To raise awareness of the potentially adverse consequences of postpartum cerebral vasoconstriction, which is typically considered benign and self-limiting, by describing 4 fulminantly fatal cases. Retrospective case series. Tertiary referral center. Patients  Four postpartum women aged 15 to 33 years developed acute neurologic deficits 1 to 8 days after uncomplicated ...

BACKGROUND: We investigated how many contrast-transcranial Doppler (c-TCD) examinations should be performed on different days in patients with acute stroke. METHODS: Consecutive acute stroke patients within 24 hours of onset were enrolled. Presence of RLS was examined using c-TCD examinations on days 1, 7, and 14. Each c-TCD examination used ...

Background: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and their role in cerebrovascular disease. A few studies have investigated the histopathological correlation between CMBs and neuroimaging findings. We conducted a systematic review in an attempt to characterize the pathological and radiological correlation. Methods: A ...

INTRODUCTION: Study aim was to find out if patients with Lenke type 1 curve exhibit smaller pedicles and specific pedicle width pattern compared with individuals with no scoliosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 4,828 pedicle width measurements (T1-L5) in 61 consecutive patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis of Lenke type 1 curve, 61 ...

Impulse oscillometry (IOS) is an effort-independent and patient-friendly pulmonary function technique, but limited data are available that correlate the bronchodilator response using spirometry and IOS in adult asthmatic and healthy subjects. To compare spirometry and IOS in ongoing bronchodilator response. The study was a prospective evaluation of patients with asthma ...

Eur J Clin Invest 2011 ABSTRACT: Background  Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome (MS). However, not all patients with the MS will develop NAFLD and not all patients with NAFLD have the MS. We sought to investigate the differences between patients with biopsy-proven ...

Hypogammaglobulinemic sprue (HGS), which may predispose to infection, is uncommon. Twelve patients (all men; median age 29 years, 15-50) with HGS (4%) of 296 with chronic small bowel diarrhea and malabsorption syndrome (MAS) during a 10-year period were analyzed. Treatment of HGS was delayed due to misdiagnosis as intestinal tuberculosis (n = 7) ...

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous arterial bleeding in patients with type 1 neurofibromatosis is uncommon. It can be fatal if not recognized and treated in a timely manner. OBJECTIVES: Diagnose and treat an uncommon complication in type 1 neurofibromatosis. CASE REPORT: We report a patient with type 1 neurofibromatosis who bled spontaneously from ...

We performed this study to determine sensitivity and specificity of pleural effusion antinuclear antibodies (ANA) at a titer of ≥1 : 160, and the ratio of pleural effusion to serum ANA of ≥1, to distinguish between pleural fluid from lupus pleuritis and other causes. A prospective study of 54 patients ...

The Angelchik prosthesis, resembling an incomplete doughnut (Figure 1), was used in the past to treat patients with hiatus hernia.

INTRODUCTION: High concentrations of N-terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are found in patients with right ventricular overload. Right ventricular overload may be the result of large perfusion defects in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). NT-proBNP levels are associated with poorer outcome in patients with acute PE. Likewise, the percentage of pulmonary ...

Isolated 20q deletion is common in MDS and considered of good prognosis, but no large series have been reported. We compared characteristics of 62 MDS patients with isolated del 20q, 36 patients with del 20q and other cytogenetic abnormalities, and 1335 MDS patients without del20q. Significant differences between MDS with ...

A cardiac evaluation before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is imperative. Previous investigations have demonstrated that mild to moderate reversible perfusion defects on myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in general are associated with a low risk for perioperative cardiac events. The objective of this study was to assess any perfusion defects in ...

Objective: To investigate simultaneously skin perfusion and digital artery pulsatility of hands in patients with primary Raynaud's phenomenon (PRP) and systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: In 100 SSc patients, 92 PRP patients, and 80 healthy controls, perfusion and digital artery pulsatility of the hands were investigated by laser Doppler perfusion imaging ...

BACKGROUND: Transient ischemic dilation (TID) in the setting of an abnormal SPECT radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) study is considered a marker of severe and extensive coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the clinical significance of TID and its association with CAD in patients with an otherwise normal MPI study is ...

Background Oesophageal intraluminal impedance is currently used for assessment of reflux in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Oesophageal mucosa integrity may have a key role in heartburn perception in non-erosive reflux disease (NERD). Severe erosive oesophagitis is associated with low impedance baseline. We hypothesised that impedance baseline measurements could be used ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE) prove venous embolic activity and enforce the suspicion of paradoxical embolism in patients with stroke with patent foramen ovale. Because it has implications in secondary prevention, we investigated the frequency of silent PE in such a cohort of patients. METHODS: ...

