Functional neuroimaging research has demonstrated that retrieving information about object-associated colors activates the left fusiform gyrus in posterior temporal cortex. Although regions near the fusiform have previously been implicated in color perception, it remains unclear whether color knowledge retrieval actually activates the color perception system. Evidence to this effect would be particularly strong if color perception cortex was activated by color knowledge retrieval triggered strictly with linguistic stimuli. To address this question, subjects performed two tasks while undergoing fMRI. First, subjects performed a property verification task using only words to assess conceptual knowledge. On each trial, subjects verified whether a named color or motor property was true of a named object (e.g., TAXI-yellow, HAIR-combed). Next, subjects performed a color perception task. A region of the left fusiform gyrus that was highly responsive during color perception also showed greater activity for retrieving color than motor property knowledge. These data provide the first evidence for a direct overlap in the neural bases of color perception and stored information about object-associated color, and they significantly add to accumulating evidence that conceptual knowledge is grounded in the brain's modality-specific systems.

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With the emergence of new lipid risk markers and a growing cardiometabolic risk burden in the United States, there is a need to better integrate residual risk into cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk stratification. In anticipation of the Adult Treatment Panel IV (ATP IV) guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), there exists controversy regarding the comparative performance of the 2 foremost markers, apolipoprotein B (apoB) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), as they relate to the current standard of risk assessment and treatment: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Although some emerging markers may demonstrate better performance compared with LDL-C, certain fundamental characteristics intrinsic to a beneficial biomarker must be met prior to routine use. Collectively, studies have found that non-HDL-C and apoB perform better than LDL-C in CVD risk prediction, both on- and off-treatment, as well as in subclinical CVD risk prediction. The performance of non-HDL-C compared with apoB, however, has been a point of ongoing debate. Although both offer the practical benefits of accuracy independent of triglyceride level and prandial state, non-HDL-C proves to be the better marker of choice at this time, given established cutpoints with safe and achievable goals, no additional cost, and quick time to result with an easy mathematical calculation. The purpose of this review is to assess the performance of these parameters in this context and to discuss the considerations of implementation into clinical practice.

Aortic angiosarcoma is an exceedingly rare clinical entity. Significant delay in diagnosis can occur due to a low index of suspicion on the part of the clinician. We report a case of aortic angiosarcoma masquerading as a descending thoracic aneurysm arising from a penetrating ulcer. The patient was initially treated with an endovascular stent graft for rapid growth, but the lesion continued to enlarge despite angiographic exclusion. FDG-PET CT scan and biopsy ultimately confirmed the diagnosis of aortic angiosarcoma. This case highlights some of the difficulties of making the early diagnosis of aortic angiosarcoma.

We aim to determine the incidence of early myocardial dysfunction after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, risk factors associated with its development, and association with outcome. A retrospective chart review was performed among consecutive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients who underwent echocardiography within 24 h of return of spontaneous circulation at three urban teaching hospitals. Our primary outcome is early myocardial dysfunction, defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction < 40% on initial echocardiogram. We also determine risk factors associated with myocardial dysfunction using multivariate analysis, and examine its association with survival and neurologic outcome. A total of 190 patients achieved ROSC and underwent echocardiography within 24 h. Of these, 83 (44%) patients had myocardial dysfunction. A total of 37 (45%) patients with myocardial dysfunction survived to discharge, 39% with intact neurologic status. History of congestive heart failure (OR 6.21; 95% CI 2.54–15.19), male gender (OR 2.27; 95% CI 1.08–4.78), witnessed arrest (OR 4.20; 95% CI 1.78–9.93), more than three doses of epinephrine (OR 6.10; 95% CI 1.12–33.14), more than four defibrillations (OR 4.7; 95% CI 1.35–16.43), longer duration of resuscitation (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.01–1.10), and therapeutic hypothermia (OR 3.93; 95% CI 1.32–11.75) were associated with myocardial dysfunction. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately initiated by healthcare personnel was associated with lower odds of myocardial dysfunction (OR 0.40; 95% CI 0.17–0.97). There was no association between early myocardial dysfunction and mortality or neurological outcome. Nearly half of OHCA patients have myocardial dysfunction. A number of clinical factors are associated with myocardial dysfunction, and may aid providers in anticipating which patients need early diagnostic evaluation and specific treatments. Early myocardial dysfunction is not associated with neurologically intact survival.