Search

Background: Both hypoplastic left heart syndrome and ventriculo‐coronary communication are extremely rare congenital cardiac conditions. Case: The diagnosis of hypoplastic left heart syndrome combined with endocardial fibroelastosis and ventriculo‐coronary communication was made in a pregnant woman at 24 weeks of gestation. Interestingly, unlike diastolic flow from the coronary artery to the left ventricle in typical ventriculo‐coronary communication, this fetus showed a systolic flow from the left ventricle to the coronary artery. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to present only a systolic flow signal in hypoplastic left heart syndrome combined with ventriculo‐coronary communication in prenatal ultrasonography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracheal agenesis is a rare and uniformly lethal congenital malformation. We recently had the opportunity to diagnose prenatally a case of type I tracheal agenesis without fistula in a 22-week-old fetus, in which the hyperechogenicity of the enlarged lungs was associated with ascites, and tracheal dilatation in the lower half. We report the ultrasonographic and autopsy findings and review the literature on this rare condition to contribute to the understanding of type 1 tracheal agenesis without tracheoesophageal fistula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the left ventricular (LV) longitudinal systolic and diastolic function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) by syngo Velocity Vector Imaging (VVI). Methods: Digital dynamic images of 30 DCM patients and 30 healthy subjects were collected; then the longitudinal velocity, strain, and strain rate were measured in systolic early and late diastolic periods, and the time to peak systolic velocity, strain, and strain rate were measured and recorded. The parameters of the two groups were compared. Results: All of the parameters of the DCM were significantly lower than those of the normal group (P < 0.05–0.01), except that the parameter of late diastolic strain was not different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: VVI is a novel noninvasive tool to assess quantitatively and objectively LV regional systolic and diastolic function in patients with DCM; it provides another useful modality for evaluating cardiac function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HER 2/neu is an important oncogene in breast cancer, but the prevalence and significance of HER 2/neu gene amplification in colon cancer have been poorly documented. We have evaluated HER 2/neu gene amplification and protein overexpression in a series of colon cancers to assess the frequency, concordance and clinical significance of these events. HER 2/neu gene copy number was measured in 154 primary colon tumors, 15 liver metastases and matched normal tissues using a quantitative PCR/ligase detection reaction (LDR) technique developed and validated in our laboratory. HER 2/neu copy number was confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in all tumors found to have gene amplification. In an independent and blinded fashion, HER 2/neu expression was assessed in paraffin sections from 139 of the tumor specimens using the HercepTest kit. HER 2/neu gene amplification was observed in 4 (2.4%) of the 169 tumor specimens and in none of the normal tissues. There was no apparent association with stage of disease, tumor grade or patient survival. Among 139 cases evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC), HER 2/neu overexpression was seen in 5 cases (3.6%). There was extremely high concordance (kappa = 0.852) between gene amplification and protein overexpression. The low prevalence of HER 2/neu gene amplification and protein overexpression suggests that this oncogene plays an infrequent role in the development and progression of colon cancer. These data indicate that the primary mechanism of dysregulated HER 2/neu expression in colon cancer, as in breast cancer, is gene amplification. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]