Aim: to study the possible differences in the final diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis by using standard classification described by Wiersema et al. and the new classification proposed recently by Rosemont.Material and methods: forty-seven patients with the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis were included in this study. The parenchymal and ductal criteria ...

Patients with functional deficiency of C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) suffer from recurrent acute attacks (AA) of localized oedema associated with activation of the contact system, complement and fibrinolysis. To unravel further the role of coagulation and fibrinolysis in the pathophysiology of C1-INH deficiency, we performed simultaneous thrombin and plasmin generation measurements in ...

Purpose: Using FibroScan® to obtain a reliable liver stiffness measurement (LSM) may require more than 10 valid measurements (VMs), according to the manufacturer's recommendations. However, this requirement lacks scientific evidence in support thereof. We investigated the minimal number of VMs required to assess liver fibrosis without significant loss of accuracy ...

Study Type - Symptom prevalence (case control) Level of Evidence 2b What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Associations are well established between intestinal infection/inflammation or inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer (CRC). Our study found an association between CRC and previously diagnosed chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain ...

Abstract  Background and aim: Isolated thoracic aortitis (ITA) is a newly-defined pathological entity with a still-unknown etiopathology and with some potential relationship to IgG4-related systemic disease. We investigated patients on whom the ascending aorta was operated to identify the clinical and histopathological features of ITA and its relationship to IgG4-related ...

Background: Pemphigus is a worldwide disease and varies in its clinical profile and epidemiology in different regions of the world. The disease is rare and few epidemiological data are available. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiologic, clinical, and therapeutic features of pemphigus in the western ...

Objective  To evaluate variations in laboratory parameters and diagnoses of selected clinical conditions up to 16 weeks after starting a new systemic psoriasis treatment for Psocare Registry enrollees. Design  Prospective cohort study. Setting  Italian public referral centres for psoriasis treatment. Patients  First-time recipients (n = 10,539) of continuous systemic psoriasis treatment for at ...

Prognostic Impact of Inappropriate Shocks. Introduction: Recent studies suggest a worse impact of inappropriate shock therapies on the outcome of patients with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). However, it is not known whether the worse impact is attributed to the ICD shock itself or due to the underlying heart disease. The ...

BACKGROUND: Red cell distribution width (RDW) has been shown to be associated with adverse outcomes in left-sided heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and in patients in the ICU. However, the role of RDW is unknown in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), especially in OSAS patients with cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: ...

BACKGROUND: Although enteral nutrition (EN) is provided to most mechanically ventilated patients, the effect of specific feeding strategies on circulating markers of coagulation and inflammation is unknown. METHODS: Markers of inflammation (tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, interleukin [IL]-1β, interferon [IFN]-γ, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12) and coagulation (tissue factor [TF], plasminogen activator ...

BACKGROUND: Weaning patients with heart failure who have required mechanical ventilation remains challenging. We evaluated echocardiographic indexes and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as markers of acute cardiac dysfunction before and after spontaneous breathing trials (SBT) in such patients to assess their ability to predict subsequent successful extubation. METHODS: Forty-four ...

Background  The chin-down posture is generally recommended in patients with neurogenic dysphagia to prevent tracheal aspiration; however, its effectiveness has not been demonstrated. Aim  To videofluoroscopically (VDF) assess the effectiveness of chin-down posture to prevent aspiration in patients with neurogenic dysphagia secondary to acquired brain injury. Methods  Randomized, alternating, cross-over ...

OBJECTIVES: Uric acid (UA), a product of purine metabolism, is known to be reduced in patients with various neurological disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it has still remained unclear whether there is a close relationship between UA and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The aim of this study was to investigate ...

The relative abundance of different groups of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) in faecal DNA collected before and after therapy from patients suffering with Crohn's disease (CD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or ulcerative colitis (UC) has been compared with that from healthy controls. Growth tests revealed that SRB were not more ...

Reported cases of syncope caused directly by laughter are rare. The common scenario described in a few reports involved episodes of fortuitous laughter, sometimes followed by a short prodrome of lightheadedness, facial flushing, and dizziness, followed by an episode of definite syncope. There were no seizure-like movements, automatisms, or bladder ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the TLR-4 gene TLR4 c.896A<G polymorphism on the development and clinical severity of urinary tract infections (UTI) and renal scar formations in children. The patients with first diagnosis of UTI (n = 112) and healthy controls (n = 93) were enrolled in the ...

BACKGROUND: Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a common airways disease recognized as an independent cardiovascular risk factor. It is often associated with obesity, diabetes and dyslipidemia. Its pathophysiological consequences (hypoxia, hypercapnia, micro-arousals, sympathetic hyperactivity, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation and hyper-coagulability) are implicated in the development of hypertension, endothelial dysfunction ...

