RESULTS: All 5 patients presented with findings on history, physical

examination, imaging, and electromyography suggesting a diagnosis of nerve sheath tumor. Two patients PD-0332991 mw had biopsies (1 needle, I open), both of which were nondiagnostic. Three patients underwent digital subtraction angiography with successful preoperative embolization. Each patient had a complete or a radical subtotal tumor resection, and all were intact neurologically after surgical resection. Pathological evaluation identified 3 venous hemangiomas, 1 hemangioma with arteriovenous malformation features, and 1 Masson hemangioma associated with a large aneurysm.

CONCLUSION: Extraneural hemangiomas of the brachial plexus are very rare, but a high index of suspicion and appropriate preoperative evaluation, including angiography with the option for embolization, can result in decreased intraoperative hemorrhage and better patient outcomes.”
“Objectives: The Cox maze procedure was developed as a surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation. However, atrial fibrillation recurs in some patients, and atrial remodeling in the form of fibrosis can lead to perpetuation of atrial fibrillation. To identify the predictor of the persistence of atrial fibrillation after the maze

procedure using cryoablation, we evaluated the preoperative plasma transforming growth factor beta 1. We also examined the correlations between plasma transforming growth factor beta 1 levels and the degree of atrial check details fibrosis.

Methods: Preoperative plasma transforming Fossariinae growth factor beta 1 levels were measured in 86 consecutive patients (age, 54 +/- 12 years) who underwent both the open heart operation for valvular heart disease and the surgical maze procedure with cryoablation for persistent atrial fibrillation. We

measured the degree of fibrosis from the tissue of the left atrium.

Results: At 1 year’s follow-up, 10 of 86 patients had persistent atrial fibrillation. Patients with persistent atrial fibrillation had higher preoperative plasma transforming growth factor beta 1 levels than the patients with sinus rhythm (0.44 +/- 0.29 vs 0.32 +/- 0.15 ng/mL, P = .03). Patients with persistent atrial fibrillation had higher mRNA expressions of collagen III and lower mRNA expressions of atrial natriuretic peptide than those with sinus rhythm, and the plasma transforming growth factor beta 1 levels correlated with the degree of fibrosis in the left atrium (r = 0.497, P = .022). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that plasma transforming growth factor beta 1 levels were independently associated with the postoperative persistence of atrial fibrillation at 1 year’s follow-up.

Conclusions: Preoperative plasma transforming growth factor beta 1 levels could be used to predict the persistence of atrial fibrillation at 1 year’s follow-up after the surgical maze procedure by using cryoablation.