Patients with type A acute aortic dissection presenting with major brain injury: Should we operate on them?

none20siopenDi Eusanio, Marco*; Patel, Himanshu J.; Nienaber, Christoph A.; Montgomery, Daniel M.; Korach, Amit; Sundt, Thoralf M.; Devincentiis, Carlo; Voehringer, Matthias; Peterson, Mark D.; Myrmel, Truls; Folesani, Gianluca; Larsen, Magnus; Desai, Nimesh D.; Bavaria, Joseph E.; Appoo, Jehangir J.; Kieser, Teresa M.; Fattori, Rossella; Eagle, Kim; Di Bartolomeo, Roberto; Trimarchi, SantiDi Eusanio, Marco; Patel, Himanshu J.; Nienaber, Christoph A.; Montgomery, Daniel M.; Korach, Amit; Sundt, Thoralf M.; Devincentiis, Carlo; Voehringer, Matthias; Peterson, Mark D.; Myrmel, Truls; Folesani, Gianluca; Larsen, Magnus; Desai, Nimesh D.; Bavaria, Joseph E.; Appoo, Jehangir J.; Kieser, Teresa M.; Fattori, Rossella; Eagle, Kim; Di Bartolomeo, Roberto; Trimarchi, Sant

Magnetic resonance imaging in vascular biology

Summary Symptoms are only the tip of the iceberg in atherosclerotic disease. Beneath the surface are multiple patho-physiological processes taking place in and around the vessel wall. The increasing knowledge in the field of vascular biology also reveals new imaging targets as biological markers of the disease. Promising targets particularly relate to the early detection of subjects at risk and monitoring of therapeutical efforts. Among other imaging modalities magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an emerging tool with strong potential and a favourable safety profile. This article summarizes the different approaches of imaging various facets of atherosclerotic disease by MRI. In particular, endothelial function, arterial stiffness, vessel remodeling, angiogenesis inside the vessel wall, vessel stenosis and plaque characterization are addressed. As such MRI is a very versatile diagnostic tool for vascular biology research with high diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility of its results. Moreover, MRI allows for comprehensive studies, applying several techniques within one exam

Flt3 Ligand Regulates the Development of Innate Lymphoid Cells in Fetal and Adult Mice

Flt3 ligand (Flt3L) promotes survival of lymphoid progenitors in the bone marrow and differentiation of dendritic cells (DCs), but its role in regulating innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) during fetal and adult life is not understood. By using Flt3L knockout and transgenic mice, we demonstrate that Flt3L controls ILC numbers by regulating the pool of α4β7(-) and α4β7(+) lymphoid tissue inducer cell progenitors in the fetal liver and common lymphoid progenitors in the bone marrow. Deletion of flt3l severely reduced the number of fetal liver progenitors and lymphoid tissue inducer cells in the neonatal intestine, resulting in impaired development of Peyer's patches. In the adult intestine, NK cells and group 2 and 3 ILCs were severely reduced. This effect occurred independently of DCs as ILC numbers were normal in mice in which DCs were constitutively deleted. Finally, we could show that administration of Flt3L increased the number of NKp46(-) group 3 ILCs in wild-type and even in Il7(-/-) mice, which generally have reduced numbers of ILCs. Taken together, Flt3L significantly contributes to ILC and Peyer's patches development by targeting lymphoid progenitor cells during fetal and adult life