INTRODUCTION: The presence of early repolarization (ER) recently has been considered as a prognostic marker for sudden cardiac death in patients with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF), but there are certain numbers of IVF patients lacking ER. We aimed to clarify the clinical and electrocardiographic characteristics of the patients with IVF ...

To determine if systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in select patients undergoing coronary angiography. We compared the extent of angiographic abnormalities, CAD risk factors, and all-cause mortality in SLE patients with non-SLE controls. We identified SLE patients (n = 86) ...

Most subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients exhibit clinical signs of cerebral ischemia at admission but no angiographic vasospasm. Consequently, the source of early cerebral ischemia is not understood. Parenchymal microvessels may contribute to early cerebral ischemia, but the low resolution of current imaging has prevented their analysis in SAH patients. Animal ...

Differentiation between normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and brain atrophy is difficult in clinical practice. The purpose of this paper was to apply two advanced statistical, pattern recognition methods: discriminant analysis (DA) and k-nearest neighbour (K-NN) for the classification of NPH and atrophy patients to approach computer aided differential diagnosis. The ...

Cortical spreading depolarizations (CSDs) are a pathologic mechanism occurring in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and may contribute to delayed cerebral ischemia. We conducted a pilot study to determine the durations of depolarizations as measured by the negative direct current shifts in electrocorticography. Cortical electrode strips were placed in six ...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with the severest casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). From October 1, 2008, the U.S. Army Medical Department initiated a transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound service for TBI; included patients were retrospectively evaluated for TCD-determined incidence of post-traumatic cerebral vasospasm ...

There is a correlation between poor neuropsychological outcome and focal regions of atrophy in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). No study has investigated the impact of global brain atrophy on outcome after SAH. In other neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, a correlation has been found between global atrophy and ...

Background: Patients with nonaneurysmal -subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) show either perimesencephal (pm)SAH or nonperimesencephalic (non-pm)SAH, with hemorrhage extending into adjacent cisterns. Patients with non-pmSAH have higher risk for a complicated clinical course with cerebral vasospasm (CVS) and worse outcome. Systemic inflammatory response has been linked to CVS occurrence and worse outcome ...

INTRODUCTION: Almost all current investigations on early repolarization syndrome (ERS) have focused on the J-wave characteristics and ST-segment configuration; however, few have reported on ventricular repolarization indexes in ERS. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 145 subjects were enrolled: 10 ERS patients, 45 uneventful ER pattern (ERP) subjects, and 90 ...

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 ...

The lack of reliable noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers of biliary atresia (BA) results in delayed diagnosis and worsened patient outcome. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are a new class of noninvasive biomarkers with encouraging diagnostic utility. We examined the ability of serum miRNAs to distinguish BA from other forms of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. BA-specific ...

Significance of pancreatic autoantibodies determined by using exocrine pancreas (PAB) and antibodies against recombinant pancreas antigen (rPAB), as well as the importance of autoantibodies against goblet cells (GAB), is not known in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our aim was to determine the complex analysis of PAB, rPAB, ...

We investigated: (i) the association between severity of cirrhosis and serum levels of free cortisol (SFC) and total cortisol (STC), measured before and 30 min after (T(30)) the low-dose 1-µg short synacthen test (LD-SST); and (ii) the prognostic value of SFC and STC. Consecutive, hemodynamically stable, cirrhotic patients (34 Child-Pugh ...

To determine the relative contributions of individual pathologic protein deposits associated with dementia in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Autopsied patients were analyzed from February 24, 2005, through July 25, 2010, to determine the distribution and severity of individual pathologic protein deposits (α-synuclein, Aβ, and tau) using routine protocols for ...

To examine the range and responsiveness to change of clinical outcome measures and study predictors of clinical response in patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) in the context of clinical trials. Data were combined from 629 patients with dcSSc who participated in 7 multicenter clinical therapeutic trials. Trials used ...

The objective of our study was to review the clinical utility of digital subtraction myelography for the diagnosis of spinal CSF leaks in patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) and those with superficial siderosis. Procedure logs from 2007 to 2011 were reviewed to identify cases in which digital subtraction myelography ...

It has been shown that pro-adrenomedullin is a good marker of the severity of septic shock but there are no data on the early changes in serum pro-adrenomedullin concentrations in patients with shock. Twenty-one patients with septic shock and 21 healthy subjects studied as controls. Serum concentrations of pro-adrenomedullin, procalcitonin, ...