Elevated troponin T is known to be a prognostic marker for long-term cardiac events and mortality in asymptomatic end-stage renal disease patients. There are conflicting data in this regard with respect to troponin I (TnI). We recently showed a high incidence of elevated TnI levels in asymptomatic hemodialysis (HD) patients ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among patients undergoing bariatric surgery and the predictive value of various clinical parameters: body mass index (BMI), neck circumference (NC) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). We performed a prospective, multidisciplinary, single-center observational study including all patients ...

OBJECTIVE: We previously demonstrated that parotid saliva cAMP and cGMP were lower in patients with taste and smell dysfunction than in normal subjects. We subsequently demonstrated parotid saliva cAMP and cGMP were inversely correlated with smell loss degree such that as smell loss severity increased parotid saliva cAMP and cGMP ...

BACKGROUND: Drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is seen in one third of patients exposed to antipsychotic drugs and may lead to complications related to dysphagia and falls. Aside from skilled neurological examination, no tool has been validated to facilitate detection and follow-up. OBJECTIVE: In this pilot study, three validated screening instruments were ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Genetic background may affect liver damage in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The main outcomes of the study were to assess whether IL28B rs12979860 and rs8099917 polymorphisms, together with PNPLA3 rs738409 C>G polymorphism, are associated with lobular inflammation and fibrosis, in NAFLD patients. METHODS: One ...

PURPOSE: Loss of joint mobility, resulting loss of function peripheral nerve entrapment and pressure sores are the known complications of heterotopic ossification. METHODS: We reported about a 32-year-old male patient, referred to our clinic presenting with incomplete tetraplegia after a motorcycle accident. The patient developed a HO in both hips ...

CADASIL is a hereditary disease characterized by cerebral subcortical microangiopathy leading to early onset cerebral strokes and progressive severe cognitive impairment. Until now, only few studies have investigated the extent and localization of grey matter (GM) involvement. The purpose of our study was to evaluate GM volume alterations in CADASIL ...

BACKGROUND: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography can be used to assess the degree of liver fibrosis. AIM: We evaluated the performance of ARFI elastography in assessment of liver fibrosis and compared it with the performance of aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and transient elastography with Fibroscan (FS). METHODS: We ...

We evaluated the efficacy of Gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery (GKSR) as an adjunctive management modality for patients with drug resistant or intolerant cavernous sinus invasive prolactinomas. Twenty-two patients with cavernous sinus invasive prolactinoma underwent GKSR between 1994 and 2009. Thirteen patients were dopamine agonist (DA) resistant. Six patients were intolerant ...

C-reactive protein (CRP) is increased in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and it might predict the lack of sinus rhythm maintenance in the long term follow-up. Scarce data have been reported relating endothelial dysfunction and/or haemostatic or platelet markers to sinus rhythm maintenance in AF patients. We aimed to determine ...

Objective: The present study aims to determine the clinical counterpart of brain resting-state networks reorganization recently evidenced in early multiple sclerosis.Methods: Thirteen patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and 14 matched healthy controls were included in a resting state functional MRI study performed at 3 T. Data were analyzed using ...

The aim of this work was to investigate the correlation between scanning laser polarimetry with variable corneal compensation (GDx VCC) parameters and blue-on-yellow perimetry (B/YP) indices in ocular hypertension (OHT). One eye each of 52 patients with OHT (with a normal visual field, a normal optic nerve, and an untreated ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to basilar artery thrombosis (BAT) causes high mortality and severe disability. Early neurological assessment and timely thrombolysis might improve outcome. BAT is difficult to diagnose due to wide spectrum of presentation and decreased conscious level. Emergency physicians often intubate BAT patients with ...

Objective: Production of anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) is an important biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our goal was to determine whether genetic factors (HLA-DRB1 alleles) are associated with extreme ACPA level in individuals with ACPA positive RA and whether there are any phenotypic characteristics associated with these subgroups of RA. ...

Renal hyperparathyroidism (rHPT) as a consequence of an abnormal calcium balance is a frequent complication in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, calcium homeostasis is also regulated by calcitonin. The relevance of elevated calcitonin levels in patients with rHPT is unclear. This report presents a case of a patient ...

We intended to see the pattern of TJ protein expression along with ultrastructural changes in colonic biopsies from patients with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and tuberculosis (cTB). Colonic biopsies from 11 patients with active CD and ten patients each with active UC and untreated cTB were taken along ...