Diffusion- and perfusion-weighted imaging after transient ischemic attack (TIA) has been well studied, while less data exist on perfusion computed tomographic (PCT) imaging. To examine the frequency of PCT abnormalities in patients with anterior circulation TIA and to identify factors associated with the presence of PCT abnormality. Retrospective study. Academic ...

Objective: To describe the course of autoimmune hyperthyroid disease in a patient with corticotropin (ACTH) deficiency treated with glucocorticoids.Methods: We report the clinical presentation, laboratory data, imaging studies, and management of a patient with weight loss, fatigue, apathy, hallucinations, and arthritis.Results: Autoimmune hyperthyroidism (positive thyroperoxidase and thyroglobulin antibodies and borderline ...

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role and impact of EUS in the management of critically ill patients. Methods. We retrospectively identified all patients at our institution over a 68-month period in whom bedside inpatient EUS was performed. EUS was considered to have a significant impact ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this retrospective investigation wasto devise a protocol for obtaining consistent myocardial counts for patients attending myocardial perfusion imaging. METHODS: A total of 229 patients were included in the study sample. For each rest single-photon emission computed tomography data set, a three-dimensional ellipse was manually defined to ...

Although hepatic perfusion abnormalities have been reported in patients with acute pancreatitis, hepatic perfusion with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) has not been quantitatively evaluated in humans. Therefore, we investigated hepatic perfusion in patients with SAP using perfusion CT. Hepatic perfusion CT was performed in 67 patients with SAP within 3 ...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by high levels of cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF). TNF appears to have an etiologic role in thyroid dysfunction, and thyroid dysfunction is a common comorbidity in RA. Anti-TNF treatment might limit thyroid dysfunction. Thus, changes in thyroid hormones were studied during TNF-blocking ...

Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) is a hereditary disorder caused by deficiency of ferrochelatase, the last enzyme in the heme biosynthetic pathway. The majority of EPP patients present with a clinical symptom of painful phototoxicity. Liver damage, the most serious complication of EPP, occurs in <5% of the patients. This report describes ...

We previously reported that multiple thyroid cysts may be a cause of hypothyroidism in patients with a relatively high iodine intake and we termed it polycystic thyroid disease (PCTD). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of PCTD in patients who visited our thyroid center. We hypothesized ...

Background: erythrocyte abnormalities are frequently associated with thyroid dysfunction. However, they are rarely investigated and related to the thyroid. Aim: This study was aimed to determine the nature and frequency of erythrocyte abnormalities in thyroid disease and look for their evolution after thyroid function restoration. Methods: This retrospective study included ...

We present results of a clinical study on bedside perfusion monitoring of the human brain by optical bolus tracking. We measure the kinetics of the contrast agent indocyanine green using time-domain near-IR spectroscopy (tdNIRS) in 10 patients suffering from acute unilateral ischemic stroke. In all patients, a delay of the ...

Our study is to determine the expression of thyroid hormone, sex hormone, insulin, and C-peptide in Chinese male patients with thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP). This study covered 102 patients with hyperthyroidism from Xijing Hospital. According to whether occurrence of TPP or not, patients were divided into two groups (those that ...

Red blood cell (RBC) zinc (Zn) concentration reflects a patient's mean thyroid hormone level over the preceding several months. The aim of this study was to examine whether RBC Zn level can be used as an indicator to distinguish painless thyroiditis-associated transient hypothyroidism (TH) from permanent hypothyroidism (PH). RBC Zn ...

For patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH), the objective of the study was to define the rates of progression to frank hyperthyroidism and normal thyroid function. Record-linkage technology was used retrospectively to identify patients with SH in the general population of Tayside, Scotland, from January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2009. ...

Although studies have indicated that hyperthyroidism is associated with hypercoagulability, most such studies have focused only on examining the incidence of venous thrombosis. As far as we know, no study has attempted to explore the risk of pulmonary embolism (PE) among patients with hyperthyroidism. Using a nationwide population-based dataset, this ...

This study examined the wave intensity (WI) of the carotid artery in patients with hyperthyroid in order to assess the hemodynamic changes of hyperthyroid patients. A total of 86 hyperthyroid patients without cardiac morphological changes and arrhythmia, and 80 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. Right common carotid ...

Studies confirming a possible relationship of polymyositis within thyroid dysfunction, either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, are hardly available. To define the association, identify clinical, laboratory, electromyographic, and pathologic features in polymyositis (PM) patients with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, we conducted a MEDLINE and Chinese biomedicine database search to identify relevant literature published ...

Thymic hyperplasia is associated with Graves' disease, particularly in young patients. The degree of thymic transformation is minimal in most but not all patients. In the latter group radiological measurements of thyroid size and their change with treatment have rarely been reported. We present two patients with Graves' disease and ...

