Background. Patients with liver cirrhosis may develop cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CC), characterized by blunted contractile responsiveness to stress, diastolic dysfunction (DD), and electrophysiological abnormalities. It may adversely affect the long-term prognosis of these patients. Methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) for cirrhosis from January 2012 to June 2015. We analyzed demographic characteristics, the etiology of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores, the corrected QT (QTc) interval in the preoperative period, diastolic and systolic dysfunction, mortality and survival, and duration of mechanical ventilation and vasopressor support in the post-LT period. These variables were compared with diastolic dysfunction and prolongation of QTc, with the use of chisquare, Fisher, and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results. The study included 106 patients, 80.2% male and overall average age 54.83 years. The median MELD score was 16, and Child-Pugh class C in 55.4%. Prolonged QTc interval before LT was present in 19% and DD in 35.8% of patients. QTc before LT or DD did not vary significantly with MELD or Child-Pugh score. Conclusions. The patients in the pre-LT period presented with a significant incidence of DD, which can predispose them to adverse cardiac events. The presence of DD correlates with mortality after LT in patients with hepatic cirrhosis.

In this study we analysed the effect of Bcl-2 on the cytotoxicity induced by the amyloid-β (Aβ25−35) and prion (PrP106−126) peptides by using GT1-7puro and GT1-7bcl-2 (overexpressing the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2) neural cells. Exposure to Aβ25−35 (1-5 µM) and PrP106−126 (25 µM) caused a decrease in cell viability, as determined by the 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. These data were correlated with Aβ25−35 and PrP106−126induced activation of caspase-9, which is linked to the mitochondrial death pathway, and the activation of the effector caspase-3, suggesting cell death by apoptosis. Furthermore, Bcl-2 overexpression protected from loss of cell viability and caspase-9 and -3 activation induced by Aβ25−35 and PrP106−126, showing that Bcl-2 is neuroprotective against apoptotic cell death caused by amyloidogenic peptides.

Airway management is one of the most important anaesthetist's skills as major complications of airway management, although rare, can be among the most life threatening in medicine. Crouzon syndrome is a rare condition with physical characteristics that can result in difficult airway manipulation. A correct preanaesthetic evaluation and a planned preinduction strategy should be designed to facilitate intubation.

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