Death-related Events Research Articles

In-Hospital and Midterm Outcomes of Lead Extraction: A Single-Center Clinical Study

Background: The rate of lead extraction has steadily increased alongside the extensive use of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices. Data on the complications and safety of this challenging procedure are limited. We investigated in-hospital and midterm outcomes following lead extraction. Methods: Data were retrieved from 51 patients who underwent pacemaker/defibrillator lead extraction procedures at Tehran Heart Center between 2016 and 2021. The procedural success rate, patients’ demographic characteristics, and in-hospital and midterm procedure-related complications were investigated. Results: Fifty-one patients were enrolled, including 44 men (86.3%). A total of 109 leads were extracted, with a 90.2% complete procedural success rate. In-hospital death occurred in 4 patients (7.8%): 1 patient (1.9%) died from pneumonia, 1 (1.9%) from septic shock, and 2 (3.9%) from septic shock besides heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia. Adverse events in 3 patients (5.8%) were directly related to the procedure: 1 patient (1.9%) suffered lung laceration and hemorrhage, 1 (1.9%) sustained subclavian injury, and 1 (1.9%) developed tamponade. Neither reinfection nor rehospitalization was observed during follow-up. Conclusion: Lead extraction can be considered a highly successful procedure with a low rate of death-related events and complications.

Clinical outcomes of MANTA closure device in percutaneous endovascular aortic aneurysm repair

ObjectiveThe MANTA device is a plug-based vascular closure device (VCD) designed for large bore femoral arterial access site closure. It showed promising results in transcatheter aortic valve replacement cases. In this study, we report our results and evaluate the MANTA VCD in percutaneous endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (pEVAR). MethodsAll data of consecutive patients who underwent an elective pEVAR between October 2018 and December 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. In all patients at least one common femoral artery was intended to close with the MANTA VCD. Depending on the sheath size, the 14Fr or 18Fr MANTA VCD was used. On the preoperative computed tomography scan, the diameter of the common femoral artery (CFA) was measured and the amount of calcification based on the Peripheral Arterial Calcium Scoring System (PACSS) was scored. Primary outcome was procedural technical success. Procedural technical success was defined as placement of the MANTA closure device resulting in vascular closure with patent CFA, without requiring immediate open or endovascular surgery. The secondary outcomes were access site complications requiring reintervention and all-cause mortality at 30-day follow-up. ResultsIn total, 152 consecutive patients underwent pEVAR with 291 common femoral artery closure procedures with the Manta VCD. Mean age was 74.1 ± 6.4 years, with a mean body mass index of 27.7 ± 4.4 kg/m2. The mean diameter of the CFA was 10.5 ± 1.9 mm. In 52.6% of the cases, there were no calcification on the preoperative computed tomography scan. The 18Fr and 14Fr Manta VCD were used 169 and 122 times, respectively. The technical success rate was 96.6%. Major vascular complications were reported in 4.5% of the cases, without any death-related events. ConclusionsThis single-center retrospective cohort study analyzed the procedural technical success, major vascular complications and all-cause mortality at 30-day follow-up of the MANTA vascular closure device in 152 pEVAR patients with 291 common femoral artery closure procedures. The technical success rate was 96,6%. Major vascular complications were reported in 4.5% of the cases, without any death related events. We concluded that the MANTA device is a safe and feasible option with a high rate of technical success in patients undergoing pEVAR.

Hemodynamic Changes in Patients with Chronic Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion After Recanalization.

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and clinical efficacy of endovascular recanalization in patients with chronic internal carotid artery occlusion (CICAO) and explore the application value of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) in endovascular recanalization. This non-randomized controlled study included 41 patients with CICAO. All patients received active medical treatment. In this study, patients with successful endovascular recanalization and those who refused endovascular recanalization were included in the recanalization and medication groups, respectively. Before and 90 days after treatment, cognitive function was evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Function Assessment, and neurological function was evaluated using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin scale. For patients with successful endovascular recanalization, brain CTP imaging was performed to evaluate hemodynamic changes in patients with CICAO before and three days after treatment. Overall, 41 symptomatic patients with CICAO were included, and 20 patients received endovascular recanalization therapy, with a success rate of 60% (12/20). The perioperative complication rate was 15% (3/20); there were no events such as hyperperfusion, distal embolism, vascular rupture, or cerebral hemorrhage, and no stroke-related or death-related events. Patients were divided into a medication group (n=21) and recanalization group (n=12). After 90 days of follow-up, patients in the recanalization group showed greater improvement in overall cognitive and neurological function. In addition, successful endovascular recanalization significantly improved cerebral blood perfusion on the occluded side of patients with CICAO. Successful recanalization can effectively improve the overall cognitive and neurological functions of patients in the short term. CTP can be used to quantitatively evaluate not only the cerebral hemodynamic changes after internal carotid artery occlusion but also the improvement of cerebral blood perfusion after successful endovascular recanalization, which provides a reliable method for postoperative follow-up.

