OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to provide a simple, reproducible, and point-of-care assessment of peri-prosthetic aortic regurgitation (periAR) during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and to decipher the impact of this peri-procedural parameter on outcome. BACKGROUND: Because periAR after TAVI might be associated with adverse outcome, precise quantification ...

Cortical attention and habituation parameters are altered in patients suffering from tinnitus. The aim of the study was to quantify cortical attention and habituation parameters in tinnitus patients by recording the contingent negative variation (CNV) response and to correlate amplitudes of different CNV parameters with duration of disease. Twenty patients ...

OPINION STATEMENT: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is associated with an increased risk of stroke mainly due stasis leading to increased risk of thrombus formation in the left ventricle and subsequent cerebral embolism. CHF patients are also at increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) that also leads to cerebral embolism. Aggressive ...

Study Type - Prognosis (case series) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Potential risk factors for erectile dysfunction or infertility in patients treated for PUV include chronic renal failure, abnormal prostatic urethra, history of cryptorchidism and recurrent epididymo-orchitis. Sexual or fertility problems ...

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with a range of emotional abnormalities linked to its defining symptoms, comorbid illnesses and cognitive deficits. The aim of this preliminary study was to examine functional changes in the brain that are associated with experimentally induced sad mood in patients with OCD compared with ...

Scand J Caring Sci; 2012 Quality of life following liver transplantation in patients with liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma Purpose:  To study quality of life (QoL) in patients with liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma (CRC) following liver transplantation (Ltx). Methods:  Ten patients participated in a prospective explorative pilot study. Inclusion ...

Background: Epidemiological data suggest increased risk of sudden death during and immediately after hemodialysis. Microvolt T-wave alternans (mTWA) is an electrocardiogram (ECG) measure of abnormal ventricular repolarization, which can be used in sudden death risk stratification. The aim of this study was to determine whether mTWA measurements during dialysis indicate ...

BACKGROUND: Impairment of kidney function is frequently observed in chronic heart failure (CHF). It correlates with clinical and neurohormonal status, and affects prognosis. We aimed to identify the prognostic impact of plasma renin activity (PRA) in patients affected by CHF with chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: We enrolled 996 consecutive ...

Primary progressive freezing gait (PPFG) is a clinical syndrome underlain by diverse neurodegenerative diseases and characterized by early occurrence of gait freezing. Either degeneration or integrity of the nigrostriatal terminals have been found by SPECT and PET studies. In this retrospective study, we evaluated (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT findings in a consecutive ...

AIM: : Survival after cardiac arrest (CA) is limited by the profound neurologic insult from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Therapeutic options are limited. Previous data suggest a benefit of Coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)) in post-arrest patients. We hypothesized that plasma CoQ(10) levels would be low after CA and associated with poorer outcomes. METHODS: ...

OBJECTIVE: To quantify uni- and bimanual upper-limb use in chronic stroke patients in daily life related to healthy controls. DESIGN: cross-sectional observational study SETTING: outpatient rehabilitation center PARTICIPANTS: Chronic stroke patients (n=38) and healthy controls (n=18). INTERVENTION: n.a. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Upper-limb use in daily life was measured with the ...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether levels of serum immunoglobulins (sIgs) at baseline were associated with clinical parameters or B-cell dynamics following rituximab (RTX) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Baseline Ig levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), DAS28 and CD19+ve B-cell count (baseline, 1, 3 and 5 months) in 112 patients with ...

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, stimulation of the Neiguan spot has been utilized to treat palpitations and symptoms related to different cardiovascular diseases. We evaluated whether acupuncture might exert an antiarrhythmic effect on patients with paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Two sets of data are reviewed. The first included patients ...

OBJECTIVE: Most neurocognitive studies have not taken into account the fact that older patients with bipolar disorder (BD) are a heterogeneous population. The main goal of this study was to compare neurocognitive performance and extrapyramidal symptoms in older patients with early-onset BD (EO-BD) and late-onset BD (LO-BD). METHODS: Euthymic older ...

AimsClinical trials have established the value of clopidogrel therapy in a wide spectrum of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Both loss- and gain-of-function single nucleotide variants of CYP2C19 genes have been identified that affect clopidogrel metabolism and anti-platelet response. We sought to determine the impact of CYP2C19 polymorphisms on ischaemic and ...

BACKGROUND: Although several new antithrombotic agents have been developed for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), many patients will continue to be treated with warfarin worldwide. We performed a meta-analysis of safety and efficacy outcomes in patients with AF treated with warfarin for stroke prevention in large ...

