Percutaneous Cardiopulmonary Support-Supported Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Single Center Experience

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) has proven to be a valuable technique in high-risk coronary patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, there have been few studies on PCI associated with PCPS in Korea. We summarized our experience with PCPS-supported PCI. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 19 patients with PCPS-supported PCI between August 2005 and June 2009. PCPS was used as an elective procedure for 10 patients with at least two of the following conditions: left-ventricular ejection fraction <35%, target vessel(s) supplying more than 50% of the viable myocardium, high risk surgical patients, and patients who refused coronary bypass surgery. In the remaining 9 patients PCPS was used as an emergency procedure, to stabilize and even resuscitate patients with acute myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock, in order to attempt urgent PCI. RESULTS: Among the 19 patients who were treated with PCPS-supported PCI, 11 (57.9%) survived and 8 (42.1%) patients did not. ST elevation myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock was more prevalent in the non-survivors than in the survivors (75% vs. 27.3%, p=0.04). The elective PCPS-supported PCI was practiced more frequently in the survivors than in the non-survivors (72.7% vs. 25%, p=0.04). In the analysis of the event-free survival curve between elective and emergency procedures, there was a significant difference in the survival rate (p=0.025). Among the survivors there were more patients with multi-vessel disease, but a lower Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction grade in the culprit lesions was detected in the non-survivors, before PCI. Although we studied high-risk patients, there was no procedure-related mortality. CONCLUSION: Our experience suggests that PCPS may be helpful in high risk patients treated with PCI, especially in elective cases. More aggressive and larger scale studies of PCPS should follow

Summer Adaptive Sports Technology, Equipment, and Injuries.

As adaptive sports grow in popularity, it is increasingly important to understand the injuries for which their athletes are at risk. This population is challenging to study given its small size and diversity of its participants; accordingly, research is mostly low quality because of limited sample sizes and study durations. Summer adaptive sports account for 22 of 28 Paralympic sports, with the most frequently studied being wheelchair basketball, rugby, tennis, athletics, swimming, and soccer. Injuries vary by sport because of differences in contact level, limbs utilized, and athlete impairments. Equipment changes and technological advances, especially within wheelchair and amputee sports, have increased the level of competition and reduced injury rates. Fortunately, the majority of injuries across adaptive sports are minor and do not result in significant time off from sport. Still, even minor injuries can negatively impact these athletes\u27 mobility and activities of daily living compared to the nondisabled population

Deoxygenation of liquid titanium with aluminum addition

To realize radical cost reduction of titanium, a process is needed which can directly make use of low quality material such as scrap, TiO2 or titanium ore. In this work, a highly efficient process has been developed to produce low oxygen titanium alloy using aluminum to rapidly reduce oxygen during melting. In this experiment titanium was prepared including 0.8 mass% oxygen. This titanium and aluminum in the range of 0 – 60 mass% was measured, mixed and melted by PAM (plasma arc melting) or ISM (induction skull melting). After melting, a small piece was taken and the aluminum and oxygen content was analyzed by ICP emission spectrometry and inert gas fusion-infrared absorption method respectively. A sample melted with CaO-CaF2 flux was analyzed as well after flux was mechanically taken off. As aluminum content increased, oxygen content decreased. For example, when 61.9 mass% aluminum was added, the oxygen content decreased to 0.028 mass% and Al2O3 was observed in the cross-section of the sample after melting. This was produced when the aluminum content increased and the oxygen solubility decreased in the metal. Flux addition was also clearly effective for deoxygenation

Deoxygenation of liquid titanium with aluminum addition

To realize radical cost reduction of titanium, a process is needed which can directly make use of low quality material such as scrap, TiO2 or titanium ore. In this work, a highly efficient process has been developed to produce low oxygen titanium alloy using aluminum to rapidly reduce oxygen during melting. In this experiment titanium was prepared including 0.8 mass% oxygen. This titanium and aluminum in the range of 0 – 60 mass% was measured, mixed and melted by PAM (plasma arc melting) or ISM (induction skull melting). After melting, a small piece was taken and the aluminum and oxygen content was analyzed by ICP emission spectrometry and inert gas fusion-infrared absorption method respectively. A sample melted with CaO-CaF2 flux was analyzed as well after flux was mechanically taken off. As aluminum content increased, oxygen content decreased. For example, when 61.9 mass% aluminum was added, the oxygen content decreased to 0.028 mass% and Al2O3 was observed in the cross-section of the sample after melting. This was produced when the aluminum content increased and the oxygen solubility decreased in the metal. Flux addition was also clearly effective for deoxygenation