Death-coping self-efficacy and its influencing factors among Chinese nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Nurses are the main caregivers of dying patients. Facing or dealing with death-related events is inevitable. Death-coping self-efficacy (DCS) is very important, as it can reduce the risk of nursing staff to adverse emotional distress, help them participate in end-of-life care and improve the quality of care of patients. Using the convenient sampling method, this study included a total of 572 nurses from a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou, China. The status and influencing factors of the DCS of nurses were explored using a general information questionnaire and DCS scale. The scores of each parameter, ranging from low to high, were in the order of coping with grief, preparation for death and hospice care. Factors influencing nurses' DCS included attendance in hospice care education courses within the previous year, experience of accompanying the family members of the deceased and attitude towards death. The overall self-efficacy of nurses in palliative care was at a medium level. Moreover, their self-efficacy in coping with grief and preparation for death should be strengthened. Managers of medical institutions can assess the death-coping ability of nurses, which helps provide corresponding support and training for nurses at an early stage. Nurses should receive guidance in grief adjustment and emotion regulation. Medical units should provide nurses with a platform for continuous training and education, use of death-related theoretical models and frameworks to guide nurses in dealing with death-related events, reduce nurses' negative mood and jointly promote their mental health.

Facing a Real Threat of Death: Dynamic Changes in Death-Thought Accessibility

PurposeThis study explored the relationship between emotion and death-thought accessibility (DTA) in individuals experiencing true mortality salience (MS), specifically, patients with cancer.Patients and MethodsThe study included 255 participants; among them, 132 patients had cancer and represented the MS group, and 123 had dental pain and served as a control group. Participants completed the Projective Diseases Attitude Assessment Questionnaire to induce priming, completed an affect scale, completed one of four calculation tasks as manipulation of cognitive load (all four were done over several sessions), and performed a Pinyin-Chinese characters exercise to measure DTA.ResultsMS was associated with strong negative emotional arousal. When these negative emotions are generated, they enter an individual’s consciousness and activate proximal defense mechanisms. At this point, DTA can be measured. Patients with cancer had significantly higher levels of DTA in the high-frequency cognitive load condition than in the other three conditions (no task, simple delay task, and single cognitive load task). Patients with dental pain had significantly higher levels of DTA in the no task and simple delay conditions than in the single cognitive load or high-frequency cognitive load conditions. This study also found that negative experiences without MS (specifically, dental pain) are associated with higher levels of DTA.ConclusionThese findings suggest that in addition to death-related events, both negative and stress-inducing events can produce DTA.

Vocal Behaviour of a Bottlenose Dolphin Pod during a Deadly Bycatch Event in the Gulf of Catania, Ionian Sea

Cetacean bycatch is increasing worldwide and poses a threat to the conservation of several delphinids. The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is frequently involved in bycatch incidents, due to its coastal distribution and opportunistic behaviour. The acoustic behaviour of cetaceans during death-related events is a largely unexplored topic. During an acoustic monitoring survey of the bottlenose dolphin population inhabiting the Gulf of Catania (Ionian Sea), we documented the entangling and subsequent death of a sub-adult male in a fishing net. Here, we provide a detailed analysis of the vocal behaviour of the pod of bottlenose dolphins during the event. We identified a total of 720 vocalisations in a timespan of 138 min, including 436 signature whistles, 51 non-signature whistles, and 233 burst pulses. We recorded high vocal activity, with a peak characterised by emission rates of 36 signature whistles per minute and 70 burst pulses per minute. Although future studies are required, our results show massive vocal activity during net entangling, characterised by a significant emission of signature whistles and burst pulses, including bray series of gulps and squeaks. Therefore, we suggest that developing tools for automatically detecting the peaks of these sound types could be helpful in recognising bycatch events, in order to better quantify the impact of professional fishing on small cetaceans.

