Interrelationships between Peak Strain Dispersion, Myocardial Work Indices, Isovolumetric Relaxation and Systolic-Diastolic Coupling in Middle-Aged Healthy Subjects.

In echocardiography, peak strain dispersion (PSD) is the standard deviation of the time to peak longitudinal strain for each left ventricular (LV) segment during systole. It assesses the coordination and synchrony of LV segment contractility. Global work efficiency (GWE) and global wasted work (GWW) quantify LV myocardial work and, if impaired, the coupling between LV systolic contraction and early relaxation. Isovolumetric relaxation (IVRT) measures the duration of initial LV relaxation, while the ratio of early diastolic recoil to systolic excursion (E'VTI/S'VTI) describes systolic-diastolic coupling. We evaluated these parameters in 69 healthy subjects and found that PSD correlated negatively with GWE (r = -0.49, p < 0.0001) and E'VTI/S'VTI (r = -0.44, p = 0.0002), but positively with GWW (r = 0.4, p = 0.0007) and IVRT (r = 0.53, p < 0.0001). GWE correlated negatively with GWW (r = -0.94, p < 0.0001) and IVRT (r = -0.30, p = 0.0127), but positively with E'VTI/S'VTI (r = 0.3, p = 0.0132). In addition, E'VTI/S'VTI was negatively correlated with GWW (r = -0.35, p = 0.0032) and IVRT (r = -0.36, p = 0.0024). These associations remained significant after adjustment for sex, age and LV mass index of the subjects. In conclusion, there is an interaction between measures of LV asynchrony, myocardial work, diastolic function and its systolic-diastolic coupling in middle-aged healthy subjects. The clinical value of these interactions requires further investigation.

[Co-existence of severe aortic valve stenosis and recoarctation of the aorta treated surgically in childhood]. / Wspolistnienie ciezkiej stenozy aortalnej i restenozy skorygowanej w dziecinstwie koarktacji aorty.

Coarctation of the aorta is treated surgically in most of patients during childhood. However, some of them experience recoarctation in future. A 57 year-old woman suffering from chest pain and decreased activity tolerance was admitted to the cardiac department. Physical examinations, lab tests and cardiovascular imaging revealed severe aortic valve stenosis and insignificant narrowing of the aorta. The patient underwent a surgical replacement of the aortic valve without recoarctation repair.

New methods of pathogenic bacteria elimination.

The growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics calls for the elaboration of new pathogens elimination strategies. Some of these methods are based on the conjugative transfer of recombinant plasmids able to eliminate pathogenic recipients by plasmid run-away replication or by killing activity of plasmid-encoded bacteriocins. Using live bacteria as donors of plasmid vectors carrying killing determinants requires meeting many safety restrictions in order to eliminate potential biohazard.