PURPOSEImaging with [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) -positron emission tomography (PET) allows early recognition of a response to agents that target key driver mutations in human cancer. We aimed to determine the metabolic response rate to vemurafenib in patients with advanced BRAF-mutant melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODSBaseline and day 15 FDG-PET was evaluated in ...

In the present study we aimed to determine the prevalence of C9ORF72 GGGGCC hexanucleotide expansion in our cohort of 53 frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients and 174 neurologically normal controls. We identified the hexanucleotide repeat, in the pathogenic range, in 4 (2 bv-frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and 2 FTD-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ...

CX3CL1 (chemokine C-X3-C motif ligand 1, alias fractalkine) is highly expressed in the central nervous system and participates in inflammatory responses. Recent studies indicated that inflammatory processes within the brain constitute a common and crucial mechanism in the pathophysiological characteristics of epilepsy. This study aimed to investigate the expression pattern ...

Hump-nosed viper (Hypnale species) bites are common in Sri Lanka and a proportion of these bites lead to coagulation abnormalities and acute kidney injury (AKI). We observed thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) among some of these patients, but its contribution to severity of AKI and other morbidities remains unknown. Thus, we report ...

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate accelerometric parameters of gait in different neurological conditions with pathological gait impairment compared to healthy subjects. We studied 17 patients affected by Parkinson's disease, 24 with ataxic gait due to different diseases and 24 healthy subjects supplied with a triaxial accelerometer ...

Carotid cavernous fistulas (CCFs) can be classified as direct and indirect, depending on their flow rates and their etiology. Both forms can cause the same characteristic ophthalmological symptoms and signs. We analyzed these ocular characteristics and determined the prognostics factors associated with treatment outcome. Forty-seven patients with an angiographically confirmed ...

Background:  Kynurenic acid (KYNA) is a neuroactive metabolite of tryptophan that is thought to regulate cognitive functions. Previous studies have shown that levels of KYNA increase during virus infection and that this metabolite interacts with the immune system. Objective:  The aim of the study was to investigate whether patients with ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the genotype and phenotype of patients with a late-onset Stargardt's disease (STGD1). DESIGN: Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-one unrelated STGD1 patients with an age at onset of ≥45 years and ≥1 rare variant in the ABCA4 gene. METHODS: Ophthalmologic examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (VA), Amsler grid ...

BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is highly prevalent in patients with CKD. The relationship between ED and calcitonin has not been demonstrated before in CKD patients. METHODS: The study included non-diabetic CKD patients not on dialysis. Demographic data (age, gender, comorbidities, current drug therapy, smoking status, weight, and height) were collected ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with diagnosed erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (ERD) have an increased probability of halitosis and tongue coating compared to patients with nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (NERD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-six patients (33 males and 33 females) were recruited for the ...

PURPOSE: [(11)C]PIB and [(18)F]FDDNP are PET tracers for in vivo detection of the neuropathology underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). [(18)F]FDG is a glucose analogue and its uptake reflects metabolic activity. The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal changes in these tracers in patients with AD or mild cognitive impairment ...

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) may protect ischemic brain injury either in animal or human. No studies have reported that endogenous G-CSF (enG-CSF) level is related to the severity of ischemic stroke. This study was designed to assess the severity of ischemic patients correlated with the alteration of enG-CSF on the ...

Object The object of this study was to identify the clinical features and outcomes of a subgroup of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who had active contrast extravasation from a ruptured aneurysm during initial cerebral CT angiography (CTA). Methods The authors performed a retrospective study of spontaneous SAH cases ...

BACKGROUND: Fragmented QRS complexes (fQRS) were proven to be associated with the prognosis of several heart diseases. However, no data is available regarding fQRS in left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC), in which the outcome varies greatly and a simple yet practicable prognostic predictor is needed. The purpose of this study ...

In emergency/clinical practice it is often necessary to restore the balance of blood coagulation: the rapid reversal of oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) is crucial in cases of serious acute bleeding and emergency surgery in patients with high international normalized ratios (INRs). Coagulation can be normalized via the application of haemostatic ...

The otolith-ocular reflex in patients with episodic lateral tilt sensation without any other vestibular symptoms was assessed using ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP). Ten patients (6 men and 4 women, mean age=53.5) were enrolled. All patients had episodic lateral tilt sensation. Patients with a medical history of rotatory vertigo, ...

BACKGROUND: In hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinemia (HHH) syndrome, impaired ornithine transport across the mitochondrial membrane causes ornithine accumulation in cytoplasm. The resulting mitochondrial ornithine deficiency leads to reduced clearance of ammonia through the urea cycle. First described in 1969, no long-term follow-up has been reported. METHODS: Four patients were followed up for 11 ...