Death education and photovoice at school: A workshop with Italian high school students

The study shows the effects of a death education workshop with Italian high school students. Students (N = 416) from 10 high schools throughout Italy participated: 212 in the experimental group and 204 in the control group. Four weekly, two-hour workshops about the themes of death, with theoretical lessons and an experiential artistic activity of photovoice. Results show that the students in the experimental group showed significantly increased self-efficacy levels and existential anxiety levels did not increase after death education intervention. Educating youth about death could give them the skills to improve the management of death-related events and cope with negative emotions.

Mortality and causes of death among people with convulsive epilepsy in northwestern China

ObjectiveWe analyzed mortality and causes of death among people with convulsive epilepsy in rural areas of northwestern China. MethodsWe established a population-based prospective cohort of people with convulsive epilepsy in an epilepsy prevention and management program in rural northwestern China from January 2012 to December 2013. A uniform cause of death questionnaire was used to obtain detailed information on participants who died during the follow-up until December 2016. We calculated the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and proportional mortality rate for major causes of death. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors associated with mortality. ResultsAmong 4296 people with convulsive epilepsy, 216 died during a median follow-up of 59 months. The overall mortality rate was 10.9 per 1000 person-years, and the overall SMR was 2.0. Accidents (25.5%) ranked first in the cause of death, followed by status epilepticus (SE) (22.9%), probable sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) (22.7%), cerebrovascular disease (13.0%), and cardiovascular disease (6.5%). Drowning (10.6%), motor vehicle accidents (13.6%), and falls (4.6%) were the major causes of death by accidents. Female participants had a reduced risk of death from accidents with the hazard ratio (HR) of 0.3 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1–0.6). A high risk of death from cerebrovascular disease (HR: 7.2; 95% CI: 2.1–23.6) was found in participants with an onset age of epilepsy older than 16 years. SignificanceThe risk of death from convulsive epilepsy in rural northwestern China is twice that of the general population. Accidents, SE, and SUDEP are the leading putative causes of death. Educating people with epilepsy in different regions may help reduce death-related events.

Prediction of cardiac arrest in critically ill patients based on bedside vital signs monitoring

PurposeCardiac arrest (CA) is the most serious death-related event in critically ill patients and the early detection of CA is beneficial to reduce mortality according to clinical research. This study aims to develop and verify a real-time, interpretable machine learning model, namely cardiac arrest prediction index (CAPI), to predict CA of critically ill patients based on bedside vital signs monitoring. MethodsA total of 1,860 patients were analyzed retrospectively from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III) database. Based on vital signs, we extracted a total of 43 features for building machine learning model. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) was used to develop a real-time prediction model. Three-fold cross validation determined the consistency of model accuracy. SHAP value was used to capture the overall and real-time interpretability of the model. ResultsOn the test set, CAPI predicted 95% of CA events, 80% of which were identified more than 25 min in advance, resulting in an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.94. The sensitivity, specificity, area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) and F1-score were 0.86, 0.85, 0.12 and 0.05, respectively. ConclusionCAPI can help predict patients with CA in the vital signs monitoring at bedside. Compared with previous studies, CAPI can give more timely notifications to doctors for CA events. However, current performance was at the cost of alarm fatigue. Future research is still needed to achieve better clinical application.

The Safety and Efficacy of Pomalidomide in Combination with Cyclophosphamide and Dexamethasone (PCD) in the Transplant-Ineligible Patients with Relapsed and/or Refractory Multiple Myeloma (MM) Who Had Lenalidomide Plus Dexamethasone (LD) Following Frontline Bortezomib Combined Chemotherapy, Open-Labeled, Multicenter Phase II Study

