Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a less invasive and potentially high efficacious procedure for the treatment of high-risk patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis. Appropriate patient selection for TAVI is a key component to ultimate clinical success. Herein, we describe a patient with left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) ...

Hypertriglyceridemia is an unusual cause of acute pancreatitis and sometimes considered to be an epiphenomenon. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and analytical features and the APOE genotypes in patients with acute pancreatitis and severe hypertriglyceridemia. We undertook a one-year, prospective study of patients with acute pancreatitis whose first ...

Alcoholic Hepatitis (AH) is a severe condition developed in patients with underlying alcoholic liver disease. Ductular reaction has been associated with chronic alcohol consumption but there is no information regarding the extent of liver progenitor cell (LPC) proliferation in AH. The aim of this study was to investigate LPC markers ...

BACKGROUND: Hyperreactivity and impaired sensory gating of the acoustic startle response in alcohol dependence has been suggested to reflect a residual effect of previous detoxifications, increasing the severity of subsequent withdrawal episodes. Previous studies on the acoustic startle only included early-onset alcohol-dependent patients. The observed abnormalities may therefore also be ...

Aims: Alcohol withdrawal seizures (AWS) are among the most important possible complications during the detoxification treatment of alcohol-dependent patients. Pharmacological therapy is often used during detoxification, but can cause dangerous side effects [Eur Addict Res 2010;16:179-184]. In separate studies several biological markers have been described as being associated with AWS ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of alcohol consumption patterns with disability and brain injury in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. DESIGN: This study included 423 subjects (272 MS patients, 151 healthy controls) participating in a study of clinical, environmental and genetic risk factors in MS. Disability was assessed with the Expanded ...

Abstract Objective. The (14)C-d-xylose breath test was used at Ullevål University Hospital in the period from 1986-1995 for malabsorption testing. The objective of this retrospective study was to reveal whether patients with chronic alcoholism may have intestinal malabsorption. Materials and methods. The consecutive (14)C-d-xylose breath test database was reviewed and ...

Methanol is a cheap and potent adulterant of illicit liquors. Hemodialysis (HD) is the best method to rapidly remove both toxic acid metabolites and parent alcohols, and it plays a fundamental role in treating severely poisoned patients. This retrospective study was carried out on 91 patients with detectable serum methanol ...

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is an inflammatory disease that in some patients leads to exocrine and endocrine dysfunction. In industrialized countries the most common aetiology is chronic alcohol abuse. Descriptions of associated genetic alterations in alcoholic CP are rare. However, a common PNPLA3 variant (p.I148M) is associated with the development of ...

Epistaxis and alcohol overconsumption are frequently encountered in patients admitted to emergency wards. The aim of the study was to analyze indirect markers of alcohol overconsumption in epistaxis patients and evaluate its role as a risk factor. In a cohort of 510 epistaxis patients indirect markers of alcohol overuse were ...

Ethanol is known to improve tremor in a proportion of patients with essential tremor. Increased incidence of alcoholism has been suspected in essential tremor patients; however, no objective evaluation has been performed using laboratory markers to date. Data on alcohol intake in the last 30 days were acquired in 95 essential ...

Calciphylaxis is a rare disorder characterized by painful skin necrosis and calcification of small vessels which is seen mainly in the dialysis population. We describe a case of a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis developing calciphylaxis during an episode of acute kidney injury. We also review the literature in prior cases ...

Tissandié and colleagues report in this issue on their studies of IgA1 glycosylation and biological activities of IgA1-containing circulating immune complexes in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who developed secondary renal disease with IgA deposits, secondary IgA nephropathy. Their seminal findings demonstrate abnormal glycosylation of IgA1 N-linked as well as O-linked ...

This 47-year observational study suggests that sporadic Zollinger-Ellison (Z-E) syndrome, particularly duodenal wall gastrinomas (DWG), is associated with a history of alcohol abuse. Thirty-nine consecutive Z-E patients were followed from 1962 through 2010. The drinking patterns of these patients were assessed and compared with 3,786 community controls. Thirty-five patients had ...

Resuscitation end point markers such as lactate and base deficit (BD) are used in trauma to identify and treat a state of compensated shock. Lactate and BD levels are also elevated by alcohol. In blunt trauma patients with positive blood alcohol levels, lactate may be a poor indicator of injury. ...

BACKGROUND/AIM: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with multiple adenomatous polyps and advanced neoplasm. This study aims to investigate the influence of NAFLD on the tumor characteristics and prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: We analyzed 227 patients who were first diagnosed with CRC and underwent abdominal ...

