Search results for "Original Articles"
showing 10 items of 474 documents
“Song of Life”: Results of a multicenter randomized trial on the effects of biographical music therapy in palliative care
2021
Background: Awareness for the importance of psychological and spiritual needs in patients with terminal diseases has increased in recent years, but randomized trials on the effects of psychosocial interventions are still rare. Aim: To investigate the efficacy of the “Song of Life” music therapy intervention regarding the emotional and psycho-spiritual dimensions of quality of life. Design: Patients were randomly assigned to either “Song of Life” or a relaxation intervention. “Song of Life” is a novel three-session music therapy intervention working with a biographically meaningful song. Primary outcome was the improvement in psychological quality of life. Secondary outcomes included spiritu…
Depression mediates physical activity readiness and physical activity in patients with heart failure.
2021
Aims Although physical activity (PA) and exercise are essential for patients with heart failure (HF), adherence to the recommended guidelines is low. Not much is known about the mediating effect of HF patients mental state with their readiness for PA and reported activity levels. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediatory effect of depression on PA readiness (physical limitation and psychological readiness) and self-reported PA in patients with HF. Methods and results In this cross-sectional study, 163 New York Heart Association Class I and II HF patients, during their clinic visit, reported on their physical limitation (PAR-Q) and psychological readiness [self-efficacy (ESES…
Septic cardiomyopathy: evidence for a reduced force-generating capacity of human atrial myocardium in acute infective endocarditis
2017
AbstractBackground:This study analyzes the myocardial force-generating capacity in infective endocarditis (IE) using an experimental model of isolated human atrial myocardium. In vivo, it is difficult to decide whether or not alterations in myocardial contractile behavior are due to secondary effects associated with infection such as an altered heart rate, alterations of preload and afterload resulting from valvular defects, and altered humoral processes. Our in vitro model using isolated human myocardium, in contrast, guarantees exactly defined experimental conditions with respect to preload, afterload, and contraction frequency, thus not only preventing confounding by in vivo determinants…
Serum markers for early detection of patients with mesenteric ischemia after cardiac surgery
2018
AbstractObjectiveMesenteric ischemia (MESI) is a rare but often fatal complication in patients after cardiac surgery. Non-specific clinical symptoms and lack of specific laboratory parameters complicate the diagnosis. We evaluated potential serum markers for MESI in cardiac surgery patients.MethodsBetween March and October 2012, serial serum samples of 567 elective cardiac surgery patients were collected 1, 24, and 48 h after the operation, and concentrations of potential markers for MESI [α-glutathione-S-transferase (αGST), intestinal fatty-acid-binding protein (iFABP), and D-lactate] were measured retrospectively. In patients requiring laparotomy, blood samples obtained 72, 48, 24, and 12…
Longitudinal imaging and evaluation of SAH-associated cerebral large artery vasospasm in mice using micro-CT and angiography
2019
Longitudinal in vivo imaging studies characterizing subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced large artery vasospasm (LAV) in mice are lacking. We developed a SAH-scoring system to assess SAH severity in mice using micro CT and longitudinally analysed LAV by intravenous digital subtraction angiography (i.v. DSA). Thirty female C57Bl/6J-mice (7 sham, 23 SAH) were implanted with central venous ports for repetitive contrast agent administration. SAH was induced by filament perforation. LAV was assessed up to 14 days after induction of SAH by i.v. DSA. SAH-score and neuroscore showed a highly significant positive correlation (rsp = 0.803, p < 0.001). SAH-score and survival showed a negative sig…
The timing of introduction of pharmaceutical innovations in seven European countries
2014
RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Differences in the performance of medical care may be due to variation in the introduction and diffusion of medical innovations. The objective of this paper is to compare seven European countries (United Kingdom, the Netherlands, West Germany, France, Spain, Estonia and Sweden) with regard to the year of introduction of six specific pharmaceutical innovations (antiretroviral drugs, cimetidine, tamoxifen, cisplatin, oxalaplatin and cyclosporin) that may have had important population health impacts. METHODS: We collected information on introduction and further diffusion of drugs using searches in the national and international literature, and questionnaires to …
Cardiovascular outcomes after cardiac resynchronization therapy in cardiac amyloidosis
2021
Abstract Aims Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is highly effective in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients with impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left bundle block branch. In cardiac amyloidosis (CA) patients, left ventricular dysfunction and conduction defects are common, but the potential of CRT to improve cardiac remodelling and survival in this particular setting remains undefined. We investigated cardiovascular outcomes in CA patients after CRT implantation in terms of CRT echocardiographic response and major cardiovascular events (MACEs). Methods and results Our retrospective study included 47 CA patients implanted with CRT devices from January 2012 to Feb…
Measurement of coagulation factors during rivaroxaban and apixaban treatment: Results from two crossover trials
2018
Abstract Background Prediction models for venous thromboembolism recurrence will likely be improved by adding levels of coagulation factors. Risk assessment is ideally performed during anticoagulant treatment, however, the influence of direct oral anticoagulants on coagulation factors is uncertain. Objective To assess the influence of rivaroxaban and apixaban on several coagulation factor levels. Methods In two crossover trials we assessed the influence of rivaroxaban and apixaban intake on factor (F)VIII, FXI and FXII‐activity and fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor (VWF:Ag), and d‐dimer levels. At three sessions with a washout period in between, blood was taken from 12 healthy male individu…
Survival with low- and high-flux dialysis
2021
The National Program of I + D + I 2008–2011 and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the ISCIII Retic REDinREN (RD06/0016/1013, RD12/0021/0023 and RD16/ 0009/0017), the ISCIII (ICI14/00107, PI17/00384 and PI20/00633), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Plan Estatal de I + D + I 2013–2016, Plan de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación 2013–2017 y 2018–2022 del Principado de Asturias (GRUPIN14-028, IDI-2018-000152) (...)
Prevalence of pulmonary embolism in 127 945 autopsies performed in cancer patients in the United States between 2003 and 2019
2021
Abstract Background Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially fatal disease, but data on the incidence of fatal PE in cancer patients are scant. Objective We sought to estimate the proportion of cancer patients with PE at autopsy. Methods For this retrospective cohort study, all autopsy reports of cancer patients were retrieved from PALGA: Dutch Pathology Registry and used for data extraction. The primary outcome was PE at time of autopsy, defined as any clot obstructing a pulmonary artery. The secondary outcome was venous thromboembolism, defined as the composite of thrombotic PE, deep vein thrombosis, splanchnic vein thrombosis, or internal jugular vein thrombosis. Results A total of 9571 …