Background : Bortezomib, melphalan and prednison is most commonly used as frontline treatment in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) who were ineligible for high-dose therapy in Korea. The second-line lenalidomide plus dexamethasone can be tried when the bortezomib-containing treatment failed to salvage the patients. Patients who have relapsed MM after exposure to the above agents and have progressive disease have a short life expectancy. Tolerable third-line therapy is needed for retrieving elderly patients hereafter. Therefore, a clinical trial in which the efficacy and safety of the completely oral regimen, pomalidomide, cyclophosphamide and prednisone (PCD) were combined for treatment failure in both bortezomib and lenalidomide was conducted in Korea.Methods : This clinical trials began in June 2015 and the study protocol was approved by the institutional review board of each participating fourteen hospital. The treatment scheme was pomalidomide 4mg day 1-21, dexamethasone 40mg once weekly and oral cyclophosphamide 400mg day 1, 8, 15. And then the dose of dexamethasone can be reduced when at least a minimal response is achieved after 3 months of treatment with the initial dose. Three months later (6 months after the initial treatment), the response remains in stable disease, second dose reduction (dexamethasone 10mg or prednisone 50mg) will be carried out. The first objective of the study is progression free survival (PFS), and the second is overall survival (OS), overall response rates (ORR), duration of response, toxicities. The enrolled patients were ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation and must be relapse refractory to initial therapy with bortezomib, melphalan and prednison and then lenalidomide plus dexamethasone.Results : This study is currently underway and 49 out of 55 target registered subjects (89%) are registered. During this time, 6 died, and 14 patients were discontinued due to progression of disease. Four patients had discontinued medication due to side effects, and three patients had withdrawal of consent and failed follow-up. Currently, 19 patients are taking clinical trial drugs. Six deaths were reported: 2 septic shocks, 1 heart failure, 1 colonic perforation, and 2 pneumonia. However, the number of death-related events was associated with the severity of neutropenia associated with the initial cyclophosphamide doses at the beginning of the study and the deaths due to sepsis or pneumonia. Subsequently, the doses of cyclophosphamide were actively reduced according to the blood test results, and Since then, there have been few deaths. To date, the results of the intermediate response evaluation were confirmed as CR (10.4%), VGPR (8.3%), PR (37.5%) and MR (14.5%). The ORR including PR was 56.2% and the ORR including MR was 70.7%. The survival analysis results of this study have not yet been confirmed.Conclusions : The Phase 2 clinical trials are ongoing to confirm the efficacy and safety of PCD in relapsed and/or refractory MM. The results of the response evaluation and the survival analysis will be reported with the final analysis results after the completion of the further study. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Attitudes toward and Perceptions of Educational Needs for End-of-Life Care among Health Professions Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

ContextTo provide effective end-of-life care education for health professions students, it is important to understand students’ views of death in addition to their perceptions of educational needs and preferences. However, there is a lack of studies addressing interindividual variability in perceptions of end-of-life care educational needs among health professions students. ObjectivesThis study aimed to identify latent profiles of perceptions of end-of-life care educational needs among health professions students and examine whether the demographic characteristics, death-related events, death attitude, and death anxiety differed by need subgroup. MethodsThrough convenience sampling, health professions students from three universities in China were recruited between March 2020 and June 2020. Data were collected using a demographic information and death-related experience questionnaire, the End-of-Life Care Curriculum Needs Questionnaire, the End-of-Life Care Educational Needs Questionnaire, the Death Attitudes Profile-Revised, and the Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. ResultsA total of 1048 students completed the survey. Two classes of perceptions of end-of-life care educational needs were identified: approximately 29.80% of students belonged to a medium-need group class (1), and 70.20% belonged to a high-need group class (2). Being female and having knowledge of end-of-life care significantly increased the probability of membership in class 2. Students with the two latent profiles reported having varied curriculum needs. In addition, a positive attitude toward death and low death anxiety increased the probability of membership in class 1. ConclusionTwo classes of perceptions of end-of-life care educational needs were identified, and these classes were significantly associated with sex and death-related knowledge (P < 0.05). Interindividual variability should be considered in the future development of end-of-care curricula.

