Cardiac angiosarcomas are the most common primary malignant cardiac tumors in adults. The diagnosis is often delayed due to nonspecific clinical symptoms at presentation. The cornerstones of diagnosis are echocardiography and the histological evaluation of the cardiac biopsy. The knowledge on the treatment is limited; the outcomes of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, complete surgical removal, and heart transplantation are controversial. We report a 38-year-old woman with a primary heart tumor which infiltrated the right atrial wall and the pericardium and caused pericardial effusion. Angiosarcoma was verified histologically. The surgical excision could not be radical, and the patient died 3 months from diagnosis.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a standard procedure for regional lymph node staging and still has the most important prognostic value for the outcome of patients with thin melanoma. In addition to ulceration, SLNB had to be considered even for a single mitotic figure in thin (<1 mm) melanoma according to AJCC7th guideline, therefore, a retrospective review was conducted involving 403 pT1 melanoma patients. Among them, 152 patients suffered from pT1b ulcerated or mitotic rate ≥ 1/ mm 2 melanomas according to the AJCC7th staging system. SLNB was performed in 78 cases, of which nine (11.5%) showed SLN positivity. From them, interestingly, we found a relatively high positive sentinel rate (6/78-8%) in the case of thin primary melanomas ˂0.8 mm. Moreover, the presence of regression increased the probability of sentinel positivity by 5.796 fold. After reassessing pT stage based on the new AJCC8 th , 37 pT1b cases were reordered into pT1a category. There was no significant relation between other characteristics examined (age, gender, Breslow, Clark level, and mitosis index) and sentinel node positivity. Based on our data, we suggest that mitotic rate alone is not a sufficiently powerful predictor of SLN status in thin melanomas. If strict histopathological definition criteria are applied, regression might be an additional adverse feature that aids in identifying T1 patients most likely to be SLN-positive. After reassessing of pT1b cases according to AJCC8 th regression proved to be independent prognostic factor on sentinel lymph node positivity. Our results propose that sentinel lymph node biopsy might also be considered at patients with regressive thin (˂0.8 mm) melanomas.
Noninvasive body shaping is becoming a growing demand. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the combined treatments of 1064 nm Nd:YAG and 2940 nm Er:YAG in noninvasive lipolysis and skin tightening. Ten females were enrolled, and all women's side of the waist or the lower part of the abdomen were treated. In the first step, the 1064 nm Nd:YAG was used. As a second step, the 2940 nm Er:YAG laser was applied. Each woman was treated four times, once every 2 weeks. The effects were determined by comparative photo documentation, waist circumference measurement, two‐dimensional B‐mode ultrasonography and low‐dose native computer tomography (CT), whereas body fat was monitored with bioelectric impedance. The tissue firmness was measured by ultrasound shear wave elastography. Combined laser treatment significantly reduced waist circumference and total body fat. Ultrasonography has revealed that the treatment considerably decreased fat thickness and improved skin stiffness in the treated region. Subcutaneous fat volume, measured by low‐dose CT, displayed a moderate decrease in the waist region. The combined 1064 nm Nd:YAG and 2940 nm Er:YAG laser treatment results in the reduction of fat tissue and tightens the skin as confirmed by objective measurements.
Skeletal muscle status and its dynamic follow up are of particular importance in the management of several diseases where weight and muscle mass loss and, consequently, immobilization occurs, as in cancer and its treatment, as well as in neurodegenerative disorders. But immobilization is not the direct result of body and muscle mass loss, but rather the loss of the maximal tension capabilities of the skeletal muscle. Therefore, the development of a non-invasive and real-time method which can measure muscle tension capabilities in immobile patients is highly anticipated. Our aim was to introduce and evaluate a special ultrasound measurement technique to estimate a maximal muscle tension characteristic which can be used in medicine and also in sports diagnostics. Therefore, we determined the relationship between the results of shear wave elastography measurements and the dynamometric data of individuals. The measurements were concluded on the m. vastus lateralis. Twelve healthy elite athletes took part in our preliminary proof of principle study—five endurance (S) and seven strength (F) athletes showing unambiguously different muscle composition features, nine healthy subjects (H) without prior sports background, and four cancer patients in treatment for a stage 3 brain tumor (T). Results showed a high correlation between the maximal dynamometric isometric torque (Mmax) and mean elasticity value (E) for the non-athletes [(H + T), (r = 0.795)] and for the athletes [(S + F), (r = 0.79)]. For the athletes (S + F), the rate of tension development at contraction (RTDk) and E correlation was also determined (r = 0.84, p < 0.05). Our measurements showed significantly greater E values for the strength athletes with fast muscle fiber dominance than endurance athletes with slow muscle fiber dominance (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that shear wave ultrasound elastography is a promising method for estimating maximal muscle tension and, also, the human skeletal muscle fiber ratio. These results warrant further investigations with a larger number of individuals, both in medicine and in sports science.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.