No abstract

Nephrotic syndrome is associated with a hypercoagulable state and an increased risk of thromboembolic complications. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is a rare complication of nephrotic syndrome, with few cases described in the literature, although the disease may be under-diagnosis. The true incidence of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis may be underestimated because many events are asymptomatic or are not diagnosed in time. Here, we describe the case of a male child, 2 years and 10 months old, with nephrotic syndrome presenting with headache, epileptic seizures and sensory inhibition who was diagnosed with superior sagittal and transverse sinuses thrombosis. An international literature review was performed with a defined search strategy in the PubMed, SciELO and Lilacs databases using the terms ‘nephrotic syndrome’ and ‘cerebral sinovenous thrombosis’. The diagnosis of venous thrombosis should be considered in any patient with nephrotic syndrome who presents with neurological signs and symptoms, as early clinical diagnosis promotes favorable outcomes.

Chronic Chagas' disease cardiomyopathy (CCC) is an often fatal outcome of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, with a poorer prognosis than other cardiomyopathies. CCC is refractory to heart failure treatments, and is the major indication of heart transplantation in Latin America. A diffuse myocarditis, plus intense myocardial hypertrophy, damage and fibrosis, in the presence of very few T. cruzi forms, are the histopathological hallmarks of CCC. To gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of CCC, we analyzed the protein profile in the affected CCC myocardium. Homogenates from left ventricular myocardial samples of end-stage CCC hearts explanted during heart transplantation were subjected to two-dimensional electrophoresis with Coomassie blue staining; protein identification was performed by MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry and peptide mass fingerprinting. The identification of selected proteins was confirmed by immunoblotting. We demonstrated that 246 proteins matched in gels from two CCC patients. They corresponded to 112 distinct proteins. Along with structural/contractile and metabolism proteins, we also identified proteins involved in apoptosis (caspase 8, caspase 2), immune system (T cell receptor ß chain, granzyme A, HLA class I) and stress processes (heat shock proteins, superoxide dismutases, and other oxidative stress proteins). Proteins involved in cell signaling and transcriptional factors were also identified. The identification of caspases and oxidative stress proteins suggests the occurrence of active apoptosis and significant oxidative stress in CCC myocardium. These results generated an inventory of myocardial proteins in CCC that should contribute to the generation of hypothesis-driven experiments designed on the basis of the classes of proteins identified here.

No abstract

Donor shortage is a major limitation of heart transplantation. The use of high risk or marginal donors, donors with minor or correctable heart diseases are alternatives to face this problem. When identified in the evaluation, donors with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPWS) are usually discarded for cardiac transplantation. In the literature, there are eight articles reporting single case of transplantation with donor with this syndrome. In this series, the management of recipient varied: clinical treatment, intraoperative donor heart anomalous band ablation and postoperative ablation. Results were good in all the eight cases. In the present article, we report two cases of cardiac transplantation with donors with WPWS, one treated clinically and the other one submitted to postoperative ablation. Based in the present experience and limited to eight reported cases, it seems that this type of donor heart can be successfully transplanted. It is controversial the management strategy for these patients. Careful evaluation of heart donor should be done regarding the presence of WPWS.