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a spectrum of disorders ranging from steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Steatosis of the liver is benign, whereas NASH can progress to cirrhosis or even hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, a liver biopsy is the only validated method to distinct NASH from steatosis. AIM: The objective ...

Background/Aims: Hyperdynamic circulation, which is characterized by increased cardiac output (CO), normal or low arterial blood pressure (BP), and decreased systemic vascular resistance (SVR), occurs in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). However, differences of hemodynamics between patients with alcoholic LC (ALC) and viral LC are not well understood. The aim ...

Review the efficacy and safety of using the anatomical characteristics of the first septal branch to select the target vessel for alcohol septal ablation (ASA) in treating patients with medically refractory symptoms hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM), ASA without guided myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). Fifteen patients with HOCM and refractory to ...

An alcohol-associated change in the serum transferrin glycoform pattern, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), is used as a biomarker of chronic moderate to heavy alcohol consumption. Furthermore, CDT is employed as a marker of abstinence. Here, we analyzed CDT in patients with chronic excessive alcohol abuse at the beginning and during abstinence. ...

Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a neurophysiological indicator of the brain's ability to extract relevant information from an irrelevant background. MMN has been described as a reliable biomarker of schizophrenia and more recently it has found to be impaired in the early stages of psychosis. In addition, drugs (including alcohol) that ...

Background:  Oxidative stress has been proposed as one of the mechanisms of alcohol-induced brain shrinkage and alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity. The aim of this study was to assess the correlations between liver function and brain volume (BV) measurements in patients with alcohol dependence. Methods:  We recruited 124 patients with alcohol dependence and ...

Although recent evidence suggests a beneficial effect of alcohol for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), the level of alcohol that confers the protective effect is unknown. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between admission blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and outcomes in patients with isolated moderate to severe TBI. ...

Aim:  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that encompasses a spectrum of liver disorders characterized by simple steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) through cirrhosis, is becoming an important chronic liver disease in Japan. Currently, there is no proven therapy for NASH. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of statin therapy in ...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: We carried out morphometric measurements of steatosis to evaluate relationships between steatosis degree and other liver lesions or metabolic syndrome components in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We developed an algorithm to measure steatosis area. Two hundred and fourteen patients with NAFLD were included ...

Abnormalities of IgA arise in alcoholic cirrhosis, including mesangial IgA deposits with possible development of secondary IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Since little is known about circulating immune complexes in cases of secondary IgAN, we analyzed IgA-associated parameters in the serum of 32 patients with compensated or advanced alcoholic cirrhosis. Galactose deficiency ...

Many trauma patients are acutely intoxicated with alcohol. Animal studies have demonstrated that acute alcohol intoxication inhibits the normal release of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and vasopressin in response to acute hemorrhage. Ethanol also increases nitric oxide release and inhibits antidiuretic hormone secretion. This article studies the effects of alcohol intoxication (measured ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the developed world, pellagra is a rare condition that is restricted to a small number of at-risk groups. It mainly affects alcoholic patients and those with dietary deficiencies, with intestinal malabsorption, or in treatment with certain drugs. The aim of this study was to analyze the ...

Common complications of neurolytic mandibular nerve block are hypoesthesia, dysesthesia, and chemical neuritis. We report a rare complication, prolonged severe vertigo and ataxia, after neurolytic mandibular blockade in a patient suffering from trigeminal neuralgia. Coronoid approach was used for right sided mandibular block. After successful test injection with local anesthetic, ...

Consumption of large amounts of alcohol can promote regurgitation of hydrochloric acid into the esophagus and therefore be responsible for the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Most individuals who suffer from alcohol-related health problems are not addicted to it; nevertheless, they are usually displaying hazardous alcohol consumption pattern. The aim ...

BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction (EF) is a central phenomenon in a variety of conditions associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity. Here, we investigated EF during acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome before and 24h after medication. We aimed to analyze microcirculation, applying the post-occlusive reactive hyperemia (PORH) test and spectral analysis of skin vasomotion ...

Background. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The NASH fibrosis score (NFS) has proven to be a reliable, non-invasive marker for prediction of advanced fibrosis. Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) is a simpler calculation than NFS, but has never been studied in patients with non-alcoholic fatty ...