Serum levels of ICAM-1 (Inter Cellular Adhesion Molecule-1), VCAM-1 (Vascular cell Adhesion Molecule-1-I), TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1) and MMP-9 (Metalloproteinase 9) are well established markers of inflammation. The physiopathological link between inflammation, atherosclerosis and autoimmunity is well demonstrated. However, serum levels of these biomarkers in patients with autoimmune-mediated ...

AIM: To evaluate, by using skin biopsy technique, the intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density in a group of untreated patients with hypothyroidism, either overt (OH) or subclinical (SH), who did not complain of neurologic symptoms. METHODS: We evaluated 18 neurologically asymptomatic patients newly diagnosed with OH or SH. Fifteen healthy, ...

CONTEXT: One important aspect in the decision to treat or not elderly patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (SCH) is the risk of progression to overt hyperthyroidism (OH). OBJECTIVE: To define the natural history of endogenous SCH in elderly patients with TSH between 0.1 and 0.4 mIU/l. DESIGN: Prospective study. One hundred ...

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to evaluate the incidence of newly diagnosed primary overt hypothyroidism among adults admitted through the emergency department (ED) and to assess how previously undiagnosed hypothyroidism presents. METHODS: From July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2006, 56 adult patients were enrolled for further analysis. ...

A kaleidoscope of coagulation disorders have been reported in patients with thyroid dysfunctions. Globally, these disorders involve both primary and secondary hemostasis and range from subclinical laboratory abnormalities to, more rarely, life-threatening hemorrhages or thrombotic events. While overt hypothyroidism appears to be associated with a bleeding tendency, hyperthyroidism emerged to ...

CONTEXT: Immunoglobulins stimulating the TSH receptor (TSI) influence thyroid function and likely mediate extrathyroidal manifestations of Graves' disease (GD). OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical relevance of TSI in GD patients with or without Graves' orbitopathy (GO), to correlate the TSI levels with activity/severity of ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the time trend and geographic distribution of treated patients with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and explore their possible relationship to the availability of endocrinologists in Japan. STUDY DESIGN: The 2-source capture-recapture method was used to estimate the total number of patients. The ratio of the total estimated number ...

Graves' orbitopathy (GO) is part of an autoimmune disease, in which TSH-receptor antibodies (TRAb) stimulate the target organs. Most of these patients develop hyperthyroidism and about half an orbitopathy. To ensure the diagnosis, TRAb are determined, especially in patients with GO without associated thyroid disease. Because of their significantly improved ...

Thyrotoxicosis may present in many ways; severe vomiting as a prominent symptom of thyrotoxicosis is uncommon. In this paper, we report a 24-year-old Chinese male with hyperthyroidism who presented with recurrent severe vomiting. The patient had had intermittent vomiting for seven years and had lost approximately 15 kg of weight. ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of autoimmune thyroid disease in diagnosed cases of chronic urticaria (CU) and the association between hypothyroidism and chronic urticaria if any. STUDY DESIGN: Non-interventional, descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Physiology, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from December 2004 to January ...

Subclinical thyroid disease is a common disorder, particularly in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Some patients with manifest hypothyroidism complain of unsteadiness of gait. The management of subclinical hypothyroidism is controversial. A 61-year-old man presented with a mild gait abnormality. He walked unsteadily on a broad base. Examination revealed a slight ...

The risk of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is related to serum TSH, and the development of thyroid autonomy by reducing TSH levels decreases the frequency of PTC in patients with nodular goiter. Our aim was to investigate the effect of L-thyroxine (LT(4)) on the frequency of PTC diagnosed by cytology ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hypothyroidism is linked to heart disease and decreased quality of life. Since screening guidelines for the general population are controversial, and physicians use clinical judgment in deciding to order thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), high-normal levels of TSH pose a dilemma. This study's objective was to compare rates ...

Hashimoto encephalopathy is a steroid-responsive encephalopathy associated with elevated blood concentrations of antithyroid antibodies. The patients are usually euthyroid or mildly hypothyroid. The clinical picture is pleomorphic, presenting with variable symptoms ranging from behavioral and cognitive changes, myoclonus, seizures, pyramidal tract dysfunction, involuntary movements, and cerebellar signs to psychosis and ...

The aims of this study were to: 1) determine the prevalence of hyperprolactinaemia in patients with newly diagnosed subclinical and overt hypothyroidism, and 2) investigate the change in PRL levels with treatment. In this observational study, patients with a new diagnosis of hypothyroidism in our endocrinology clinic were approached for ...

OBJECTIVE: POEMS syndrome is a unique clinical entity. It was described by the presence of several typical characteristics as paraproteinemia, polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, and skin changes. Few people reported characteristics of Chinese POEMS patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective evaluation of Chinese patients with POEMS syndrome was carried out to reveal ...