0000000000021402
AUTHOR
Antonio Granata
Nutcracker syndrome due to left renal vein compression by an aberrant right renal artery
Classic nutcracker syndrome is caused by left renal vein compression between the superior mesenteric artery and aorta, leading to retrograde venous hypertension associated with such urinary abnormalities as hematuria or proteinuria. We describe a case of symptomatic nutcracker syndrome treated by means of stent placement in which hypertension in the left renal vein was caused by stenosis of this vein compressed by an aberrant right renal artery at a point closer to the inferior vena cava.
Renal haemodynamics and coronary atherosclerotic burden are associated in patients with hypertension and mild coronary artery disease
Intrarenal hemodynamic alterations are independent predictors of cardiovascular events in different populations. It has been hypothesized that there is an association between renal hemodynamics and coronary atherosclerotic burden in patients with hypertension. Therefore, the present study examined the associations between renal hemodynamics, coronary atherosclerotic burden and carotid atherosclerotic disease. A total of 130 patients with hypertension aged between 30-80 years who had been referred for an elective coronary angiography were enrolled in the present study. A duplex ultrasound of the intrarenal vasculature was performed to evaluate the resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI)…
Inflammation and Aortic Stiffness: An Individual Participant Data Meta‐Analysis in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Background The recent finding that aortic pulse wave velocity ( aPWV ) is increased in patients with inflammatory bowel disease may explain why the cardiovascular risk is increased despite the low prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. We aimed to test whether inflammation is associated with aortic stiffening in this setting after adjustment for major confounders and to perform subgroup analyses. Methods and Results A systematic literature search for aPWV in inflammatory bowel disease was performed using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases (last accessed May 7, 2017). Inclusion criterion was peer‐reviewed publications on clinical studies reporting o…
Cardiorenal syndrome type 4: From chronic kidney disease to cardiovascular impairment
Cardiorenal syndrome type 4 (CRS type 4), or chronic renocardiac syndrome, has been defined as "chronic abnormalities in renal function leading to cardiac disease" and recognizes the extreme burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD is common and increasingly recognized as a risk factor for CVD. Even though the treatment for CVD has dramatically improved over the past decades, it still takes responsibility for up to 50% of deaths in CKD patients. For this reason, patients with CKD should be thoroughly evaluated for cardiovascular risk factors that require careful management, given the significant burden of CRS type 4 on the healthcare sys…
Pulse wave velocity differs between ulcerative colitis and chronic kidney disease
Background: We hypothesized that a reversal of the physiological stiffness gradient, previously reported in end-stage renal disease, begins in the early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and that chronic inflammation produces a different arterial phenotype in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Objectives: To assess the extent of arterial stiffening in the central (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, cf.-PWV) and peripheral arteries (carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, cr-PWV) and to explore the determinants of the stiffness gradient in UC and in CKD. Methods: We enrolled 45 patients with UC, 45 patients with stage 3-4 CKD and 45 matched controls. Results: Despite the comparable cf…
Relationship between kidney findings and systemic vascular damage in elderly hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease
Few studies have investigated the influence of age on the relationships between systemic vascular damage, kidney dysfunction, and intrarenal hemodynamic changes in patients with hypertension without overt cardiovascular disease. The authors enrolled 126 elderly patients with hypertension (aged ≥65 years) and 350 nonelderly patients with hypertension (aged <65 years). Carotid intima‐media thickness, renal resistive index, and aortic pulse wave velocity were performed in all patients. Elderly patients with hypertension had lower estimated glomerular filtration rates and higher albuminuria, renal resistive index, carotid intima‐media thickness, and aortic pulse wave velocity compared with none…
GLP-1 receptor agonists and renal outcomes in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and diabetic kidney disease: state of the art
ABSTRACT Background Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are highly effective in improving glycaemic control either as monotherapy or in combination with other hypoglycaemic drugs, and have low incidence of side effects, such as hypoglycaemia, nausea and weight gain, thus increasing patients' adherence to therapy. Methods In this review we report the most recent studies demonstrating the beneficial effects of GLP-1RAs on renal outcomes, and also discuss the direct and indirect mechanisms through which they confer kidney protection. Finally, we discuss the metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects of GLP-1RAs in diabetic patients with COVID-19 disease. Results GLP-1RAs have a n…
Para-perirenal distribution of body fat is associated with reduced glomerular filtration rate regardless of other indices of adiposity in hypertensive patients
Obesity is a well‐known risk factor for the development and progression of chronic kidney disease. Recently, para‐perirenal ultrasonographic fat thickness (PUFT) has shown to correlate with both total and visceral fat better than body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and other indices of obesity. Moreover, a local paracrine and mechanical action of the PUFT on kidney has been described in recent studies. Aim of our study was to assess the relationship between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and PUFT in comparison with other anthropometric and ultrasonographic indices of adiposity. Two hundred and ninety‐six hypertensive patients were enrolled. PUFT, cutis‐rectis thickness and re…
Planktothrix rubescens in freshwater reservoirs: remote sensing potentiality for mapping cell density
Planktothrix rubescens is sadly famous for producing microcystins (MCs), which are powerful hepatotoxins. During the winter 2005/06, P. rubescens has been found in the Pozzillo, Nicoletti, Prizzi and Garcia reservoirs, Sicily; in 2008 it was also detected in SS. Trinita di Delia and Castello reservoirs. Indeed, during periods of low shortwave irradiance such as winter, when light weakly penetrates water column and the water cools, P. rubescens filaments float up to the surface, forming red-colored blooms. Ancillary meteorological measurements highlighted low air temperatures between two frosts in December 2007 and February 2008, with a simultaneous reduction in the incoming total solar radi…