Search results for "Album"
showing 10 items of 724 documents
Long-term storage in liquid nitrogen does not affect cell viability in cardiac valve allografts
2007
Liquid nitrogen is the most common medium used by tissue banks for the storage of cryopreserved heart valves. This study evaluates the effect of the length of storage on human cryopreserved heart valves. Human tissues (14 aortic and 13 pulmonary) were frozen in a controlled-rate freezer (1 degrees C/min) and stored in the liquid phase of a nitrogen tank for 9.1+/-1.6 years. The preservative solution was medium M199 containing 5% human serum albumin and 10% Me(2)SO. After thawing in a water bath at 42 degrees C, the cryoprotectant was removed. Then, fragments from vascular wall and leaflet were dissected. Explant cultures and histological studies were performed in order to assess cell viabil…
Is it possible to predict which patients with mild pneumonias will develop hypoxemia?
2009
SummaryUsually, mortality due to mild community-acquired pneumonias (CAP) (Pneumonia severity index (PSI) classes I–III) is low (<3%), but the appearance of hypoxemia significantly increases mortality. Our aim was to determine the clinical parameters associated with risk factors of developing hypoxemia in subjects with mild CAP (PSI I–III) and the clinical outcomes of the hypoxemic group.We analyzed clinical characteristics and the outcomes of patients with mild CAP and hypoxemia (PaO2/FiO2<300), in a prospective, multicenter cohort study of 1195 patients.Mild pneumonias (PSI I–III) were found in 645 cases (53.9%), of which 217 (33.6%) presented hypoxemia according to a PaO2/FiO2<300. Patie…
Plasma homocysteine levels are associated with ulceration of the foot in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
2010
Background To examine the association of biochemical markers of risk (plasma Hcy, microalbuminuria, lipoprotein (a)(Lp(a)) and diabetic dyslipidaemia) with the prevalence of diabetic foot ulceration in type 2 diabetic patients. Methods Case/control study conducted in 198 type 2 diabetic patients. 89 patients have foot ulcers and 109 have no foot ulcers (control group), in order to establish ORs for diabetic foot ulceration. In all subjects plasma Hcy, Lp(a), total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, HbA1c and microalbuminuria were measured using standard procedures. Results Plasma Hcy, microalbuminuria, HbA…
Early and late histamine release induced by albumin, hetastarch and polygeline: some unexpected findings.
2003
Objective: The perioperative use of colloidal plasma substitutes is still under discussion. We therefore conducted a prospective randomised study with three commonly used plasma substitutes to examine their histamine releasing effects in 21 volunteers. Material or subjects: 21 male volunteers were enrolled in this prospective, randomised, controlled clinical study. Endpoints were the incidence of early and late histamine release and the time course of the release kinetics. Normovolemic hemodilution technique was used with hydroxyethyl starch (n = 6), human albumin (n = 6) and polygeline (n = 9). Measurement and observation period was 240 min after the start of the plasma substitute infusion…
Relationship between albumin excretion rate and aortic stiffness in untreated essential hypertensive patients
2004
. Objectives. To evaluate, in a group of nondiabetic essential hypertensive patients with normal renal function, the relationship between albumin excretion rate (AER) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), as an index of aortic stiffness. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Outpatient hypertension clinic. Subjects. Seventy patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension, aged 42 ± 8 years, never pharmacologically treated. All subjects underwent routine laboratory tests, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring, measurement of carotid-femoral PWV, by means of a computerized method, and AER. Results. Microalbuminuric patients (AER ≥ 20 μg min−1; n = 19), when comp…
The enantiomers of phenprocoumon: pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies.
1976
The pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the optical enantiomers of phenprocoumon were studied in 5 normal subjects and compared to the racemic mixture. Each subject received a single oral dose of 0.6 mg/kg of racemic, S(-), and R(+) phenprocoumon. S(-) phenprocoumon was 1.6 to 2.6 times as a potent as R(+) phenprocoumon when the area under the effect/time curve was used to quantify the total anticoagulant effect per dose. Comparing the plasma concentrations that elicited the same anticoagulant effect, S(-) phenprocoumon was 1.5 to 2.5 times as potent as R(+) phenprocoumon. The anticoagulant activity of the racemic mixture was between that of the enantiomers. There was no distinct diffe…
Endothelium-derived factors in microalbuminuric and nonmicroalbuminuric essential hypertensives
2000
Previous evidence has demonstrated a relationship between growth factors and cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed at evaluating levels of some endothelium-derived growth factors, and their relationship with microalbuminuria (MAU), in essential hypertension. Ninety-nine mild-moderate essential hypertensives (EH) and 25 healthy controls were studied. All patients underwent 24-h blood pressure monitoring, serum endothelin-1 (ET-1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and 24-h MAU assays. Later, EH were divided into two subsets consisting of microalbuminurics (MAU >11 microg/min) and nonmicroalbuminurics (MAU <11 microg/min). In microalbumin…
The spectrum of circadian blood pressure changes in type I diabetic patients.
2001
Background The objective of the present study was to characterize the spectrum of circadian blood pressure changes in type I diabetes at different stages of nephropathy by using two monitorings in each patient in order to avoid intra-individual variability. Patients and methods A total of 80 type I diabetic subjects and the same number of age, sex and awake mean blood pressure (BP)-matched controls were included. According to urinary albumin excretion, there were 57 normoalbuminurics, 15 persistent microalbuminurics and eight proteinurics. Two 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitorings were performed at the same urinary albumin excretion stage in absence of antihypertensive treatment for ea…
Value of Home Blood Pressures as Predictor of Target Organ Damage in Mild Arterial Hypertension
2002
Home blood pressure measurement has gained increasing importance for the management of hypertensive patients. The aim of our study was to compare levels of clinic (CBP), ambulatory (ABP), and home blood pressure (HBP) measurements, and their relationships with various indexes of target organ damage in I-II grade essential hypertension.Thirty-eight essential hypertensives underwent evaluation of clinic, ambulatory and home blood pressures. Each patient recorded HBP for 2 days with a digital BP monitor three times daily, the first time on the same day during which ABP monitoring was simultaneously performed. Moreover, in all subjects electrocardiogram recording, echocardiographic study, micro…
Relationships between 24 h blood pressure load and target organ damage in patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension.
2001
Objective: To analyse the relationships between 24 h blood pressure load (the percentage of systolic/diastolic blood pressures exceeding 140/90 mmHg while awake and 120/80 mmHg during sleep) and some indices of hypertensive target organ involvement, independently of the mean level of 24 h blood pressure. Methods: One hundred and thirty patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension underwent 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, ocular fundus examination, microalbuminuria assay and two-dimensional guided M-mode echocardiography. The study population was divided into subsets according to the systolic and diastolic 24 h blood pressure load values predicted from the regression equation relat…