Sugar and volatile fatty acids dynamic during anaerobic treatment of olive mill wastewater.

Biogas production has been the main route used to exploit olive mill wastewater (OMW), after pretreatment and/or in combination with other effluents, but more recently the production of chemicals and biopolymers by biotechnological routes has deserved increasing attention by the scientific community. The present paper aims to explore the potential of fresh OMW as a source of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and biogas. The time profile of VFAs production and the corresponding sugar consumption was followed by high-performance liquid chromatography, in batch anaerobic assays. The experimental results have revealed the very high potential of the OMW for the production of VFAs, mainly due to the high sugar concentration in the effluent (37.8 g/L) and its complete conversion into VFAs, in a time period of 2-3 days. The most abundant VFAs were acetic (48-50%), n-butanoic (12-27%), iso-pentanoic (12-14%) and propanoic (5-13%). The ratio of VFA containing even and odd carbon chains increased with the reduction in the initial chemical oxygen demand concentration of the samples used in the experiments. The conversion of the VFAs to biogas was inhibited at concentrations of 3.5 g/L of VFAs.

Randomized comparative study of radial artery and right gastroepiploic artery in composite arterial graft for CABG.

OBJECTIVES: Arterial grafts have been used to achieve better long-term results and improve graft patency in coronary artery bypass grafting. Composite graft was proposed to overcome inconveniences of proximal anastomoses to the aorta and increase the use and surgical options of arterial grafts. However, lack of prospective randomized studies with this kind of grafts is evident. We compare the results of composite Y-grafts of the radial artery (RA) and the right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) proximally anastomosed to the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) for CABG, evaluated through angiography, in a prospective randomized study. METHODS: Between August 1998 and November 1999, 60 patients were randomly divided into two groups: group I (GI) received RGEA graft and group II (GII), RA graft. LITA was used to graft the left anterior descending artery and RGEA or RA was placed to obtuse marginal or first diagonal branch. The right coronary artery branches was grafted with saphenous vein graft (SVG) when necessary. All coronary arteries receiving arterial grafts had > or =75% proximal stenosis and diameter > or =1.5 mm. RESULTS: GI and GII preoperative data were similar, 63 distal anastomoses were performed with the LITA, 32 with the RA and 32 with the RGEA. There were two perioperative deaths (3.3%), one in each group, none related to cardiac causes. Four (6.6%) q-wave myocardial infarctions were found and two (3.3%) patients showed low cardiac output syndrome. Angiography was performed in all surviving patients from the 8th to 15th postoperative day and showed a patency rate of 96.5% (56/58) for LITA, 89.6% (26/29) for RA and 68.9% (20/29) for RGEA, with a statistically significant difference between RGEA and RA (P=0.025). CONCLUSIONS: Radial artery had better early results than right gastroepiploic artery. Use of the LITA as inflow graft seems not to affect its good patency. Use of the RGEA as composite graft should not be encouraged. Long-term follow-up with objective investigation and randomized trials is required to confirm better results of composite conduits.

[Subaortic stenosis caused by anomalous chordae tendineae of the mitral valve ("mitral web")]. / Estenose subaórtica por cordas tendíneas anômalas da valva mitral ("mitral web").

Patient with subaortic stenosis due to the insertion of anomalous chordae tendineae of the mitral valve in the interventricular septum (mitral web) associated with mitral stenosis with diagnosis made by bidimensional echocardiographic study with Doppler and confirmed by hemodynamic study. The patient was submitted to surgical treatment. The anomalous cords were resected and the mitral valve with severe malformation was replaced by a bioprosthesis. The patient had a uneventful recovery and echocardiographic evaluation showed an outflow tract without obstruction, with no gradient, with remnants of the papillary muscles and normo-functioning bioprosthesis.

[Surgical treatment of right ventricular fibroma in infants. Report of 2 cases]. / Tratamento cirúrgico de fibroma de ventrículo direito em lactentes. Relato de dois casos.

Two patients under 8 months of age, with right ventricular fibroma, presented with clinical manifestations of pulmonary stenosis. The diagnosis was established in one by echocardiography and in the other by echocardiography. CT scan and angiocardiographic study. The patients were operated and the tumors were successfully resected.

Successful one-stage resection of intravenous leiomyomatosis of the uterus with extension into the heart.

Intravenous leiomyomatosis of the uterus is a rare neoplasm characterized by nodular masses of benign smooth muscles with intraluminal growth to the inferior vena cava and, in some cases, to the heart. It may cause abdominal and cardiovascular symptoms and is a serious risk of death when it reaches the tricuspid valve. Surgery is the best treatment and must be applied as soon as possible using cardiopulmonary bypass. The authors report a new case that had cardiac involvement and was successfully resected. The symptoms, imaging diagnosis, pathological and histopathological findings, tumors that mismatched the intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL), and the use of circulatory arrest and deep hypothermia are discussed. A review of the literature is included.