BACKGROUND: The influence of alcohol consumption on outcome in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) has not been thoroughly studied. METHODS: Factores de Riesgo y ENfermedad Arterial (FRENA) is an ongoing, multicenter, observational registry of consecutive stable outpatients with arterial disease. We compared the mortality rate and the incidence of ...

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence supports the beneficial effect of alcohol on patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Pneumonia is a known complication following TBI; thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of alcohol on pneumonia rates following moderate to severe TBI. METHODS: From 2005 to 2009, the ...

Fatty liver is a common chronic liver disease worldwide. It is associated with an increasing morbidity in China in recent years. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of drinking alcohol on the hemoglobin and biochemical values of patients with fatty liver. We investigated the clinical and ...

Background. It has been suggested that liver cirrhosis (LC), regardless of etiology, may be associated with anatomical cardiac alterations. Objective. To describe the frequency and type of macroscopical anatomic cardiac abnormalities present in alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients in an autopsy series. Material and methods. The autopsy records performed at ...

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been recognized as the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. It occurs in patients who do not consume alcohol in large amounts. Alanine aminotranferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) are indicators of hepatocellular injury. OBJECTIVES: To determine correlation between histopathologic specifications ...

Background: Role of caffeine consumption in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients and the interaction with alcohol consumption is unclear. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between caffeine and alcohol consumption and liver stiffness in chronic HBV-infected patients. Methods: Chronic HBV-infected patients who underwent transient elastography examination in ...

OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to investigate the use of serum lipase levels >10,000 U/L as a tool for predicting the etiology of acute pancreatitis (AP) and to further address the relationship between lipase elevation and disease severity. METHODS: We compared patients with AP and serum lipase >10,000 U/L (HL) with patients with ...

Background:  Alcohol abuse has detrimental effects on cerebral function, metabolism, and volume. Some of these effects were found to be at least partially reversible with continued abstinence. Furthermore, it has been reported that there are different effects of alcohol on brain volumes for women compared with men, but the results ...

BACKGROUND: Patients with cirrhosis are more prone to develop metabolic bone disease. Scanty literature data are available on osteodystrophy in patients from India with noncholestatic liver diseases. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with cirrhosis were prospectively evaluated for bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck, ...

INTRODUCTION: Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is an underdiagnosed condition, usually associated with alcoholism, and has a worse prognosis if there is a delay in diagnosis. A series of 8 non-alcoholic patients with WE is presented and an assessment is made on whether a delay in diagnosis leads to a worse prognosis. ...

BACKGROUND: To evaluate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that developed in patients with no evidence of a tumor during a prior ultrasound (US) performed within 1 year of the diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data for 100 consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis who had undergone US within 1 year prior to HCC ...

Objective: Hemodynamic (HD) instability still underlies difficulties during pheochromocytoma resection. Little is known about HD instability in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 2-related pheochromocytoma. Our aim was to assess differences in hemodynamics during pheochromocytoma resection between MEN2 and non-MEN patients. In addition, we sought to identify risk factors ...

BACKGROUND: The last decade has seen significant advances in the evaluation of the small bowel. Several endoscopic techniques have been developed in recent years: capsule endoscopy (CE), double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE), and, more recently, the single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE). The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic and therapeutic impact, safety, ...

Although vestibular schewannomas (VSs) are relatively rare as compared to other intracranial tumors, growing attention is required to achieve better outcomes with less morbidities among patients. In this retrospective study, we compared functional outcomes of retrosigmoid approach microsurgery (RSAMS) and gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery (GKSRS) in VSs patients with serviceable ...

The importance of achieving tumor control in pituitary adenoma surgery is not entirely established. This manuscript reviews the literature linking residual pituitary tumor and hormonal hypersecretion to increases in long term mortality. When possible, we utilized meta-analysis methods to estimate a pooled standardized mortality ratio (SMR), which relates the risk ...

Background and Aim:  A reliable test for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) could improve disease management. Recent reports suggested a link between abnormalities in the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and HCC. We investigated the potential of using UPS markers, along with HCC markers, to differentiate HCC from chronic liver disease ...

A retrospective study to investigate the clinical epidemiological characteristics of vertigo was carried out on 187 patients with vertigo. A clinical history for each patient was recorded precisely about the attack, frequency, and development of vertigo, its duration, intensity, and the accompanied symptoms including the risk factors for cerebrovascular disease, ...

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, accounting for 52% of all primary brain tumor cases and 20% of all intracranial tumors. Recently, evidence for a viral cause has been postulated, possibly SV40 or more likely cytomegalovirus (CMV). One report indicated that 80% ...