Reduced bladder capacity and compliance in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) may affect storage and voiding function after kidney transplantation. This study evaluated the bladder capacity, compliance, and lower urinary tract dysfunction in ESRD patients with duration after dialysis and anuria. Adults with ESRD on kidney transplantation waiting list ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a potentially reversible cause of dementia and gait disturbance that is typically treated by operative placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. The outcome from shunting is variable, and some evidence suggests that the presence of comorbid Alzheimer's disease (AD) may impact shunt outcome. ...

Amyloid β42 (Aβ42) and proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). Our aim was to examine whether the changes in these parameters would be able to discriminate the patients with ...

BACKGROUND: Carotid disease complicated by thrombosis or embolism is a frequent cause of acute ischemic stroke. The aim of the study was to determine factors associated with carotid disease in patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke in northern Israel. METHODS: Participants were 1378 acute ischemic stroke patients, including 671 patients ...

Aim: To investigate genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with perianal Crohn's disease (PCD) in order to determine which factors predispose to development of perianal disease in Crohn's patients. Methods: Seven-hundred and ninety-five Caucasian individuals (317 CD patients and 478 controls without inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) were prospectively enrolled into a clinical/genetic ...

RATIONALE: Antielastin autoimmunity has been hypothesised to drive disease progression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The proposed mechanism is currently disputed by conflicting data. The authors aimed to explore antibody responses against elastin in a large and extensively characterised COPD population and to assess elastin-specific peripheral T-cell reactivity in ...

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the role of adipokines in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases who received glucocorticoid therapy. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with systemic autoimmune diseases who had started glucocorticoid therapy were prospectively enrolled. One hundred forty healthy persons were also studied as controls. Serum levels of 3 adipokines [resistin, leptin, and ...

BACKGROUND: Accurate tools for the noninvasive detection of hepatic steatosis are needed. The Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) specifically targets liver steatosis using a process based on transient elastography. METHODS: Patients with chronic liver disease and body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m(2) underwent biopsy and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) with simultaneous CAP ...

Background:  Optic nerve involvement is frequent in mitochondrial disease, and retinal abnormalities are described in Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods:  We evaluated retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness by optical coherence tomography in 43 patients with PD and in 86 age-matched controls. We considered separately the eyes ipsilateral and contralateral to ...

Objectives: A complete response to indomethacin is required for the diagnosis of hemicrania continua (HC). Nevertheless, patients may develop side effects leading to withdrawal of this drug. Several alternatives have been proposed with no consistent effectiveness. Both anaesthetic blocks of peripheral nerves and trochlear corticosteroid injections have been effective in ...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be conceptualized as a disconnection syndrome. Both remitted geriatric depression (RGD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are associated with a high risk for developing AD. However, little is known about the similarities and differences in the topological patterns of white matter (WM) structural networks between ...

We compared brain structure and function in two subgroups of 21 stroke patients with either moderate or severe chronic speech comprehension impairment. Both groups had damage to the supratemporal plane; however, the severe group suffered greater damage to two unimodal auditory areas: primary auditory cortex and the planum temporale. The ...

There is growing evidence that schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) overlap significantly in risk factors, neurobiological features, clinical presentations, and outcomes. SZ is characterized by well documented gray matter (GM) abnormalities in multiple frontal, temporal and subcortical structures. Recent voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies and meta-analyses in BD also report ...

Dysferlinopathy is caused by mutations in the DYSF gene. To characterize the clinical spectrum, we investigated the characteristics of 31 Korean dysferlinopathy patients confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The mean age of symptom onset was 22.23 ± 7.34 yr. The serum creatine kinase (CK) was highly increased (4- to 101-fold above normal). ...

Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) are both used to evaluate arterial stiffness. The aim of the present study is to determine whether baPWV or CAVI is superior as a marker of arterial stiffness in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Of 194 patients, 59 patients had been ...

BACKGROUND: Patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) frequently report excessive belching but it is not known what determines the severity of these complaints. AIM: To determine what causes troublesome belching symptoms in GERD patients. METHODS: We included 90 consecutive patients who were referred for ambulatory 24-h pH-impedance measurement as part ...

Objective:The adipocytokine leptin is an independent cardiovascular risk factor and exerts prothrombotic effects, both in arterial and venous thrombosis. We therefore investigated the relationship between leptin levels and clinical outcome in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE).Design:We prospectively studied consecutive patients with confirmed acute PE admitted at the University Hospital ...