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This case report shows unique aneurysm at the left ventricular apex associated with a double-chambered left ventricle (DCLV) in asymptomatic 69-year-old female. The aneurysm was located at the apex of an accessory chamber, which was formed by hypertrophied muscle band and the interventricular septum, along with a pronounced jet flow directed towards the apex aneurysm. These finding suggests that the obstruction at the base of the accessory chamber caused a pressure overload at the apex, ultimately leading to the development of the aneurysm. To best of our knowledge, this is the first case to prove the underlying cause of aneurysm formation in DCLV.

OBJECTIVES: Preoperative identification of the artery of Adamkiewicz can help prevent postoperative spinal cord injury in patients undergoing thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Although several studies have shown the feasibility of evaluating the artery of Adamkiewicz using multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT), no detailed investigations regarding the collateral circulation to the artery of Adamkiewicz have been performed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the collateral circulation to the artery of Adamkiewicz using MDCT in patients with thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms. METHODS: Our institutional review board approved this study. Sixty-four patients with descending thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms associated with the occlusion of the segmental artery from which the artery of Adamkiewicz originated were scanned using 64- or 320-detector row computed tomography. Two independent observers evaluated the MDCT images based on the degree of visualization of the artery of Adamkiewicz and its collateral circulation using a 4-point scale. RESULTS: The average visualization score was 2.8 ± 0.6. In 53 of the 64 (83%) patients, image quality was judged to be diagnostic. MDCT demonstrated 75 collateral pathways to the artery of Adamkiewicz in these 53 patients. Sixty-four of the 75 (85%) pathways were collaterals around the spinal column, and the remaining 11 (15%) pathways were collateral arteries in the thoracic wall. CONCLUSIONS: MDCT revealed the collateral pathways to the artery of Adamkiewicz around the spinal column and in the thoracic wall in 83% of our patients with thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of modified subtraction coronary CT angiography (CCTA) with short breath-holding time in patients who have limited breath-hold capability and severe coronary artery calcification. Methods: 11 patients with a coronary calcium score >400 underwent CCTA using a modified subtraction protocol. All patients were unable to hold their breath for more than 20 s. Subjective image quality using a four-point scale and the presence of significant (>50%) luminal stenosis were assessed for each calcified or stented segment on both conventional CCTA and modified subtraction CCTA images and compared with invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as the gold standard. Results: The mean breath-holding time was 13.0 ± 0.9 s. A total of 35 calcified or stented coronary segments were evaluated. The average image quality was increased from 2.1 ± 0.9 with conventional CCTA to 3.1 ± 0.7 with subtraction CCTA (p < 0.001). The segment-based diagnostic accuracy for detecting significant stenosis according to ICA revealed an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.722 for conventional CCTA and 0.892 for subtraction CCTA (p = 0.036). Conclusion: Modified subtraction CCTA allows the breath-holding time to be shortened to <15 s. As compared with conventional CCTA, modified subtraction CCTA showed improvement in image quality and diagnostic accuracy in patients with limited breath-hold capability and severe calcification. Advances in knowledge: Modified subtraction CCTA can improve the diagnostic accuracy in patients with a high calcium score and patients who are unable to perform long breath-holds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the Accusative with to-infinitive Constructions in English that denote causative meaning, exemplified by She persuaded me to go to the hospital. Based on the five diagnostics, the syntactic structures of such constructions are clarified, and on the basis of two semantic perspectives, the semantic structures of the causative verbs occurring therein are defined. Finally, the issue of how the syntactic structures are derived from the semantic structures is addressed by way of the Lexical Conceptual Structures and the Qualia Structures of four types of causative to-infinitive verbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]