Search

Background To investigate the prevalence and prognostic relevance of cardiac involvement in an ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) population of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) patients. Methods Prospective cohort study of fifty EGPA and forty-one GPA patients in sustained remission without previous in-depth cardiac screening attending our clinical immunology outpatient department. Cardiac screening included clinical evaluation, ECG, 24-hour Holter registration, echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with coronary angiography and endomyocardial biopsy upon indication. Fifty age-, sex- and cardiovascular risk factor-matched control subjects were randomly selected from a population study. Long-term outcome was assessed using all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results A total of 91 AAV-patients (age 60 ± 11, range 63–87 years) were compared to 50-matched control subjects (age 60 ± 9 years, range 46–78 years). ECG and echocardiography demonstrated cardiac abnormalities in 62% EGPA and 46% GPA patients vs 20% controls ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.014, respectively). A total of 69 AAV-patients underwent additional CMR, slightly increasing the prevalence of cardiac involvement to 66% in EGPA and 61% in GPA patients. After a mean follow-up of 53 ± 18 months, presence of cardiac involvement using ECG and echocardiography in AAV-patients showed increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (Log-rank P = 0.015 and Log-rank P = 0.021, respectively). Conclusion Cardiac involvement in EGPA and GPA patients with sustained remission is high, even if symptoms are absent and ECG is normal. Moreover, cardiac involvement is a strong predictor of (cardiovascular) mortality. Therefore, risk stratification using cardiac imaging is recommended in all AAV-patients, irrespective of symptoms or ECG abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A model mixture representative of the plastic waste was established. • Pyrolysis of virgin and polymer mixtures was investigated. • The decomposition process is accelerated with polymer mixtures. • The amount of aromatics is higher than expected for PP/ PE and model mixture. Recovery of plastic waste is becoming crucial since the amount of such waste increases continuously. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of the pyrolysis technique for the recovery of plastic waste. In that frame, the influence of temperature (550°C or 600°C) on the pyrolysis of pure polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was first studied. It is shown that whatever the type of polymer, aromatic compounds are mainly formed and could reach 55wt.-% of the oil fraction for PP and 31wt.-% for PE at 550°C. In a second step, a PP/PE mixture and a model mixture representative of the packaging plastic waste stream were pyrolyzed to investigate the influence of a combination of polymers on the proportions and composition of the different fractions. The pyrolysis of the polymer mixtures shows that, even if the aromatic compounds formed are similar to those obtained for the virgin polymers, the proportion of aromatic compounds is much more important than when the polymers are pyrolyzed alone. Indeed, mixing PE with PP at a 50/50 ratio does not affect the amount of liquid, gas and solid fractions but leads to the formation of a higher quantity of xylene (39 wt-%) at 550°C. The combination of the plastics in the model mixture has also led to a decrease of the amount of waxy compounds. Furthermore, it was shown that a higher amount of aromatics than expected was formed. As a conclusion, this study demonstrates that pyrolysis is an effective technique to recover plastic waste as aromatic compounds for the petroleum industry. In the specific conditions used in this study (proposed model mixture and pyrolysis conditions), it will favor the idea that sorting is not needed to recover plastic waste through pyrolysis since aromatics formation is favored when the stream is composed of a mixture of polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Giant cell myocarditis (GCM) is an uncommon inflammatory heart disease with a rapid progression and a devastating outcome. Its exact cause is unknown, but it has been associated with various inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. The authors report a case where GCM is triggered by a parvovirus B19 (PVB19) infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]