Hemodialysis (HD) is associated with increasing thrombotic trend. Vascular access thrombosis (VAT) increases morbidity in HD patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate ADAMTS13 and VWF plasma levels from patients undergoing HD as putative biomarkers of the hypercoagulability state, as well the association between these markers and VAT ...

Background:  The VACTERL association (VA) is the nonrandom co-occurrence of Vertebral anomalies, Anal atresia, Cardiovascular malformations, Tracheo-esophageal fistula and/or Esophageal atresia, Renal anomalies, and/or Limb-anomalies, and is referred to the first letters of its components. Studies investigating the clinical characteristics of VA patients and probing of the observed current six ...

Background: We aimed to describe the recent clinical characteristics of Takayasu arteritis (TA). Methods and Results: We enrolled 106 consecutive TA patients and compared the clinical characteristics of patients with TA onset before 1999 and after 2000, patients with onset at age less than 39 years and more than 40 ...

Background: Electrolyte changes during dialysis affect corrected QT (QTc) and QTc dispersion (QTcd), a surrogate marker of arrhythmogenicity. The impact of magnesium on QTcd is not clear. Methods: Twenty-two stable patients on maintenance hemodialysis were enrolled in this study. Each underwent two consecutive hemodialysis sessions at least 2 days apart, ...

AimsAlthough inflammation appears to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF), the source of inflammation is unknown. We hypothesized that multilevel measurement of several inflammatory proteins in AF patients would help assess the extent and the source of inflammation.Methods and resultsThirty-nine patients with paroxysmal AF, 33 ...

AimsTo investigate the relationship between electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters [J wave, fragmented QRS (fQRS), QTc, the peak-to-end interval of T wave (Tp-Te)], and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in chronic heart failure (CHF).Methods and resultsThe ECGs of 1570 CHF patients, 572 cases with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 998 cases with ischaemic cardiomyopathy ...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is gaining increasing recognition as a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of PTSD and abnormal cardiovascular biomarkers on mortality in military veterans. Eight hundred ninety-one patients presenting for routine echocardiography were enrolled. Baseline clinical data ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mortality of upper gastrointestinal bleeding seems declining. Whether practice guidelines for the management of peptic ulcer bleeding are followed is unknown. We aimed to update epidemiology of peptic ulcer bleeding and to assess the adherence to guidelines in the French community. METHODS: Between March, 2005 and February, ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the incidence of vascular complications in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing primary angioplasty via the femoral route; we also evaluated the safety and efficacy of the use of vascular closure devices in this setting. METHODS: Registry of 527 patients undergoing primary angioplasty ...

BACKGROUND: Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) have been reported in patients with Alzheimer's disease treated with bapineuzumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody against amyloid β. ARIA include MRI signal abnormalities suggestive of vasogenic oedema and sulcal effusions (ARIA-E) and microhaemorrhages and haemosiderin deposits (ARIA-H). Our aim was to investigate the incidence of ...

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of upper and lower motor neurons, associated with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in about 14% of incident cases. We assessed the frequency of the recently identified C9orf72 repeat expansion in familial and apparently sporadic cases of ALS and characterised the cognitive ...

Celiac disease (CD) is defined as a permanent intolerance to ingested wheat gliadins and other cereal prolamins, occurring in genetically susceptible people. Persistent elevation of serum aminotransferase activity is expression of liver damage related to CD, which occurs in two distinctive forms. The most frequent is a mild asymptomatic liver ...

Numerous reports over the years have described neuroinflammatory events and vascular changes in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Interestingly, recent reports from other research areas suggest that the inflammatory and vascular processes are influenced by gender. These findings are intriguing from the ...

To describe high resolution manometry features of a population of symptomatic patients with Chagas' disease esophagopathy (CDE). Sixteen symptomatic dysphagic patients with CDE [mean age (54.81±13.43) years, 10 women] were included in this study. All patients underwent a high resolution manometry. Mean lower esophageal sphincter (LES) extension was (3.02±1.17) cm ...

Introduction: The role of fasciculation potentials (FPs) in the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been underrated. The Awaji algorithm has restored the value of FPs. Our aim was to test the diagnostic yield of the Awaji algorithm, with consideration of FPs. Methods: Subjects consisted of 139 consecutive ALS ...

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), especially nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, is a recognized risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, detailed analysis of the clinical features in patients with NAFLD and their association with HCC is lacking. This study aimed to update the clinical features of patients with NAFLD-associated HCC. The clinical ...

Objective: To evaluate the periodontal status of patients with oral lichen planus and compare it with that of healthy controls. The association between periodontal condition and the extent of disease in oral lichen planus patients was also examined. Method and Materials: A descriptive clinical study was made of the periodontal ...