We determined the incidence of repetitive ventricular response (RVR) after programmed electrical stimulation and the incidence of spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias during 24 hr Holter monitoring in ...38 patients in whom extensive non-invasive and invasive diagnostic tests had excluded abnormalities suggestive of organic heart disease. A standardized stimulation protocol with single (S1S2) and double (S1S2S3) extrastimuli during ventricular drive at cycle lengths of 600, 500 and 430 msec with a current strength below 5 mA at the right ventricular apex was employed. RVR occurred in 20 patients (58%) after S1S2 and in 30 patients (79%) after S1S2S3 stimulation. Eighteen patients (47%) showed RVR with 2 echo beats and 1 patient had 3 echo beats. RVR was due to bundle branch reentry (BBR) in 20 patients independent of the mode of stimulation. RVR due to intraventricular reentry (IVR) was found in 17 patients (47%) only after S1S2S3 stimulation. The incidence of both BBR and IVR was influenced by the basic ventricular driving rate, decreasing with shorter basic cycle lengths. 17 patients had no ventricular premature depolarizations (VPDs), 12 patients had uniform, 4 multiform (Lown III), 2 consecutive (Lown IVA) VPDs, and 1 patient had parasystolic rhythm. There was no relation to the incidence of repetitive ventricular response. We conclude that in patients without identifiable organic heart disease RVR with more than 2 consecutive beats is rarely found if single and double extrastimuli are employed during ventricular drive. Both bundle branch and intraventricular reentry with one or two echo beats are a common finding in this population without relation to the incidence of spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias.
BACKGROUND: Sarcomas are rare cancers of high heterogeneity. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has been shown to be a prognostic factor for survival in other cancer entities but it is unclear ...whether this applies to sarcoma patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: HRQoL was prospectively assessed in adult sarcoma patients from 2017 to 2020 in 39 German recruiting sites using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQC30). Vital status was ascertained over the course of 1 year. HRQoL domains were analysed by multivariable cox-regressions including clinical and socio-economic risk factors. RESULTS: Of 1102 patients, 126 (11.4%) died during follow-up. The hazard ratio (HR) for global health was 0.73 per 10-point increase (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64–0.85). HR for the HRQoL-summary score was 0.74 (CI 0.64–0.85) and for physical functioning 0.82 (CI 0.74–0.89). There was also evidence that fatigue (HR 1.17, CI 1.10–1.25), appetite loss (HR 1.15, CI 1.09–1.21) and pain (HR 1.14, CI 1.08–1.20) are prognostic factors for survival. CONCLUSION: Our study adds sarcoma-specific evidence to the existing data about cancer survival in general. Clinicians and caregivers should be aware of the relations between HRQoL and survival probability and include HRQoL in routine assessment.
Patch antenna on micromachined silicon Hasch, J.; Haghighi, T.; Schollhorn, C. ...
Digest of Papers. 2004 Topical Meeting onSilicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems, 2004,
2004
Conference Proceeding
A rectangular microstrip patch antenna, realized as a silicon based monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (SIMMWIC), is presented. The antenna was designed for an operating frequency of 122 ...GHz and manufactured on micromachined high resistivity silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. Since direct measurements of the far field pattern of an integrated antenna element are difficult at this frequency, a scaled version of the antenna (with a resonant frequency of about 9.6 GHz) was also manufactured. Far field measurements were performed, to determine the antenna performance and compare with numerical results.
A technique of combined medical and mechanical recanalization was employed in 96 patients with acute transmural myocardial infarction. The mean time between onset of symptoms and admission to ...hospital was 170 +/- 65 min (X +/- SD). After 10 +/- 16 min, 250,000 U streptokinase was administered intravenously for 20 min. Intracoronary thrombolysis was commenced within 38 +/- 14 min. First coronary angiograms demonstrated reperfusion, an open vessel in 25/96 patients (26%). In 15/71 patients (21%) reperfusion occurred during thrombolysis therapy, before mechanical recanalization could be performed. Recanalization was achieved mechanically in 37/71 patients (52%) with occluded coronary vessels. In 8/71 patients (11%) mechanical recanalization failed but the vessel opened during thrombolysis. In 12/96 patients (12%), the coronary vessel remained occluded. Thus, reperfusion could be achieved in 88% of the patients. Reperfusion rate was 76% in the first 38 patients and 95% subsequently. After reperfusion, coronary thrombi were found in 25/96 patients (26%) but dissolved during thrombolysis in 16/25 patients (64%). Peripheral coronary embolism was observed in 3/25 patients (12%). For the whole group, reocclusion occurred in 8/84 patients (10%). By combined medical and mechanical recanalization, the recanalization rate could be increased with low reocclusion rate. Trends showed an improvement in regional and global left ventricular function in patients with anterior myocardial infarction.
The absolute and relative bioavailability of chlorprothixene (CAS 113-59-7, Truxal) was studied in eight healthy male volunteers with three different formulations: solution, suspension and coated ...tablet. An intravenous infusion and an oral aqueous solution served as references. Single doses of 100 mg were administered in a randomized complete-block design with washout periods of two weeks. Serum concentrations of chlorprothixene were assayed using a high-performance liquid chromatographic method with electrochemical detection. After a 1-h infusion period the maximum serum concentration (Cmax) of chlorprothixene was 430 +/- 81 ng/ml (mean +/- S.D.) and subsequently decreased with a terminal elimination half-life (t1/2) of 25.8 +/- 13.6 h. The total serum clearance (Cl) and the apparent volume of distribution at steady state (Vss) were 867 +/- 167 ml/min and 1035 +/- 356 l, respectively. The profiles of the chlorprothixene serum concentration vs. time and the resulting pharmacokinetic parameters were similar for all orally administered formulations. The absolute oral bioavailability of 17% of the solution indicated a marked presystemic metabolism. The bioavailability of chlorprothixene relative to the oral solution was 56.4% with the coated tablet and 67.7% with the suspension. All pharmacokinetic parameters showed wide inter-subject variations, partly attributable to the respective formulation.