ADAPTED TO FEAR: FEARLESSNESS ABOUT DEATH IS ASSOCIATED WITH HEART RATE VARIABILITY

Objective: Capability for suicide, which refers to an individual's ability to enact potentially lethal harm to oneself and overcome the fear of dying, is an empirically supported component of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide. Although an abundance of research has examined capability for suicide through the use of self-report data, little research has assessed specific psychophysiological mechanisms that may contribute to capability for suicide. We assessed relationships between capability for suicide (fearlessness about death and pain tolerance), high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV), and subjectively reported fear during a death related event. Given that greater HRV is associated with calmness and lack of distress, we predicted that HRV during a fearful event would be positively associated with the capability for suicide.Method: Data were collected from 101 undergraduates. Participants self-reported fearlessness about death and had their pain tolerance assessed with an algometer. HF HRV was assessed prior to, during, and following a film-viewing task designed to elicit fear of death.Results: Correlations revealed that fearlessness about death was negatively associated with self-reported fear during the film viewing and positively associated with self-reported and objective pain tolerance. Linear regressions found that fearlessness about death, but not self-reported or objective pain tolerance, was positively associated with HF HRV during the film-viewing and recovery.Discussion: During a fearful, death related event, greater HF HRV was associated with greater fearlessness about death, suggesting that HF HRV may represent one possible mechanism through which fearlessness about death is maintained.

Latcripin-7A, derivative of Lentinula edodes C91-3, reduces migration and induces apoptosis, autophagy, and cell cycle arrest at G1 phase in breast cancer cells.

Due to the high mortality rate and an increase in breast cancer incidence, it has been challenging for researchers to come across an effective chemotherapeutic strategy with minimum side effects. Therefore, the need for the development of effective chemotherapeutic drugs is still on the verge. Consequently, we approached a new mechanism to address this issue. The naturally available peptide named latcripin-7A (LP-7A), extracted from a mushroom called Lentinula edodes, provided us promising results in terms of growth arrest, apoptosis, and autophagy in breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). Expressions of protein markers for apoptosis, autophagy, and cell cycle were confirmed via Western blot analysis. Migration and invasion assays were performed to analyze the anti-migratory and anti-invasive properties of LP-7A, while cell cycle analysis was performed via flow cytometry to evaluate its affect over cell growth. Supportive assays were performed like acridine orange, Hoechst 33258 stain, DNA fragmentation, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) to further confirm the anticancer effectof LP-7A on breast cancer cell lines. It is concluded that LP-7A effectively reduces migration and promotes apoptosis as well as autophagy in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines by inducing cell growth arrest at G0/G1 phase and decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential without adverse effects on MCF-10A normal breast cells. KEY POINTS: • In this study, we have investigated the anti-cancer activity of novel latcripin-7A (LP-7A), a protein extracted as a result of de novo characterization of Lentinula edodes C91-3. • We conclude in our research work that LP-7A can initiate diverse cell death-related events, i.e., apoptosis and autophagy in both triple-positive and triple-negative breast cancer cell lines by interacting with different nodes of cellular signaling that can further be investigated in vivo to gain a better understanding.

Now I Am Dead

Now I am Dead (2018) takes an unexpected turn which transforms the narrative from meta-critical docufiction into an immersive tale. Anthropologist Isabel Bredenbröker and director Philipp Bergmann had planned to explore the status quo of the ethnographic encounter through the lens of Isabel’s research on death in a Ghanaian town. Shortly after their arrival in Ghana, in the midst of filming, Isabel’s grandfather dies in Germany. Baffled by the coincidence, in between assisting an undertaker, visiting the morgue, attending funerals and inspecting cemeteries, she asks for advice. How to react to the death of a far-away family member whilst shooting a film on death in West Africa? Help comes from friends and collaborators: an undertaker, a neighbour, a research assistant and friend, a priest. A second narrative streak in which the grandfather is commemorated in town develops alongside other death-related events, such as the picking up of a soul or the dressing and treatment of dead bodies. The perspective of the foreign visitor is tragicomically inverted and incorporated into a local perspective. The distinction between the other culture and one’s own gets blurred, just as the threshold between life and death can be experienced in a playful way.

Development of a Real-Time Risk Prediction Model for In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Critically Ill Patients Using Deep Learning: Retrospective Study.

