the ages of 16 and 18 years contribute substantially to the blood supply in the United States, accounting for about 14% of the allogeneic whole blood collected by the American Red Cross in 2010. However, studies have consistently demonstrated that the donors' age, total blood volume, ...

Blood safety remains an important public health concern in Africa where lack of availability or provision of unsafe blood adversely impacts morbidity and mortality in the region. In recognition of this shortfall, the World Health Organization (WHO) established a goal of regional blood safety by 2012 through improved "organization and ...

A safety-enhanced optimal (SEO) control algorithm for turbodynamic blood pump is proposed. Analysis of in vivo animal experimental data reveals that two new control indices-the gradient of pulsatility of pump pressure head with respect to pump speed and the gradient of minimum pump flow-have their peak within a proximity to ...

The lipophilic cationic compound, (4-[(18)F]fluorophenyl)triphenylphosphonium ion ((18)F-FTPP) was synthesized and evaluated as a potential positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial perfusion agent. (18)F-FTPP was prepared from (4-nitrophenyl)triphenylphosphonium nitrate and ammonium [(18)F]fluoride by nucleophilic aromatic substitution and was purified by high performance liquid chromatography before use. Biodistribution studies were performed in rats ...

Blood transfusion is a life-saving component of health care systems. Nevertheless, it can also be a quick and easy method of exposing patients to risks, particularly the transmission of infectious agents to recipients. Despite substantial improvements in the safety of transfusion services worldwide, the presence of paid and replacement blood ...

Aim:To assess, in healthy North African subjects, the applicability and reliability of a previously published reference equation and normal values for peak nasal inspiratory flow, and to calculate a peak nasal inspiratory flow reference equation in this population.Subjects and methods:Anthropometric data were recorded in 212 volunteers (100 females and 112 ...

Elevated cord blood IgE may be associated with a higher risk of allergic disease. To determine whether cord blood IgE is associated with allergic biomarkers or allergic disorders in young adults. Data was collected from 670 subjects 18-21 years of age that were among 835 original participants in the Detroit ...

BACKGROUND: The transmission of pathogens via blood transfusion is still a major threat. Expert conferences established the need for a pro-active approach and concluded that the introduction of a pathogen inactivation/reduction technology requires a thorough safety profile, a comprehensive pre-clinical and clinical development and an ongoing hemovigilance program. MATERIAL AND ...

The emergence of transfusion transmitted infection (TTI) especially HIV/AIDS has created a huge obstacle in ensuring blood safety. To assess the situation in Eritrea, we carried out a retrospective study of 29,501 blood donors for the prevalence of TTI's i.e. HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis. The study population included all ...

In neonates, the major obstacle to transfusion-free complex cardiac surgery is the severe hemodilution that can result from the mismatch between the priming volume of the circuit and the patients' blood volume. Herein, we report the case of a 13-day-old, 2.96-kg preterm neonate who had a hypoplastic aortic arch and ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of high altitude on nasal and lower airway parameters in a healthy population. This was a prospective study of 61 individuals who climbed to the summit of Mount Kackar, at 3,937 m. Peak nasal inspiratory flow rates were recorded in all ...

Physiologic motion of the heart is one of the major problems of myocardial blood flow quantification using first pass perfusion-MRI method. To overcome these problems, a perfusion pulse sequence with prospective slice tracking was developed. Cardiac motion was monitored by a navigator directly positioned at heart's basis to overcome no ...

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) provides noninvasive measurement of tissue blood flow, but sensitivity to motion has limited its application to imaging of myocardial blood flow. Although different cardiac phases can be synchronized using electrocardiography triggering, breath holding is generally required to minimize effects of respiratory motion during ASL scanning, which ...

Myocardial blood flow varies during the cardiac cycle in response to pulsatile changes in epicardial circulation and cyclical variation in myocardial tension. First-pass assessment of myocardial perfusion by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI is one of the most challenging applications of MRI because of the spatial and temporal constraints imposed by the ...

PURPOSE: Factor analysis has been pursued as a means to decompose dynamic cardiac PET images into different tissue types based on their unique temporal signatures to improve quantification of physiological function. In this work, the authors present a novel kinetic model-based (MB) method that includes physiological models of factor relationships ...

