BACKGROUND General practice staff are reluctant to discuss sexual health opportunistically in all consultations. Health promotion materials may help alleviate this barrier. Chlamydia screening promotion posters and leaflets, produced by the English National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP), have been available to general practices, through local chlamydia screening offices, since its launch...

Decellularization provides low immunogenicity and is only slightly subject to calcification in tissue engineering. However, the mechanical properties of the tissues are weakened after decellularization. We adopted cross-linking agent 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) to treat decellularized porcine pulmonary artery valvular leaflets to improve their mechanical properties. Twe...

OBJECTIVE To examine the use of evidence based leaflets on informed choice in maternity services. DESIGN Non-participant observation of 886 antenatal consultations. 383 in depth interviews with women using maternity services and health professionals providing antenatal care. SETTING Women's homes; antenatal and ultrasound clinics in 13 maternity units in Wales. PARTICIPANTS Childbearing w...

Functional mitral regurgitation has traditionally been defined as a disorder of regional or global left ventricular remodeling in which anatomically normal leaflets fail to coapt adequately.1 The abnormal closure pattern, most easily appreciated with echocardiography, is one of apical tethering of one or both leaflets. Based on a series of in vitro,2 animal,3 and human studies,4 we have embrace...

Over the past few years the subject of doctors' communication skills has come under scrutiny, and in 1991 a consensus conference was held in Toronto.' Attention has focused mainly on the outcome of messages between doctor and patient when both are present. Yet much communication takes place in the doctor's absence by means of leaflets and notices. This important topic has seldom been studied. A...

Patients benefit from information on pharmaceuticals and most patients are willing to read patient information leaflets for their pharmaceuticals. However, the quality of written information on pharmaceuticals leaves room for improvement. To mend insufficiencies of patient information leaflets, an alternative approach for provision of information on pharmaceuticals is illustrated. We present th...

Mathematical models can provide valuable information to assess and evaluate the mechanical behavior of tissue-engineered constructs. In this study, a structurally based model is applied to describe and analyze the mechanics of tissue-engineered human heart valve leaflets. The results from two orthogonal uniaxial tensile tests are used to determine the model parameters of the constructs after tw...

The geometry of the mitral leaflets, most commonly viewed using three-dimensional ultrasound, is an important input for mechanical models predicting valve closure. Current methods for leaflet modeling from ultrasound either require extensive user interaction, rely on inaccurate assumptions, or produce generic results. The presented method for modeling the mitral leaflets from three-dimensional ...

Dear Sir, Timing of surgery in chronic mitral valve regurgitation has been a long term matter of debate. Data from European Society of Cardiology suggest that a number close to 36 % of surgical treatment in mitral valve regurgitation is performed too early or too late according to guidelines suggestions (Iung et al., 2003). Bileaflet mitral valve prolapse (Barlow’s disease) as correctly reporte...