The achievement of skin drug delivery needs to conciliate two paradoxical terms: firstly, the major barrier of permeation formed by the stratum corneum needs to be circumvented for skin drug delivery (i.e., skin absorption); secondly, the drug deposition within the skin should be ideally accomplished with a restricted percutaneous absorption. At strictly speaking, the terms of this paradox are ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE Biliary cysts in pregnant women are a complex medical issue, especially when complicated with cholangitis. It is a serious and life-threatening diagnosis that can seriously endanger both the expectant mother and the fetus. However, during pregnancy, surgical treatment would lead to further complications and higher fetal mortality. Here, we propose a novel therapeutic appr...

BACKGROUND Lipid-based nanosystems have great potential for transdermal drug delivery. In this study, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for short-acting alkaloids lappacontine (LA) and ranaconitine (RAN) isolated from Aconitum sinomontanum (AAS) at 69.47 and 9.16% (w/w) yields, respectively, were prepared to enhance percutaneous permeation. Optimized NLC formulations were evaluated using uni...

In pregnant women with heart disease, complications can arise due to the haemodynamic burden of pregnancy and to hypercoagulation. Most problems can be managed medically, but sometimes cardiac surgery or percutaneous intervention is unavoidable. Cardiac surgery has similar maternal mortality to that outside pregnancy, but foetal mortality and morbidity are considerable. Measures to reduce the r...

Percutaneous revascularisation in anomalous coronary arteries poses certain technical difficulties, especially in the selective cannulation of the diseased vessel and the coaxial positioning of the guiding catheter for optimum stability. We report a case of successful stent implantation in a single coronary artery (SCA) arising from the right sinus of Valsalva (SoV). The ART 4 (Boston Scientifi...

Percutaneous closure of secundum atrial septal defects (ASD) may be complicated by immediate embolization. We report on a 35-year-old woman who underwent percutaneous device closure for a secundum ASD. The diameter of the defect was measured as 4 mm by two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography and a 7-mm Figulla ASD occluder device was implanted without prior balloon sizing of the defect...