Nasal obstruction is a common symptom which is difficult to quantify clinically. Rhinomanometry, Acoustic Rhinometry and Forced Oscillation methods are available for estimating nasal resistance but, these require sophisticated machines. Because of limited availability of these techniques, this potential physiological measure has not been tapped fully for research and clinical ...

Changes in myocardial blood flow between rest and stress states are commonly used to diagnose coronary artery disease. Relative myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is used routinely while myocardial blood flow quantification (MBF) may improve the sensitivity for detection of early disease. The ratio of flow at stress and rest (S/R) ...

Recent advances in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) technology have resulted in small, durable, energy-efficient, continuous-flow blood pumps that can support patients with end-stage heart failure. However, the effects of reduced or nonpulsatile flow on end-organ function are unclear. We performed a pilot study in calves with a continuous-flow LVAD ...

AIM: L-arginine was shown to improve protection of the myocardium during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The objective of the present study was to determine the concentration of L-arginine to obtain the most effective protection of the myocardium during CABG surgery. METHODS: Seventy-five patients undergoing CABG surgery were randomized ...

BACKGROUND: Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is improved by greater vital organ blood flow during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We tested the hypothesis that myocardial flow above the threshold needed for ROSC may be associated with greater vital organ injury and worse outcome. METHODS: Aortic and right atrial pressures were measured ...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of epinephrine (Epi) or felypressin (Fely) contained in dental local anesthetics on myocardial oxygen balance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Japanese White tracheotomized rabbits were anesthetized with isoflurane. Three doses of 0.18, 0.36, and 0.72 mL of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride ...

Blood transfusion is always associated with some level of risk. Haemovigilance is a risk monitoring system integral to the practice of transfusion medicine whose ultimate purpose is to improve the quality and safety of transfusion therapy. To examine the contribution of haemovigilance to blood safety, including the approaches that some ...

Coronary vasomotor response might be impaired in metabolic syndrome (MS); however, the precise abnormality has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess coronary-vasomotor response in MS subjects using N-13 labeled ammonia and positron emission tomography. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) was measured at rest and during adenosine ...

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a powerful tool for the quantitative measurement of tissue blood flow, and has been extensively applied to the brain, lungs, and kidneys. ASL has been recently applied to myocardial blood flow (MBF) measurement in small animals; however, its use in humans is limited by inadequate ...

PURPOSE: The prognostic impact of low-flow reperfusion after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of low-flow reperfusion after PCI in patients with STEMI. METHODS: This study included 1,761 patients with STEMI ...

A classic problem in traditional conductance measurement of left ventricular (LV) volume is the separation of the contributions of myocardium from blood. Measurement of both the magnitude and the phase of admittance allow estimation of the time-varying myocardial contribution, which provides a substantial improvement by eliminating the need for hypertonic ...

The objectives of this study were to develop a method for quantifying myocardial K(1) and blood flow (MBF) with minimal operator interaction by using a Patlak plot method and to compare the MBF obtained by perfusion MRI with that from coronary sinus blood flow in the resting state. A method ...

Endothelin is an important determinant of peripheral vascular tone, and increased endogenous endothelin activity contributes to peripheral vascular dysfunction in human obesity. The contributions of endothelin to the regulation of coronary vascular tone in health in humans have not been well studied. We hypothesized that the contribution of endothelin to ...

This study tests the hypothesis that absolute measurement of adenosine (Ado)-stimulated myocardial blood flow (MBFado) is superior to measurement of relative tracer uptake for identification of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease (CAD). Positron emission tomography measurement of absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF) ((13)N-ammonia) with Ado has the capability to more ...

By serially imaging the myocardium during the initial transit of gadolinium contrast, magnetic resonance perfusion imaging can accurately assess relative reductions in regional myocardial blood flow and identify hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease. Models can be used to quantify myocardial blood flow (in milliliters/minute/gram) on the basis of dynamic signal ...

The blood flow in the myocardium has significant spatial heterogeneity. The objective of this study was to develop a biophysical model based on detailed anatomical data to determine the heterogeneity of regional myocardial flow during diastole. The model predictions were compared with experimental measurements in a diastolic porcine heart in ...

