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H1N1 flu causes unusual damage to lungs: studies

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H1N1 flu causes unusual damage to lungs: studies

The new pandemic H1N1 flu may cause blood clots and other unusual damage in the lungs and doctors need to be on the lookout, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Two studies published in the American Journal of Roentgenology show the need to check X-rays and CT scans for unusual features, and also point out swine flu can be tricky to diagnose in some of the sickest patients.

H1N1 flu is causing a pandemic, and while it is not particularly deadly, it is sickening many younger adults and older children who usually escape the worst effects of seasonal flu.

“It is therefore essential that clinicians be able to recognize possible cases of pandemic H1N1 influenza in high-risk groups so that they order the appropriate diagnostic tests, begin specific antiviral therapy, and prepare to provide intensive supportive measures as needed,” Dr. Daniel Mollura of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Maryland and colleagues wrote.

One middle-aged man who died was not diagnosed until after death, but unusual findings on his X-rays may be able to help doctors save other, similar patients.

Mollura’s team found irregularities called ground-glass opacities in the patient’s lungs using a CT scan. Although the patient was severely ill and had a fever, he tested negative for flu and doctors did not treat him for it.

The man died five days after he went into the hospital and the autopsy confirmed he had swine flu. The lung lesions seen on his CT scan matched lung damage done by the virus, Mollura and colleagues said.

In another study in the same journal, CT scans of patients with severe cases of swine flu showed many had pulmonary emboli, which block the arteries in the lungs, a team at the University of Michigan found.

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How broccoli can protect your arteries

in.reuters.com

How broccoli can protect your arteries

It’s long been thought that broccoli is good for your heart, and now British scientists think they know why.

Researchers at Imperial College London have found evidence a chemical in broccoli and other green leafy vegetables could boost a natural defense mechanism that protects arteries from the clogging that can cause heart attacks.

In a study funded by the British Heart Foundation charity and conducted on mice, the researchers found that sulforaphane — a compound occurring naturally in broccoli and other brassicas — could “switch on” a protective protein which is inactive in parts of the arteries vulnerable to clogging.

“We know that vegetables are clearly good for you, but surprisingly the molecular mechanisms of why they are good for you have remained unknown for many years,” said Paul Evans of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College.

“This study provides a possible explanation for how green vegetable consumption can promote a healthy heart.”

Scientists already know that arteries don’t clog up in a uniform way, but that there are bends and branches of blood vessels — where blood flow is disrupted or slower — which are much more prone to the build-up of fatty plaques that cause heart disease.

Evans said his research found that in the more vulnerable areas, a normally protective protein known as Nrf2 is inactive.

“What our study showed was that sulforaphane can protect those regions by switching on the Nrf2,” he said.

The research, reported in the journal Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, was conducted using purified sulforaphane, not broccoli. Researchers said the next step was to test the effect of the chemical as it is found in vegetables.

We now need to go and test this with broccoli smoothies, as it were, and compare that with the effect of purified sulforaphane,” Evans said, adding that if the vegetable form proved less effective, there could be an argument for taking sulforaphane in pill form.

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Heart valve surgery – operation for replacement heart valves

Heart valve surgery – operation for replacement heart valves

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heart valves maintain the unidirectional flow of blood in the heart by opening and closing depending on the difference in pressure on each side. They are mechanically similar to reed valves.

Atrioventricular valves

These are small valves that prevent backflow from the ventricles into the atria during systole. They are anchored to the wall of the ventricle by chordae tendineae, which prevent the valve from inverting.

The chordae tendineae are attached to papillary muscles that cause tension to better hold the valve. Together, the papillary muscles and the chordae tendineae are known as the subvalvular apparatus. The function of the subvalvular apparatus is to keep the valves from prolapsing into the atria when they close. The subvalvular apparatus have no effect on the opening and closure of the valves, however. This is caused entirely by the pressure gradient across the valve.

The closure of the AV valves is heard as the first heart sound

Echocardiography — The echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. Using standard ultrasound techniques, two-dimensional slices of the heart can be imaged. 

Heart — The heart is a hollow, muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similareart. Veins form part of the circulatory system. The vessels that carry blood …

Vein — In biology, a vein is a blood vessel which carries blood toward the heart. Veins form part of the circulatory system

The tricuspid valve is the three flapped valve on the right side of the heart, between the right atrium and the right ventricle which stops the backflow of blood between the two. It has three cusps.

Semilunar valves

These are located at the base of both the pulmonary trunk (pulmonary artery) and the aorta, the two arteries taking blood out of the ventricles. These valves permit blood to be forced into the arteries, but prevent backflow of blood from the arteries into the ventricles. [1] These valves do not have chordae tendineae, and are more similar to valves in veins than atrioventricular valves.

Aortic valve

Main article: aortic valve

The aortic valve lies between the left ventricle and the aorta. The aortic valve has three cusps. During ventricular systole, pressure rises in the left ventricle. When the pressure in the left ventricle rises above the pressure in the aorta, the aortic valve opens, allowing blood to exit the left ventricle into the aorta. When ventricular systole ends, pressure in the left ventricle rapidly drops. When the pressure in the left ventricle decreases, the aortic pressure forces the aortic valve to close. The closure of the aortic valve contributes the A2 component of the second heart sound (S2).

The most common congenital abnormality of the heart is the bicuspid aortic valve. In this condition, instead of three cusps, the aortic valve has two cusps. This condition is often undiagnosed until the person develops calcific aortic stenosis. Aortic stenosis occurs in this condition usually in patients in their 40s or 50s, an average of over 10 years earlier than in people with normal aortic valves.

Pulmonary valve

Main article: pulmonary valve

The pulmonary valve (sometimes referred to as the pulmonic valve) is the semilunar valve of the heart that lies between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery and has three cusps. Similar to the aortic valve, the pulmonary valve opens in ventricular systole, when the pressure in the right ventricle rises above the pressure in the pulmonary artery. At the end of ventricular systole, when the pressure in the right ventricle falls rapidly, the pressure in the pulmonary artery will close the pulmonary valve.

The closure of the pulmonary valve contributes the P2 component of the second heart sound (S2). The right heart is a low-pressure system, so the P2 component of the second heart sound is usually softer than the A2 component of the second heart sound. However, it is physiologically normal in some young people to hear both components separated during inhalation.

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