BackgroundCardiac arrest is the most serious death-related event in intensive care units (ICUs), but it is not easily predicted because of the complex and time-dependent data characteristics of intensive care patients. Given the complexity and time dependence of ICU data, deep learning–based methods are expected to provide a good foundation for developing risk prediction models based on large clinical records.ObjectiveThis study aimed to implement a deep learning model that estimates the distribution of cardiac arrest risk probability over time based on clinical data and assesses its potential.MethodsA retrospective study of 759 ICU patients was conducted between January 2013 and July 2015. A character-level gated recurrent unit with a Weibull distribution algorithm was used to develop a real-time prediction model. Fivefold cross-validation testing (training set: 80% and validation set: 20%) determined the consistency of model accuracy. The time-dependent area under the curve (TAUC) was analyzed based on the aggregation of 5 validation sets.ResultsThe TAUCs of the implemented model were 0.963, 0.942, 0.917, 0.875, 0.850, 0.842, and 0.761 before cardiac arrest at 1, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 hours, respectively. The sensitivity was between 0.846 and 0.909, and specificity was between 0.923 and 0.946. The distribution of risk between the cardiac arrest group and the non–cardiac arrest group was generally different, and the difference rapidly increased as the time left until cardiac arrest reduced.ConclusionsA deep learning model for forecasting cardiac arrest was implemented and tested by considering the cumulative and fluctuating effects of time-dependent clinical data gathered from a large medical center. This real-time prediction model is expected to improve patient’s care by allowing early intervention in patients at high risk of unexpected cardiac arrests.

Towards a pro-resolving concept in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease with prominent chronic inflammatory aspects. SLE most often affects women (9:1) in childbearing age. The multifactorial nature of the etiopathogenesis of SLE involves a deficient clearance of dead and dying cells. This is supported by the occurrence of autoantibodies directed against autoantigens modified in dying and dead cells (dsDNA, high mobility group box 1 protein, apoptosis-associated chromatin modifications, e.g., histones H3-K27-me3; H2A/H4 AcK8,12,16; and H2B-AcK12) that are deposited in various tissues, including skin, kidneys, joints, muscles, and brain. The subsequent hyperinflammatory response often leads to irreparable tissue damage and organ destruction. In healthy individuals, dead and dying cells are rapidly removed by macrophages in an anti-inflammatory manner, referred to as efferocytosis. In SLE, extensive and prolonged cell death (apoptosis, necrosis, neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation) leads to autoantigens leaking out of the not cleared cell debris. These neo-epitopes are subsequently presented to B cells by follicular dendritic cells in the germinal centers of secondary lymphoid tissues conditioning the break of self-tolerance. Activation of autoreactive B cells and subsequent production of autoantibodies facilitate the formation of immune complexes (ICs) fueling the inflammatory response and leading to further tissue damage. ICs may also be ingested by phagocytes, which then produce further pro-inflammatory cytokines. These processes establish a vicious circle that leads to sustained inflammation. This review highlights the cell death-related events in SLE, the protagonists involved in SLE pathogenesis, the resolution of inflammation in various tissues affected in SLE, and explores strategies for intervention to restore hemostasis in a hyperinflammatory state.

External Iliac Artery to Tibial Arteries Vein Graft for Inaccessible Femoral Artery

An endovascular-first approach to limb salvage and relief from lifestyle-limiting claudication is widely accepted. Stenosis or short occlusion of common, superficial femoral, and popliteal arteries can be corrected with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) with stent positioning. Patency rates of these procedures are limited. We report our experience with external iliac artery to the infrapopliteal vessels vein grafts when the endovascular treatment fails. Between January 2013 and January 2019, 16 patients (16 limbs) were operated on for limb-threatening ischemia after the occlusion of PTA with stent positioning of the common, superficial femoral, and popliteal arteries. Three patients were treated at our hospital by interventional radiologists; the remaining were operated on elsewhere. An external iliac artery to the infrapopliteal vessels vein bypass graft was anatomically interposed to restore blood flow. End points of the study were death-related events, vein graft failure, and major (above- or below-knee amputation) or minor (foot or toe amputation) limb loss. There were 12 men and 4 women. Mean age of patients was 68years. Indication for the initial PTA with stent positioning of the common and superficial femoral artery was according to the Rutherford classification Grade I: Category 1, 11 patients (69%) and Category 2, 5 (31%) patients (Stage IIa and IIb according to Fontaine classification, respectively). Great saphenous vein was used in 14 (87%) cases and in 2 (13%) cases a composite graft with a segment of cephalic vein was required. The distal anastomoses were performed on the posterior tibial artery in 6 (37%) cases, anterior tibial artery in 4 (26%), and peroneal artery in 6 (37%). Four-year survival and primary patency rates were 71% (standard error [SE]=0.15) and 73% (SE=0.14), respectively. One graft occlusion required an above-knee amputation. Four-year limb salvage rate was 86% (SE=0.13). We recommend the external iliac artery as source of inflow in patients in whom the vein bypass cannot originate from the common femoral or from a more distal inflow source because of previous PTA with stent positioning or it is deemed hazardous.

