No abstract available.
Anemia* ; Erythropoietin* ; Humans* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pilomatricoma, also known as calcifying epitheliomas of Malherbe is uncommon, benign skin neoplasm that arise from outer root sheath cell of hair follicle or hair follicle of sebaceous glands. In more than half of the cases, pilomatricoma typically involves the head and neck followed by upper extremities and trunk, with the majority occurring in children. The purpose of this study is to analyze the data from the author's experience with head and neck pilomatricoma and to discuss diagnostic and therapeutic management. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A retrospective analysis of the patients of pilomatricoma treated between 1994 and 2004 revealed 21 cases of head and neck pilomatricoma. RESULTS: The typical clinical manifestation of pilomatricoma was non-tender, firm, subcutaneous, and nodular mass. The age range was from 9 months to 62 years (mean 17.4 years). The male-to-female ratio was 4 : 3. The common sites of occurrence were the neck (33%), cheek (24%), suboccipital (14%), preauricular (14%). The size of the mass ranged from 0.5 cm to 3 cm, and the mean was 1.1 cm. CT with contrast enhancement scans revealed densely calcified, mild enhancing and well circumscribed soft tissue densities in subcutaneous tissues. Additionally, MRI with gadolinum enhancement scans revealed partially enhanced, well demarcated and intermediate signal intensity mass lesions. Surgical excision was curative in all cases. CONCLUSION: Pilomatricoma is cutaneous neoplasms that occur commonly in the head and neck region. Even if the preoperative diagnosis may be difficult in some cases, pilomaticoma must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a superficial head and neck mass.
Carcinoma ; Cheek ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Hair Follicle ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; Head* ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neck* ; Pilomatrixoma* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sebaceous Glands ; Skin Neoplasms ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Upper Extremity

A 67-year-old male patient was admitted with an abrupt sudden cardiac death. He represented with an extreme electrical storm of 30 times of ventricular fibrillation (VF) episodes on one day. External shocks were performed to terminate VF. Transient J-wave in the inferior-lateral leads and Brugada electrocardiography pattern on the right precordial leads appeared during the electrical storm. And J-wave disappeared after the termination of electrical storm. We report a case of the appearance of J-wave during electrical storm in a patient with Brugada syndrome.
Brugada Syndrome ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Male ; Shock ; Ventricular Fibrillation

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome and sudden cardiac death. The incidence, causes, pathogenesis, and treatment have not been defined clearly, but spontaneous coronary artery dissection should be considered in young patients without major cardiovascular risk factors or in patients in the peripartum period who present with acute coronary syndrome. The treatment is often challenging. Medical treatment is usually considered, and percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass surgery may be possible in some patients. We herein report two cases of middle-aged males with myocardial infarction who were treated with percutaneous coronary angioplasty.
Adult ; Coronary Artery Disease/*complications/surgery/ultrasonography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/*etiology/surgery/ultrasonography ; *Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Rupture, Spontaneous/surgery/ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) can be a risk factor for development of significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR). We investigated which clinical and echocardiographic parameters were related to severity of functional TR in patients with lone AF. METHODS: A total of 89 patients with lone AF were enrolled (75 +/- 11 years; 48% male): 13 patients with severe TR, 36 patients with moderate TR, and 40 consecutive patients with less than mild TR. Clinical parameters and echocardiographic measurements including right ventricular (RV) remodeling and function were evaluated. RESULTS: Patients with more severe TR were older and had more frequently persistent AF (each p < 0.001). TR severity was related to right atrial area and tricuspid annular systolic diameter (all p < 0.001). The patients with moderate or severe TR had larger left atrial (LA) volume and increased systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) than the patients with mild TR (p = 0.04 for LA volume; p < 0.001 for SPAP). RV remodeling represented by enlarged RV area and increased tenting height was more prominent in severe TR than mild or moderate TR (all p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed type of AF, LA volume, tricuspid annular diameter and tenting height remained as a significant determinants of severe TR. In addition, tenting height was independently associated with the presence of severe TR (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: In patients with lone AF, TR was related to type of AF, LA volume, tricuspid annular diameter and RV remodeling. Especially, tricuspid valvular tethering seemed to be independently associated with development of severe functional TR.
Atrial Fibrillation* ; Echocardiography* ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pulmonary Artery ; Risk Factors ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency*