BACKGROUND: The systemic effects of absorbed glucose degradation products (GDPs) contained within the conventional peritoneal dialysis solutions (cPDS) are largely unknown, while they appear to affect also cardiovascular function. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the new bicarbonate-based less bioincompatible new peritoneal dialysis solutions ameliorate cardiac ...

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a serious complication of long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). The reported incidence varies between 0.5% and 4.4% and increases with length of time on PD. Very few data are available on the epidemiology of EPS in the United States. The aim of the present study was ...

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is typically suspected in patients with cutaneous mastocytosis (CM). In recent years, the presence of clonal mast cells (MCs) in a subset of patients with systemic symptoms associated with MC activation in the absence of CM has been reported and termed monoclonal MC activation syndromes or clonal ...

Objective: Few studies have focussed on the outcomes of tricuspid valve (TV) repair in patients with a right ventricular permanent pacemaker lead (PPL) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients with a PPL undergoing TV repair (annuloplasty ring in 83 patients and De Vega annuloplasty in 33 ...

BACKGROUND: Cancer antigen (CA) 125 is a glycoprotein that provides data on the state of the peritoneal membrane in peritoneal dialysis (PD). Interleukin-6 (IL-6) acts as a mediator in acute-phase responses. The study evaluated the usefulness of CA125 and IL-6 in random effluent samples, by assessing their variability in individual ...

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common hereditary cause of kidney failure. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) often is avoided because of concerns about hernias and peritonitis. Retrospective matched-cohort study. 42 consecutive patients with ADPKD and 84 nondiabetic patients matched by time of PD therapy initiation. ADPKD and comorbid ...

Disease overview: Systemic mastocytosis (SM) results from a clonal proliferation of abnormal mast cells (MC) in one or more extracutaneous organs. Diagnosis: The major criterion is presence of multifocal clusters of morphologically abnormal MC in the bone marrow. Minor diagnostic criteria include elevated serum tryptase level, abnormal MC expression of ...

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), but carries significant morbidity and mortality. We review the clinical features and radiologic and histologic changes found at diagnosis of EPS. Although EPS is strongly associated with the duration of PD, the pathogenesis remains only partly understood. We ...

Fractionated exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) expression is increased in airway inflammation and several studies have suggested that FeNO measurement can be useful in patients with asthma. Atopic individuals have increased FeNO levels, indicating that atopy may be a codeterminant in FeNO production. The aim of this study was to determine ...

A 48-year-old African lady started peritoneal dialysis in 1994 after transplant failure. After several episodes of peritonitis and hemorrhagic ascites, hemodialysis was resumed in 2003 because of small bowel subocclusion. In 2006, an abdominal CT showed calcifications and dilatation of intestinal loops. Sclerosing peritonitis was diagnosed and she underwent enterolysis ...

Objective: Arterial stiffness is one of the major complications in chronic kidney disease. In this study, we investigated the association between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and arterial stiffness in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and studied the effect of dialysis on arterial stiffness. Methods: A total of 62 stable continuous ambulatory ...

Long-term dialysis treatment can be associated with several musculoskeletal complications. Entheseal involvement in dialysis patients remains rarely studied as its prevalence is underestimated due to its often asymptomatic presentation. The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of subclinical enthesopathy in haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients at the ...

Encephalopathy or neurotoxicity can occur with cefepime use in patients with impaired or relatively normal renal function. However, few articles have examined the relationship between cefepime's adverse effects and peritoneal dialysis. Here, we report the case of an 80-year-old woman with chronic renal failure on peritoneal dialysis that developed agitation, ...

BACKGROUND: Chronic cough is characterized by sensory neuropathy. Vitamin B-12 (cobalamin) deficiency (Cbl-D) causes central and peripheral nervous system damage and has been implicated in sensory neuropathy and autonomic nervous system dysfunction. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether Cbl-D has a role in chronic, unexplained cough. DESIGN: Laryngeal threshold (histamine concentration that ...

Background: Overhydration (OH) is a well-recognized problem in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and is an independent risk factor of mortality in this patient population. Achieving normohydration remains an important issue in dialysis therapy. The present study tries to compare clinical signs and find the optimal range for PD patients in ...

Both mast cells and eosinophils were implicated in the pathophysiology of allergic conjunctivitis; however, the potential role of eosinophils in an early phase of allergic reaction has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess the relation between clinical symptoms and sequence of mast cells and eosinophils ...

Anorexia is common in patients with chronic kidney disease and is a main contributor to the high prevalence of protein-energy wasting in them. The peritoneal dialysis (PD) procedure may further impair appetite by causing abdominal discomfort and also through the absorption of the osmotic agent and other factors. An increased ...

Sixty-seven adolescent scoliosis patients with thoracic curve (Lenke type 1, 3, and 6) and 16 nonthoracic curve patients (Lenke type 5) were evaluated with color Doppler echocardiography to identify and compare the prevalence and frequency of valvular regurgitation. Regurgitation of one or more valves was detected in 36 thoracic curve ...

Perennial rhinitis (PR), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), or both, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are the most frequent triggers of chronic cough (CC). Extrathoracic airway receptors might be involved in all 3 conditions because asthma is often associated with PR/CRS and gastroesophageal refluxate might reach the upper airway. We previously ...

To determine whether patients with endometriosis have altered levels of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in peritoneal fluid, concentrations of PEDF in peritoneal fluid collected from 42 patients with endometriosis and 30 patients without endometriosis were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We detected significantly lower levels of peritoneal fluid PEDF in ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Phosphate control impacts dialysis outcomes. Our aim was to define peritoneal phosphate transport in peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to explore its association with hyperphosphatemia, phosphate clearance (PPhCl), and PD modality. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: Two hundred sixty-four patients (61% on continuous ambulatory PD [CAPD]) were evaluated ...

Ascending aortic dissection still remains a poorly understood dramatic disease with unpredictable results for the patient in spite of all the cardiac surgeons' efforts. Mean age of disease onset generally is in the sixth decade and one decade earlier in the case of connective tissue abnormalities. Type A dissection among ...

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is potentially fatal when ruptured. Whereas the transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) protocol does not routinely include examination of the infrarenal abdominal aorta, the protocol is performed quickly and easily for AAA screening. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of the protocol ...

This study aims to investigate whether histamine H2-receptor antagonists are sufficient to treat nonerosive reflux disease in Japanese patients. The efficacy of lafutidine in Japanese nonerosive reflux disease patients was studied. The subjects were 24 heartburn patients with two or more cases of heartburn in a week before the period ...

Patients with severe aortic stenosis and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) have a poor prognosis with conservative therapy but a high operative mortality when treated surgically. Recently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as an alternative to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for patients considered at high or ...

In patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR), we assessed dynamic changes in mitral annular geometry and motion during the cardiac cycle, and examined their association with the severity of IMR, using our computerized three-dimensional (3D) echo method. Real-time 3D echo was performed in 12 normal controls and 25 patients with ...

Cardiac valve disease resulting from elastic tissue defects has been demonstrated in patients with beta-thalassemia; however, valve disorders of patients with alpha-thalassemia have been rarely discussed. We present the case of a patient with alpha-thalassemia and severe aortic regurgitation with left ventricular dysfunction. The patient underwent successful aortic valve replacement ...

BACKGROUND: Whipple's endocarditis is an uncommon disease, with approximately 100 cases reported to date. Case series suggest that Whipple's endocarditis usually presents without extracardiac manifestations of Whipple's disease. METHODS: We report 4 consecutive cases of Whipple's endocarditis associated with brain lesions. All patients fulfilled Duke Criteria for definite endocarditis. Whipple's ...

BACKGROUND: We sought to investigate the influence of prenatal diagnosis and risk factors for adverse outcomes in double outlet right ventricle (DORV) not associated with heterotaxy. METHODS: Patients with a pre or postnatal diagnosis of DORV from 2000 to 2007 were identified and classified into 3 subgroups: subaortic ventricular septal ...

Background- Presurgical planning of mitral valve (MV) repair in patients with Barlow disease (BD) and fibroelastic deficiency (FED) is challenging because of the inability to assess accurately the complexity of MV prolapse. We hypothesized that the etiology of degenerative MV disease (DMVD) could be objectively and accurately ascertained using parameters ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical importance of newly developed ulcer-like projection (ULP) in patients with type B aortic dissection with closed and thrombosed false lumen (AD with CTFL), which is better known as aortic intramural hematoma. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 170 patients ...

The study assessed whether there is a greater incidence of divarication of the recti and whether between-recti distance is greater in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The study consisted of two parts: a radiological and a clinical assessment. All patients with a confirmed AAA on computerised tomography were included ...

There is little evidence in the medical literature about safety of PDA device closure and its effects on aortic root diameter in Marfan patients. We reported on nine Marfan patients whose ducts were occluded by coil or Amplatzer Duct Occluder. Two patients had aneurismal type E ducts which were closed ...