Do you remember being told what happened to grandma? The role of early socialization on later coping with death

Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined how participants’ memories of socialization regarding death might influence their self-reported coping with losses in childhood and adulthood. We recruited 318 adults to complete an online survey. Path analyses indicated that participants who remembered their parents shielding them less from issues related to death reported better coping as children and adults. Qualitative responses suggested participants wanted to receive more information about death from their parents as they went through the grieving process. We highlight the potential benefits of socializing children about death, and how it may aid in their coping with death-related events.

Infection of Prosthetic Patches after Femoral Endarterectomy: An Unreported Complication

The femoral prosthetic patch is a surgical procedure frequently used to treat atherosclerotic lesions involving femoral artery bifurcation. Even though it is an easy to perform procedure, surgical management of complications, first of all graft infection, may be challenging, with a high morbidity and mortality risk for patients. We report our experience on surgical treatment of femoral patch infections. Between April 2012 and April 2018, 26 patients (26 limbs) were referred to the emergency department at our institution for the treatment of femoral prosthetic patch infections. None of the patients had been previously treated at our institution. All patients underwent a wide debridement of the infection site. Blood flow was restored through a vein interposition graft anastomosed at least 4-5 cm from the site of infection. End points of the study were death-related events, major or minor limb loss (major loss for above or below the knee amputation and minor for foot or toe), vein interposition graft failures, recurrent graft infections, or surgical wound healing. A total of 26 patients (21 male and 5 female patients) underwent surgical treatment. The mean age of patients was 69years. The majority of our patients (54%) had been previously treated with an isolated femoral artery prosthetic patch. Three (11%) patients had been treated with a bilateral prosthetic femoral patch, but only one side was infected. After debridement of the infection site, we used the great saphenous vein to revascularize the lower limb in 22 (85%) cases, whereas the cephalic vein was used in only 4 cases (15%). The 5-year survival rate was 81% (standard error [SE]=0.12). The 5-year primary patency rate was 70% (SE=0.14). During follow-up, 4 graft occlusions occurred, and in 2 cases, a major amputation was required. The limb salvage rate at 5 years was 81% (SE=0.13). An infection can complicate the femoral prosthetic patch carrying a high rate of morbidity, mortality, and limb loss. Surgical indication for a primary procedure must be restricted to critical limb ischemia, and it must be associated to a multilevel correction of the atherosclerotic disease.

Mitochondria-targeted Triphenylamine Derivatives Activatable by Two-Photon Excitation for Triggering and Imaging Cell Apoptosis.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) leads to cell death by using a combination of a photosensitizer and an external light source for the production of lethal doses of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Since a major limitation of PDT is the poor penetration of UV-visible light in tissues, there is a strong need for organic compounds whose activation is compatible with near-infrared excitation. Triphenylamines (TPAs) are fluorescent compounds, recently shown to efficiently trigger cell death upon visible light irradiation (458 nm), however outside the so-called optical/therapeutic window. Here, we report that TPAs target cytosolic organelles of living cells, mainly mitochondria, triggering a fast apoptosis upon two-photon excitation, thanks to their large two-photon absorption cross-sections in the 760–860 nm range. Direct ROS imaging in the cell context upon multiphoton excitation of TPA and three-color flow cytometric analysis showing phosphatidylserine externalization indicate that TPA photoactivation is primarily related to the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway via ROS production, although significant differences in the time courses of cell death-related events were observed, depending on the compound. TPAs represent a new class of water-soluble organic photosensitizers compatible with direct two-photon excitation, enabling simultaneous multiphoton fluorescence imaging of cell death since a concomitant subcellular TPA re-distribution occurs in apoptotic cells.