Aortic thrombus and multiple embolisms during a Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

We report the case of a patient who presented with a thrombus of the aortic arch complicated with splenic, renal and peroneal artery embolisms, associated with transient lupus anticoagulant, during a Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. The outcome was good under antibiotic and anticoagulant treatment. We also review the medical literature on M. pneumoniae-related thromboses.

A new microfluidic device for electric lysis and separation of cells.

This paper demonstrates the potential use of a new microfluidic device embedding thick electrodes for cell lysis and cell separation applications. The system consists of a microfluidic channel featuring conductive walls made of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix mixed with carbon nanoparticles. Cell lysis was performed electrically by applying square pulses across the channel width, which was monitored by fluorimetry. Lysed and unlysed cells showed different dielectrophoretic behavior under appropriate experimental conditions, which suggests that the developed device is suitable to perform both cell lysis and subsequent sorting of viable and dead cells.

[Are very old patients good candidates for percutaneous coronary intervention? A monocentric retrospective study]. / Les patients très âgés sont-ils de bons candidats à l'angioplastie coronaire? Une étude rétrospective monocentrique.

AIM: To determine the feasibility of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in very old patients. BACKGROUND: The elderly are a growing population with a high prevalence of ischemic heart disease and then subsequent possibility to benefit from coronary interventions. METHOD: We have conducted a retrospective study using our PCI database since January 2000. Population characteristics, clinical presentation, type of lesions, technical procedure, immediate results and in hospital outcome are compare between patients older than 85 and the other. RESULTS: Between January 2008 and March 2009, 3130 patients benefit from coronary angioplasty. Among them, 85 patients were older than 85. There were more female in this group (24.7 vs. 14.3%, P=0.007), but no difference in cardiovascular risk profile. The older was more symptomatic (acute coronary syndrome: 59.52 vs. 44%, P=0.004; silent ischemia: 3.6 vs. 25.7%, P=0.000003). The ejection fraction was worse (EF<55%: 29.4 vs. 14.5%, P=0.0001). The lesion was more complex (B2 and C: 67.2 vs. 57.1% P=0.027) and concern more often the left descending artery (85.9 vs. 57.1%, P=0.000001). The technical success was similar in the two groups (93.28 vs. 94.32%, P=0.34) with similar rate of per procedure complications (2.35 vs. 1.5%, P=0.37). Nevertheless, the in-hospital rate mortality was higher in the older patients (7 vs 1.38%, P=0.0014). CONCLUSION: PCI is safe and safety in very old patients despite significant but acceptable increasing in-hospital mortality due to more severe disease and co morbidities. Further evaluations are necessary in order to edict specific recommendations.

[Cardiac damage due to scorpion envenomation: case involving atrial flutter]. / Envenimation scorpionique avec atteinte cardiaque: à propos d'une observation de flutter atrial.

The purpose of this report is to describe a case of scorpion envenomation observed in northern Chad in a 24-year-old-man with no medical history. The victim rapidly developed supraventricular arrhythmia due to catecholaminergic storm induced by the neurotoxic activity of the venom. Cardiomyopathy that can lead to fatal acute heart failure is a risk after scorpion envenomation. Heart damage is observed in 1% of scorpion envenomation cases and can result from several mechanisms, i.e., adrenergic myocarditis (as in the patient herein), toxic myocarditis or myocardial ischemia. Few articles describing supraventricular arrhythmia following scorpion envenomation have been published. It is paroxystic and regresses spontaneously in case of transient catecholaminergic storm. Occurrence of atrial flutter, even if not associated with heart failure, is an indication of severe scorpion envenomation and requires close patient monitoring and symptomatic treatment using betablocking drugs. The efficacy of specific treatment for scorpion envenomation, i.e., immunotherapy, remains controversial.