[Rise of the machines? Left ventricular assist devices for treatment of severe heart failure]. / "Rise of the machines?" Linksventrikuläre Unterstützungssysteme zur Behandlung der schweren Herzinsuffizienz.

The use of left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) as a treatment for severe heart failure has gained momentum in recent years. Even at this stage the number of worldwide LVAD implantations far exceeds the volume of heart transplantations in view of the chronic shortage of donor organs. Third generation continuous flow assist devices have helped to improve survival, quality of life and symptom burden of heart failure patients in comparison to a regimen of optimal medication management. Alongside bridging to transplantation, destination therapy has become an established strategy of LVAD implantation. A careful patient selection process is crucial for a good clinical outcome after device implantation and risk assessment for postoperative right ventricular failure is of particular importance in this context. The rate of hospitalization during LVAD support is still high, despite the step-wise attempts to widen the indications to less severely ill heart failure patients. An effective perioperative and postoperative management will help to lower the incidence of complications (e.g. bleeding, infections, thromboembolic events and right ventricular failure) and to improve the encouraging results of mechanical circulatory support.

[Interventional, intramyocardial stem cell therapy in ischemic cardiomyopathy: update 2010]. / Aktuelle Datenlage zur interventionellen, intramyokardialen Stammzelltherapie bei ischämischer Kardiomyopathie.

BACKGROUND: The intracoronary application of autologous bone marrow cells has proven hitherto to be safe but not sufficiently effective in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. The interventional application of cells injected directly into the myocardium represents one possible approach to improve effectiveness. TECHNIQUES: The NOGA method is based on the CARTO technique, which has been evaluated extensively for safety and feasibility in patients with heart failure. In a first step, an electrically and anatomically exact map of the left ventricle is obtained. Guided by this three-dimensional map direct injection of the cells into the ischemic area can be easily performed. CLINICAL STUDIES: Since its introduction in 2002 many studies have proven the safety, feasibility and effectiveness of NOGA-guided regenerative therapy to the left ventricle. While several studies also suggest effectiveness regarding various parameters of left ventricular function, no larger multicenter study is available to date. Such studies with also clinical endpoints are currently ongoing. CONCLUSION: The currently available data support, but do not yet prove, the hypothesis that intramyocardial stem cell therapy using NOGA-guided injection into the myocardium is safe and feasible in both acute and chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. Ongoing trials will reveal whether this approach will become the standard form for applying cell therapy to the heart.

Influence of vitamin E and C supplementation on lipoprotein oxidation in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Because increased oxidation is an important feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and low concentrations of antioxidant vitamins C and E have been observed in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients, supplementation with these antioxidants might delay the development of AD. Major targets for oxidation in brain are lipids and lipoproteins. We studied whether supplementation with antioxidative vitamins E and C can increase their concentrations not only in plasma but also in CSF, and as a consequence decrease the susceptibility of lipoproteins to in vitro oxidation. Two groups, each consisting of 10 patients with AD, were for 1 month supplemented daily with either a combination of 400 IU vitamin E and 1000 mg vitamin C, or 400 IU vitamin E alone. We found that supplementation with vitamin E and C significantly increased the concentrations of both vitamins in plasma and CSF. Importantly, the abnormally low concentrations of vitamin C were returned to normal level following treatment. As a consequence, susceptibility of CSF and plasma lipoproteins to in vitro oxidation was significantly decreased. In contrast, the supplementation with vitamin E alone significantly increased its CSF and plasma concentrations, but was unable to decrease the lipoprotein oxidizability. These findings document a superiority of a combined vitamin E + C supplementation over a vitamin E supplementation alone in AD and provide a biochemical basis for its use.

Gas sterilization of fiber endoscopes.

Excitants of disease can be transmitted by endoscopes from one patient to another. Owing to their complicated construction and the heat-sensitive material fiber glass endoscopes are difficult to disinfect or sterilize. Of the known procedures of sterilization only gas sterilization with ethylene oxide can be used. Clinical examinations and laboratory experiments demonstrate the reliable efficacy of this procedure of sterilization of fiber glass endoscopes. On account of known risks the indications for gas sterilization are compiled.