Percutaneous transcatheter device closure of an isolated congenital LV diverticulum: first case report

A congenital left ventricular diverticulum is a rare cardiac malformation. It is a developmental anomaly that occurs during embryogenesis. Presentations vary from asymptomatic patients to sudden death. To date, the treatment described has been surgical correction. The authors report the first transcatheter closure of an isolated congenital left ventricular diverticulum in a 12-year-old symptomatic girl.Siddhant Jain, Rajiv Mahajan and Manoj Kumar Rohi

Control of staphylococcal adhesion to polystyrene surfaces by polymer surface modification with surfactants

The adherence of three clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis to model polystyrene surfaces was studied in vitro using epifluorescent image analysis. A series of 16 Pluronic surfactants (A-B-A block copolymers where A is poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and B is poly(propylene oxide) (PPO)) were used as surface modifiers for the model polystyrene surfaces. Substantial reductions (up to 97%) in bacterial adhesion levels were achieved with all copolymers tested, irrespective of the PPO or PEO block lengths. It appears likely that such treatments create a sterically stabilized surface with adsorbed PEO chains, conferring non-specific anti-adhesive properties which can limit bacterial attachment