Search results for "STROKE"

Clinical utility of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

2017

Hemodynamic Effects of Ventricular Pacing

1985

Fixed rate ventricular pacing is used in most cases of implanted pacemakers. It does not usually create considerable hemodynamic problems, as the heart, by its adaptation mechanism, is capable of varying its pump performance to meet the metabolic needs[1,3].

Left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy in children: Is segmental fibrosis the cause of tissue Doppler alterations and of EF reduction?

2009

Noncompaction of the ventricular myocardium (LVNC) is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy resulting from an arrest in normal endomyocardial embryogenesis. In 2002 Jenni et al. [Jenni R, Wyss CA, Oechslin EN, Kaufmann PA. Isolated ventricular noncompaction is associated with coronary microcirculatory dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol 2002; 39:450-454.] reported a microvascular dysfunction in 12 patients affected by non compaction: areas of restricted myocardial perfusion have been documented by scintigraphy, suggesting a reduction of Coronary flow reserve. McMahon et al reported in a recent article a reduction of TD velocities in children with noncompaction of the left ventricle, compared with nor…

Virtual reality based robotic therapy for stroke rehabilitation: An initial study

2011

The stroke rate will increase as the population ages. Lots of methods on stroke rehabilitation have been developed in the world. The therapy method based on the mirror box illusion helps the limb practice after stroke. Mirror therapy could be combined to virtual reality (VR) rehabilitation to enhance its effect, using robot to realize the position and force manipulation. Robotic device provide one way to regulate the amount and intensity of movement of the plegic limb and to focus more time on more task-specific and complex functional movements. The purpose of this study is to propose a robot assistant for stroke rehabilitation by utilizing virtual reality technology and sensory feedback, t…

Calculating confidence intervals for impact numbers

2006

Abstract Background Standard effect measures such as risk difference and attributable risk are frequently used in epidemiological studies and public health research to describe the effect of exposures. Recently, so-called impact numbers have been proposed, which express the population impact of exposures in form of specific person or case numbers. To describe estimation uncertainty, it is necessary to calculate confidence intervals for these new effect measures. In this paper, we present methods to calculate confidence intervals for the new impact numbers in the situation of cohort studies. Methods Beside the exposure impact number (EIN), which is equivalent to the well-known number needed …

Physical therapy in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A systematic review.

2014

About 50% of patients with heart failure (HF) have preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) which is especially common in elderly people with highly prevalent co-morbid conditions. HFpEF is usually defined as an ejection fraction equal to or greater than 50%, although some studies have used a limit as low as 40%. The prevalence of this syndrome is expected to increase over the next decades. The associated impact on mortality and hospital readmissions has made of this entity a major public health issue. Despite the fact that mortality and re-hospitalisation rates of HFpEF are similar to the syndrome of HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), currently there is no available evidence-based thera…

VALIDATING SCREENING INSTRUMENTS FOR NEUROEPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEYS - EXPERIENCE IN SICILY

1992

In a hospital setting in Sicily, we assessed a screening instrument developed for a prevalence survey of parkinsonism, peripheral neuropathies, stroke, and epilepsy. The subjects consisted of (1) hospital patients with any of the above-mentioned diseases, to investigate sensitivity; and (2) hospital visitors free of all these diseases, to investigate specificity. The standard for comparison was a clinical evaluation based on specified criteria. Trained interviewers administered the screening instrument, asking subjects to answer symptom questions and to perform simple physical tasks. For the questions and tasks together, the sensitivity estimates were 100% for parkinsonism (n = 21), 96% for…

Predictive factors of severity and persistence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in sub-acute stroke.

2020

Purpose: This study aims to understand the factors contributing to the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia and its persistence in the sub-acute phase of stroke. Methods: We retrospectively collected the data of all the patients suffering from a stroke in the last year. The severity of stroke was reported according to the NIHSS score. All the patients were evaluated with the Dysphagia Risk Score and with a FEES. We classified the Dysphagia Risk Score and FEES results using the PAS score and ASHA-NOMS levels. The data were analysed statistically with ANOVA test, Student’s t test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: A series of 54 patients were evaluated. The ANOVA test did not find…

Neuroprotective Actions of Estradiol and Novel Estrogen Analogs in Ischemia: Translational Implications

2010

This review highlights our investigations into the neuroprotective efficacy of estradiol and other estrogenic agents in a clinically relevant animal model of transient global ischemia, which causes selective, delayed death of hippocampal CA1 neurons and associated cognitive deficits. We find that estradiol rescues a significant number of CA1 pyramidal neurons that would otherwise die in response to global ischemia, and this is true when hormone is provided as a long-term pretreatment at physiological doses or as an acute treatment at the time of reperfusion. In addition to enhancing neuronal survival, both forms of estradiol treatment induce measurable cognitive benefit in young animals. Mo…

Covid-19 and Congenital Heart Disease: results from a nationwide survey

2020

Background. The pandemic of Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is challenging, given the large number of hospitalized patients. Cardiovascular co-morbidities are linked to a higher mortality risk. Thus, patients with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) might represent a high-risk population. Nevertheless, no data about them are available, yet. Hence, we conducted a nationwide survey to assess clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease affected by COVID-19. Methods and Results. This is a multi-centre, observational, nationwide survey, involving high-volume Italian CHD centres. COVID-19 diagnosis was defined as either &ldquo