Risk factors, atrial fibrillation and thromboembolic events.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation between risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) and thromboembolic complications. METHODS: We studied 480 patients (mean age: 71.2+/-11.6 years): 240 with paroxysmal AF, 240 with permanent AF. The association between AF and the presence of risk factors, cardiac and systemic disease was observed and the correlation with the occurrence of complications analyzed. RESULTS: Patients with AF had a high prevalence of the following conditions: hypertension, hypertensive heart disease (HHD), coronary artery disease, hyperthyroidism. Thromboembolism was observed in 26.6% of the patients. A correlation between the occurrence of a thromboembolic…

Gender-differences in disease distribution and outcome in hospitalized elderly: data from the REPOSI study.

none 330 Women live longer and outnumber men. On the other hand, older women develop more chronic diseases and conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and depression, leading to a greater number of years of living with disabilities. The aim of this study was to describe whether or not there are gender differences in the demographic profile, disease distribution and outcome in a population of hospitalized elderly people.Retrospective observational study including all patients recruited for the REPOSI study in the year 2010. Analyses are referred to the whole group and gender categorization was applied.A total of 1380 hospitalized elderly subjects, 50.5\% women and 49.5\% men, were conside…

Role of genetic predisposition as a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Interleukin-12 in Human Boutonneuse Fever Caused by Rickettsia conorii

Interleukin (IL)-12 contributes to the resistance against a number of intracellular pathogens. We examined the potential biological role of IL-12 by studying peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), its production and its effect on cytokine synthesis in 20 Sicilian patients with boutonneuse fever (BF) caused by Rickettsia conorii. Data indicate that PBMC from acute BF patients were able to produce IL-12 in response to in vitro stimulation with rickettsial antigen (Ag): this production was higher than that detected in healed patients. Monocytes were the main source of IL-12 by PBMC from BF patients. IL-12 secretion by in vitro Ag-stimulated PBMC from BF patients was potentiated by recombin…