Acute pancreatitis can present as a mild or severe disease. Most patients have a mild disease and recover without requiring nutritional support. Patients with severe acute pancreatitis may develop systemic inflammatory response syndrome and progress to multi-organ failure. These ill patients have high metabolism and protein catabolism. Hence, the nutritional ...

The association between primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and acute or chronic pancreatitis is controversial. For this reason, we conducted a review of the literature over the past 30 years to explore the relationship between these 2 disorders. Ten retrospective studies each with >50 patients diagnosed with PHPT were identified. With the ...

Incidental sinus mucosal abnormalities on MRI are a common finding. This study aims to investigate seasonality and reporting of these findings. Prospective, cross-sectional study of adult patients presenting for neuro-radiological assessment using MRI. 173 patients were recruited over `winter` and `summer` collection periods (mean maximum temperature 14.5(deg)C and 24.3(deg)C, respectively). ...

Background/Aims: Computer tomographic enterography (CTE) is gaining approval for evaluation of small bowel diseases. However, the diagnostic yields of CTE for diseases other than Crohn's disease have not yet been well elucidated. The aim of the present study was to determine the diagnostic utility of CTE and to ascertain the ...

ABSTRACT: Little is known about homocysteine and related changes in serum levels in patients receiving ECT. This study examined relationships between levels of homocysteine and seizure duration in 11 patients with depression receiving electroconvulsive therapy. Elevated homocysteine levels, such as have been associated in other studies with cellular damage, were ...

Purpose: Even though aural fullness is ubiquitous among patients presenting to otolaryngology clinics, the association between aural fullness and disease development has not yet been clearly determined. Materials and Methods: Our study was performed on outpatients from June 2006 to February 2010 whose major complaint was "ear fullness", "aural fullness", ...

Autoimmune limbic encephalitis (ALE) is a severe, but treatable, neuropsychiatric disorder that is difficult to diagnose clinically. With the goal of improving diagnosis of this disorder, we retrospectively evaluated the cerebral FDG PET pattern in a group of patients with ALE. Nine adult patients with subacute cognitive decline were eventually ...

To find the strength of association between periodontal disease (PD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in non-smoking, disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-naive RA patients in a case-control design. Patients of RA (DMARD-naive, non-smokers) satisfying the American college of Rheumatology 1987 criteria and healthy controls were included. PD was defined as present ...

Lyme disease is an infectious disease that frequently involves the central nervous system, leading to cognitive and/or mood dysfunction. The basis for these symptoms remains to be defined but may be the result of a vasculitis or metabolic abnormality secondary to the infection. SPECT scans of the brain might provide ...

To determine whether vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels are associated with the presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in patients after acute ischemic stroke. A cross-sectional study that used blood samples obtained within 24 hours of symptom onset from patients who experienced acute stroke to measure VEGF levels by enzyme ...

Causes of osteitis in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) other than previous surgery are poorly defined. Patients with eosi- nophilic CRS (ECRS) have more severe disease and poorer outcomes despite repeated surgery. Associations between osteitis and markers of ECRS are not well described. A cross-sectional study of CRS patients undergoing sinus surgery ...

It has been reported that the prevalence of kidney dysfunction may be increased in patients exposed to tobacco with airflow obstruction. We hypothesized that kidney dysfunction would associate with emphysema rather than with airflow obstruction measured by the FEV₁. Five hundred eight current and former smokers completed a chest CT ...

Preserved insight into illness has been suggested to be predictive of outcome in patients with schizophrenia. We aimed to investigate the functional substrate underlying preserved insight in these patients. We recruited patients with paranoid schizophrenia and healthy controls matched for age and sex. Patients were grouped according to preserved or ...

Background: Atherosclerosis is emerging as an important complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with coronary artery disease being projected as the major cause of mortality in these patients.This study was undertaken to evaluate the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis and to identify the risk factors of atherosclerosis in patients with RA. Patients ...

Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody reacting with the CD20 antigen on B cells. It has been proposed as treatment for the idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, recurrent idiopathic nephropathy, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis refractory to steroids. Rituximab influences T-cell immunity and may predispose the patients to opportunistic infections, such as progressive ...

Recent experimental data in mice have shown that the inwardly rectifying K channel Kir4.1 mediates K spatial buffering in the hippocampus. Here we used immunohistochemistry to examine the distribution of Kir4.1 in hippocampi from patients with medication-refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. The selectivity of the antibody was confirmed in mice with ...