Aortic stenosis valve area (AS AVA) using the continuity equation (CE AVA) has limitations. Thus anatomic assessment of AS AVA would be useful. AS AVA was measured using "live three-dimensional (3D)" echocardiography that is a two-dimensional (2D) display of a three-dimensionally acquired 2-3 cm thick pyramidal image. In 52 aortic ...

Moderate functional mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS) is often left unaddressed at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) because it is expected to decrease after AVR. However, some patients have persistent moderate MR after AVR. We sought to determine the preoperative echocardiographic predictor for ...

BACKGROUND: This study examined the long-term durability of the Hancock II bioprosthesis (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) in the aortic position. METHODS: From 1982 to 2004, 1134 patients underwent aortic valve replacement (AVR) with Hancock II bioprosthesis and were prospectively monitored. Mean patient age was 67 +/- 11 years; 202 patients were ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting reoperation after primary biventricular atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) repair. METHODS: Between April 1997 and April 2007, 93 consecutive patients underwent surgery for biventricular correction of AVSD with a median age of 5.8 months (range, 9 days to 68.9 ...

Stent graft-induced new entry (SINE), defined as the new tear caused by the stent graft and excluding those arising from natural disease progression or iatrogenic injury from the endovascular manipulation, has been increasingly observed after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for Stanford type B dissection in our center. SINE appears ...

Background Measurement of the degree of aortic valve calcification (AVC) using electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) is an accurate and complementary method to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for assessment of the severity of aortic stenosis (AS). Whether threshold values of AVC obtained with EBCT could be extrapolated to multislice computed tomography ...

While the significance of type II endoleaks (T2ELs) on the long-term outcome of endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair (EVAR) to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is debatable, duplex ultrasonography (DU) parameters have been suggested to be predictive of their closure or persistence. The purpose of this study was to determine which, ...

Previous studies reported an association between chronic Helicobacter pylori infection and cardiovascular disease; however, controversy still exists regarding the presence of bacterial genomic material in atherosclerotic plaques. Currently, the genetic polymorphisms of H. pylori have been investigated and many virulence factors have been identified. No one has tried to associate ...

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are increasingly used as long-term therapy for end-stage heart failure patients. We compared the prevalence of aortic insufficiency (AI) after HeartMate II (HMII) vs HeartMate XVE (HMI) support and assessed the role of aortic root diameter and aortic valve opening in the development of AI. ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Although tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is common in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR), its frequency, determinants and prognostic implications in those with severe MR and a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are not fully known. The study aim was to evaluate the risk factors ...

OBJECTIVES: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is an established method of aortic aneurysm repair, in favourable anatomical configurations. It does however expose patients to radiation. The study aim was to determine if the aneurysm neck morphology influenced radiation exposure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All elective and emergency EVAR patients were identified. Elective ...

BACKGROUND: Recently, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has been shown to allow accurate visualisation and quantification of aortic valve disease. Although bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease is relatively rare in the general population, the frequency is high in patients requiring valve surgery. The aim of the current study was to characterise ...

Aims: In a previous echocardiographic prevalence study we reported a significant increase in the frequency of heart valve regurgitation in patients with Parkinson's disease taking the ergot-derived dopamine agonists pergolide and cabergoline versus controls. We followed-up our original cohort of patients to ascertain whether valvulopathy regressed after discontinuation of treatment ...

Cabergoline is a highly effective medical treatment for patients with hyperprolactinaemia. There is an increased risk of valvular heart disease in patients receiving cabergoline for Parkinson's disease. This study examined whether cabergoline treatment of hyperprolactinaemia is associated with a greater prevalence of valvulopathy. Cross-sectional, two-dimensional echocardiographic study performed by a ...

Background: Aortic stenosis valve area (AS AVA) using the continuity equation (CE AVA) has limitations. Thus anatomic assessment of AS AVA would be useful. Method: AS AVA was measured using "live three-dimensional (3D)" echocardiography that is a two-dimensional (2D) display of a three-dimensionally acquired 2-3 cm thick pyramidal image. In ...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Aortic stiffness, an early marker of arteriosclerosis, is associated with cardiovascular mortality. In this study, the aortic elastic properties of nondiabetic, normotensive NAFLD patients were evaluated. METHODS: Thirty-five patients ...

An increase in aortic stiffness, as reflected by an increase in pulse wave velocity (PWV), is an important predictor of cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. Decreased serum concentration of calcification inhibitor, such as fetuin-A, is inversely related to mortality in haemodialysis patients. Our aim is to investigate the factors associated ...