Pulsed-wave tissue Doppler echocardiography for the analysis of fetal cardiac arrhythmias

Rhythm analysis of the fetal heart is hampered by the inability to routinely obtain electrocardiographic recordings of the fetus. Doppler studies of fetal cardiac tissue movements, assessing cardiac movements both qualitatively and quantitatively, have recently been described. We used a conventional high-resolution ultrasound system to obtain rhythm data from pulsed-wave tissue Doppler signals of the fetal heart in normal cardiac rhythm and in a variety of fetal cardiac arrhythmias.

Microvascular response to shock wave application in striated skin muscle

This study aims to quantify by intravital microscopy the microhemodynamic response after extracorporeal shock wave application (ESWA) to the physiologic microcirculation of the mouse dorsal skinfold chamber.

Does a pulsed mode offer advantages over a continuous wave mode for excisional biopsies performed using a carbon dioxide laser?

Animal studies of excisional biopsies have shown less thermal damage when a carbon dioxide (CO(2)) laser (10.6 μm) is used in a char-free (CF) mode than in a continuous-wave (CW) mode. The authors' aim was to evaluate and compare clinical and histopathologic findings of excisional biopsies performed with CW and CF CO(2) laser (10.6 μm) modes.

MicroRNA Expression Array Identifies Novel Diagnostic Markers for Conventional and Oncocytic Follicular Thyroid Carcinomas

Objective:The most difficult thyroid tumors to be diagnosed by cytology and histology are conventional follicular carcinomas (cFTCs) and oncocytic follicular carcinomas (oFTCs). Several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been previously found to be consistently deregulated in papillary thyroid carcinomas; however, very limited information is available for cFTC and oFTC. The aim of this study was to explore miRNA deregulation and find candidate miRNA markers for follicular carcinomas that can be used diagnostically.Design:Thirty-eight follicular thyroid carcinomas (21 cFTCs, 17 oFTCs) and 10 normal thyroid tissue samples were studied for expression of 381 miRNAs using human microarray assays. Expression of deregulated miRNAs was confirmed by individual RT-PCR assays in all samples. In addition, 11 follicular adenomas, two hyperplastic nodules (HNs), and 19 fine-needle aspiration samples were studied for expression of novel miRNA markers detected in this study.Results:The unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis demonstrated individual clusters for cFTC and oFTC, indicating the difference in miRNA expression between these tumor types. Both cFTCs and oFTCs showed an up-regulation of miR-182/-183/-221/-222/-125a-3p and a down-regulation of miR-542-5p/-574-3p/-455/-199a. Novel miRNA (miR-885-5p) was found to be strongly up-regulated (>40-fold) in oFTCs but not in cFTCs, follicular adenomas, and HNs. The classification and regression tree algorithm applied to fine-needle aspiration samples demonstrated that three dysregulated miRNAs (miR-885-5p/-221/-574-3p) allowed distinguishing follicular thyroid carcinomas from benign HNs with high accuracy.Conclusions:In this study we demonstrate that different histopathological types of follicular thyroid carcinomas have distinct miRNA expression profiles. MiR-885-5p is highly up-regulated in oncocytic follicular carcinomas and may serve as a diagnostic marker for these tumors. A small set of deregulated miRNAs allows for an accurate discrimination between follicular carcinomas and hyperplastic nodules and can be used diagnostically in fine-needle aspiration biopsies.

Radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) induces new bone formation in vivo: results of an animal study in rabbits

The aim of this study was to investigate if radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) induces new bone formation and to study the time course of ESWT-induced osteogenesis. A total of 4000 impulses of radial shock waves (0.16 mJ/mm²) were applied to one hind leg of 13 New Zealand white rabbits with the contralateral side used for control. Treatment was repeated after 7 days. Fluorochrome sequence labeling of new bone formation was performed by subcutaneous injection of tetracycline, calcein green, alizarin red and calcein blue. Animals were sacrificed 2 weeks (n = 4), 4 weeks (n = 4) and 6 weeks (n = 5) after the first rESWT and bone sections were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Deposits of fluorochromes were classified and analyzed for significance with the Fisher exact test. rESWT significantly increased new bone formation at all time points over the 6-week study period. Intensity of ossification reached a peak after 4 weeks and declined at the end of the study. New bone formation was significantly higher and persisted longer at the ventral cortex, which was located in the direction to the shock wave device, compared with the dorsal cortex, emphasizing the dose-dependent process of ESWT-induced osteogenesis. No traumata, such as hemorrhage, periosteal detachment or microfractures, were observed by histologic and radiologic assessment. This is the first study demonstrating low-energy radial shock waves to induce new bone formation in vivo. Based on our results, repetition of ESWT in 6-week intervals can be recommended. Application to bone regions at increased fracture risk (e.g., in osteoporosis) are possible clinical indications.