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Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) can mimic early postoperative sternal wound infections. Steroid therapy is the only method of treatment for this condition, which recognizes the fact that steroids can lead to immunosuppression and potentially inhibit healing after major surgery. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.There are no consensus guidelines on the management of catheter-related right atrial thrombus. We present the case of a 29-year-old female with end-stage renal disease who was found to have a large right atrial thrombus associated with her tunneled dialysis catheter during preoperative workup for renal transplant. She exhibited signs and symptoms of superior vena cava syndrome and NYHA class III congestive heart failure. She was successfully treated with surgical thrombectomy and demonstrated rapid resolution of her symptoms postoperatively. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.BACKGROUND Existing reference data on serum procalcitonin (PCT) in neonates include the effects of respiratory disorders commonly occurring during birth. We aimed to determine new 95% reference intervals in neonates after excluding respiratory failure influence at birth and investigate the effects of gestational age (GA) and respiratory condition at birth on the postnatal transient serum PCT elevation. METHODS Samples were obtained from term and preterm neonates during the first 3 days of life. Neonates were classified into reference, respiratory failure, and bacterial infection groups. In the reference group, correlation between PCT level and GA was investigated. RESULTS The median PCT level within the 95% range during 12-36 h after birth was 1.05 ng/mL (0.14-4.39) in term neonates (143 samples) and 1.01 ng/mL (0.15-4.44) in preterm neonates (95 samples). There was no correlation between GA and serum PCT level during 1-48 h after birth. There was a significant difference in median serum PCT level during 12-36 h after birth between the respiratory failure (9.56 ng/mL) and bacterial infection (49.82 ng/mL) groups in preterm neonates but no difference between term neonates (respiratory failure [6.83 ng/mL] and bacterial infection [7.43 ng/mL]). CONCLUSIONS Respiratory failure is the main effector for the transient elevation in serum PCT levels at 3 days of life. After excluding respiratory failure influence, the chronological pattern and range were highly similar between term and preterm neonates. PCT can be useful for clinicians in distinguishing bacterial infection from respiratory failure, aiding decision on appropriate antibiotic use. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.BACKGROUND AND AIM The efficacy of the superior trans-septal (STS) approach to the mitral valve has been offset by the perceived risks of adverse postoperative events. The aim of this study was to review our experience with using the left atriotomy (LA) and STS approaches in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. METHODS Charts of patients who underwent mitral valve surgery by a single surgeon over a period of 20 years were reviewed retrospectively. A total of 319 patients (aged 42.9 ± 16.2 years) were studied. Surgical operations were carried out through the LA approach in 111 patients, and through the STS approach in 208 patients. RESULTS The two groups were comparable in terms of patients' characteristics, but cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times were longer in the STS approach group (P = .0005). No technical complications related to either approach occurred. Rates of re-exploration for postoperative bleeding, durations of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, in-hospital days, and mortality were comparable in both approaches. Statistical analyses indicated that a patient was more likely to maintain a preoperative sinus rhythm if the LA approach rather than the STS approach was used (P  less then  .05). On the other hand, when the preoperative heart rhythm was atrial fibrillation, no significant difference in perioperative changes in heart rhythm was observed between the two approaches. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that the routine use of the STS approach is not associated with important adverse postoperative outcomes, but is associated with increased incidence of postoperative sinus node dysfunction in patients who were in sinus rhythm preoperatively. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.AIMS A novel quantitative method for rapid Newcastle disease virus (NDV) antibody detection was developed based on an innovative gold immunochromatographic assay with a quantitative immunosensor. METHODS AND RESULTS NDV antibody-detecting test strips containing a two-reaction system and double-test lines (T1, T2) were prepared. The test results were judged according to the signal ratio between the test and control lines as measured by the quantitative immunosensor. The minimum detection limit of the test strips for NDV antibodies was 22 titers. In addition, the assay was highly specific because only NDV antibodies produced visible test lines on the strip. The clinical application of the strips was tested by detecting NDV antibodies in 506 serum samples collected from chickens. The results showed a coincidence of 92.49% with those of the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. CONCLUSIONS The strips were successfully prepared and showed high specificity towards NDV, sensitivity, and stability. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY This study describes a new method for detection of NDV antibody and provides a reference basis for rapid and quantitative monitoring of NDV antibodies. This new method overcomes the limitation of the existing colloidal gold immunochromatography, which only produces qualitative or semi-quantitative results. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.The revolution in next-generation sequencing has brought to light detailed catalogues of genetic variation in both disease patients and the general population (1). As such, when patients with rare neurological disorders of genetic origin are identified and put through a meticulous examination, genetic testing can yield a molecular diagnosis in about 40% of cases, and in some instances 94% (2). selleck chemical The challenge at hand is to maintain high academic standards in our pursuit of new disease-causing variants and effectively distinguish them from rare, potentially functional variants. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.