Anna Kaczyńska

Electrocardiographic differentiation between acute pulmonary embolism and non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes at the bedside.

Background: Clinical picture of acute pulmonary embolism (APE), with wide range of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities can mimic acute coronary syndromes.

Echocardiographic evaluation of aorto-iliac occlusive disease.

Several studies demonstrated feasibility of visual assessment of the common femoral artery Doppler waveform, in an indirect evaluation of aorto-iliac segment stenosis. Patients with cardiac diseases referred for echocardiography often have coexistent arterial pathology. Since many of them are potential candidates for endovascular procedures, we decided to study, whether echocardiography can be useful for detection of aorto-iliac occlusive disease. We evaluated 92 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm or peripheral artery occlusive disease, referred from the vascular surgery department for cardiac evaluation before surgery. At the end of an echocardiographic examination, evaluation of flow in the distal external iliac arteries with an echocardiographic probe was performed. The Doppler waveform was classified into normal—with early diastolic flow reversal or abnormal—without early diastolic flow reversal. Echocardiographic results were compared in a blinded fashion with reports from computed tomography angiography. Overall there were 58 iliac segments with significant (≥70%) area stenosis or occlusion and 126 iliac segments without significant disease on computed tomography angiography. Abnormal Doppler waveform was found in 56 out of 58 abnormal iliac segments—sensitivity 97%, and normal waveform was found in 106 out of 126 normal iliac segments—specificity 84%. Positive predictive value of abnormal Doppler waveform for significant iliac disease was 74%, and negative predicting value was 98%. Detection of significant stenoses in aorto-iliac segments is feasible with echocardiography. Further studies are necessary to evaluate its potential utility in a population of patients with cardiac disease referred for echocardiographic study.

Right ventricle remodelling and elevated D-dimer concentration in patients 6 months after first episode of acute pulmonary embolism: reply

We appreciate and endorse the work of Dr Pruszcyck et al. in the study of cardiopulmonary damage inflicted by pulmonary embolism (PE). We …

Drug Closure of a Patent Ductus Arteriosus in an Extremely Low Birth Weight Premature Newborn. A Case Report

Abstract The article presents the role of government and non-government organisations in promoting knowledge on Alzheimers disease in Poland and the European Union. There is a detailed analysis of the EU documents and non-government organisations in promoting knowledge on Alzheimers disease in Germany, France and Holland. There is a discussion on the National Alzheimers Plan on the basis of an example of introducing such a plan in Finland. Additionally, the rules of helping people suffering from Alzheimers disease and their attendants in Poland are presented.