Quantification of regional myocardial blood flow and of its responses to targeted physiologic and pharmacologic interventions, which is now available with positron emitting tracers of blood flow and positron emission tomography (PET), extends the diagnostic potential of standard myocardial perfusion imaging. These noninvasive flow measurements serve as tools for quantifying ...

Regulating myocardial blood flow in health and disease is a complex, multifaceted process. The objective of this article is to outline for the practicing clinician a basic set of principles necessary for understanding important control mechanisms operative under normal physiologic conditions and in selected common disease states. Classical and newer ...

A rat model of low myocardial blood flow was established to test the hypothesis that post-translational changes to proteins of the thin and thick muscle filaments correlate with decreased cardiac contractility. Following 3 days of low blood flow by constriction of the left anterior descending artery, rat hearts demonstrated a ...

AIM: The aim of this study was to measure the changes in the levels of soluble adhesion molecules involved in acute inflammation during ischemia-reperfusion in adults who underwent open-heart surgery using blood and blood-insulin cardioplegia and to examine the differences in tissue damage at the molecular level as a consequence ...

The influences of inhaling particulate air-pollutants on hematopoiesis and myocardial oxidative stress were investigated in mice by intratracheal instillation (IT) of diesel exhaust particles (DEP), its dichloromethane soluble-component (DMSC) or residual particle-component (RPC). After IT, time courses of cytokine levels in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF), peripheral blood cell count, ...

Reproducible and accurate myocardial T2* measurements are required for the quantification of iron in heart tissue in transfused thalassemia. The aim of this study was to determine the best method to measure the myocardial T2* from multi-gradient-echo data acquired both with and without black-blood preparation. Sixteen thalassemia patients from six ...

OBJECTIVES: Hypothermia protects the myocardium from oxidative injury during ischemic stress and reperfusion. We have previously shown that topical negative pressure (TNP) of -50 mmHg significantly increases microvascular blood flow in the underlying myocardium in normal, ischemic, and reperfused porcine myocardium. The present study was designed to elucidate the effect ...

The predominant method of myocardial protection during cardiac surgery is hyperkalaemic cardioplegia, inducing depolarised arrest. Since its development in the 1970s, the only real change has been to alter the vehicle to blood. Although blood cardioplegia was shown to be 'superior' to crystalloid cardioplegia, this advantage is marginal and might ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to test whether, in patients with severe aortic stenosis, impaired myocardial blood flow reserve is dependent on myocardial hypertrophy and may improve after valve replacement. METHODS: Fifteen patients with severe aortic stenosis, normal coronary arteries and normal left ventricular systolic function (ejection fraction>50%) underwent a resting/dipyridamole ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The need to intermittently discontinue the administration of cardioplegia in order to complete the surgical procedure is a major drawback of antegrade warm blood cardioplegia. An ischemic time of 15 minutes is generally considered safe based on empirical observation. The aim of this study was the evaluation ...

This study aimed at investigating the effect of myocardial motion on pulsating blood flow distribution of the left anterior descending coronary artery in the presence of atheromatous stenosis. The moving 3D arterial tree geometry has been obtained from conventional x-ray angiograms obtained during the heart cycle and includes a number ...

BACKGROUND: Myocardial blood flow during pharmacological vasodilatation is depressed in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy even the in absence of overt heart failure; the extent of myocardial blood flow abnormalities is not predictable by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and diastolic dimensions. AIMS: To assess whether myocardial blood flow impairment ...

BACKGROUND: Optimal parameters for machine perfusion preservation of hearts prior to transplantation have not been determined. We sought to define regional myocardial perfusion characteristics of a machine perfusion device over a range of conditions in a large animal model. METHODS: Dog hearts were connected to a perfusion device (LifeCradle, Organ ...

Nicotine has been recognized for years as being pharmacologically responsible for the sympathoexcitatory effects of smoking. The effects of nicotine supplementation on myocardial blood flow as assessed by positron emission tomography are, however, unknown. We tested the hypothesis that nicotine substitution could interfere with myocardial blood flow autoregulation at rest ...