The corpus callosum is the major brain structure responsible for the transferring of information between the two hemispheres. In congenital agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC), an alternative functional connection might exist between the hemispheres; however, this has yet to be demonstrated. The present study evaluated a 27-year-old man with ...

BACKGROUND: Isoprostanes (IsoP) are sensitive biomarkers of oxidative stress. Their cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) level is increased in several neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). In particular, in relapsing-remitting MS, IsoP have been proposed as an index of neurodegenerative processes. The mechanisms leading to neuroaxonal damage in MS are not fully understood ...

Background and objectivesParkinson's disease patients with predominant postural instability and gait difficulties (PIGD) may experience unique cognitive difficulties compared to patients with tremor predominant (TD) symptoms. PIGD patients are also at high risk for falling, and some of the worst fallers seem to react impulsively to their environment. We tested ...

Polymorphisms (single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)) in the interleukin-7 receptor-α (IL-7Rα)/IL-7 pathway are associated with an increased risk to develop multiple sclerosis (MS). The rs6897932 SNP in the IL-7Rα leads to increased soluble IL-7Rα production. Given the functional interaction between sIL-7Rα, membrane-bound IL-7Rα and IL-7, we assessed IL-7, mIL-7Rα and sIL-7Rα levels ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although several studies have demonstrated early survival advantages with peritoneal dialysis (PD) over hemodialysis (HD), the reason for the excess mortality observed among incident HD patients remains to be established, to our knowledge. This study explores the relationship between mortality and dialysis modality, focusing on the role of ...

BACKGROUND: Axonal damage is considered a major cause of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) and may start early in the disease. Specific biomarkers for this process are of great interest. OBJECTIVE: To study if cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for axonal damage reflect and predict disease progression already in the earliest ...

ABSTRACT:: The aim of this study was to investigate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) without visual impairment using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and to compare the results with healthy controls. A total of 80 subjects, including 40 patients with early untreated ...

Bezafibrate is a widely used hypolipidemic agent and is known as a ligand of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). Recently this agent has come to be recognized as a potential anticholestatic medicine for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) that does not respond sufficiently to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) monotherapy. ...

Pemphigus is an autoimmune disorder resulting from the interaction between autoantibodies and desmoglein. Oxidative stress seems to be responsible for the onset/aggravation of many human diseases. Actually, it is considered as one of the several factors for the etiopathogenesis of pemphigus. The present study aims to evaluate the oxidative state ...

Liver biopsy is important for diagnosing primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Prior investigations suggest that immunostaining for biliary keratin 19 (K19) may show the earliest changes suspicious for PBC, namely loss of the canals of Hering (CoH). We aimed to study the clinical outcomes of patients whose biopsy specimens appeared histologically ...

BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing dialysis experience decreases in physical function; however, few data exist on physical function in pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The primary objective of this study was to clarify physical function in pre-dialysis patients according to CKD stage. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 120 ...

AIMS: Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) has emerged as a quantitative technique to assess left ventricular (LV) function via twist mechanics. Hypertension-associated changes in LV twist have not been previously evaluated in African patients with LV systolic dysfunction. This study evaluates LV twist dynamics in hypertensive patients with a low ejection fraction ...

Background  Mental stress (MS) may alter gastric sensory-motor function. The aim of the study was to assess postprandial autonomic nervous system activity and stress hormones in response to acute mental stress in dyspeptic patients. Methods  A total of 25 patients with postprandial distress syndrome (PDS; 11 mol L(-1) , age 35.9 ± 9.3 years) and ...

BACKGROUND: Patients with parathyroid adenomas (PAs) are commonly encountered in otolaryngology and may present with asymptomatic hypercalcemia. Retropharyngeal hematoma and recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) paralysis are less commonly encountered presentations and may be harbingers of a malignant process. METHODS AND RESULTS: We present 2 patients with rare presentations of parathyroid ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of the preliminary American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) remission criteria with the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) remission in unselected 'real-life' patients. METHODS: Remission was calculated according to the DAS28 and to both versions of the ACR/EULAR criteria (Boolean or Simplified ...

To investigate implicit olfactory abilities in a group of anosmic traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients, an olfactomotor priming paradigm was administered. A group of matched normosmic/mildly microsmic TBI patients and a group of neurologically healthy participants served as controls. For all the groups, an interference effect was evident on the ...

Background:  Serum levels of soluble intracellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM), and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), are elevated in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, the levels of these cell adhesion molecules in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) are unclear. Method:  A total of ...