Search results for "Sclerosis"

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and multiple sclerosis: A commentary

2010

Natalizumab therapy of multiple sclerosis: recommendations of the Multiple Sclerosis Study Group-Italian Neurological Society

2011

Three years after the introduction of natalizumab (NA) therapy for the second line treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), Italian MS centers critically reviewed the scientific literature and their own clinical experience. Natalizumab was shown to be highly efficacious in the treatment of MS. However, the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy was confirmed and defined better. This article summarizes the MS-SIN Study Group recommendations on the use of NA in MS, with particular reference to the appropriate selection and monitoring of patients as well as to the management of adverse events.

AORTIC STIFFNESS IS INCREASED IN NORMOTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

2018

INTRODUCTION: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a 4- to 10-fold increased risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) events compared with the general population. The enhanced CV risk conferred by SLE may in part be mediated through preclinical CV damage. Large artery stiffness is usually assessed by measuring aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), a marker of early vascular aging (EVA) and an independent predictor of adverse CV prognosis. Several studies examined aortic stiffness in SLE with inconsistent results. AIM: To evaluate aPWV and the prevalence of EVA in a group of normotensive patients with SLE and to compare these values with those obtained in age- and gender- matched…

Repeated courses of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Clinical and biological results from a prospective multic…

2011

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) induces a transient mobilization of hematopoietic progenitor cells from bone marrow to peripheral blood. Our aim was to evaluate safety of repeated courses of G-CSF in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), assessing disease progression and changes in chemokine and cytokine levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Twenty-four ALS patients entered an open-label, multicenter trial in which four courses of G-CSF and mannitol were administered at 3-month intervals. Levels of G-CSF were increased after treatment in the serum and CSF. Few and transitory adverse events were observed. No significant reduction of the mean monthly decrea…

Multiple sclerosis: Haemorheological pattern

2016

Mortality studies for multiple sclerosis: still a useful tool to analyse long-term outcome

2017

Mortality studies represent a useful way to look at the prognosis of a chronic complex disease and to evaluate the impact of therapeutic and caring strategies on long-term outcomes. Results should be interpreted keeping always in mind the following important aspects: first, to what extent the disease affects patient’s life in terms of life expectancy. Second, what is at this moment the real impact that the strategies and measures we adopt to cure and to take care of patients really have on clear and strong endpoints like mortality? In their JNNP manuscript, Lunde et al .1 show a significant reduction in life expectancy in people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) over a study period of abo…

Evaluation of C-Reactive Protein in Primary and Secondary Prevention

2007

Inflammation is pivotal in atherosclerosis, and C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory marker that predicts cardiovascular events. Several population-based studies have demonstrated that baseline CRP levels predict future cardiovascular events. CRP testing may thus have a major adjunctive role in the global assessment of cardiovascular risk. Recently, the National Cholesterol Education Program, through the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, identified CRP and another marker of inflammation, the fibrinogen, as “emerging risk factors,” suggesting that their measurement may improve the estimations of absolute risk obtained using the traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In terms of…

Cardiovascular Imaging Techniques in Systemic Rheumatic Diseases

2018

The risk of cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality is significantly higher in patients with systemic rheumatic diseases than in the general population. Although CV involvement in such patients is highly heterogeneous and may affect various structures of the heart, it can now be diagnosed earlier and promptly treated. Various types of assessments are employed for the evaluation of CV risk such as transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) to investigate valve abnormalities, pericardial disease, and ventricular wall motion defects. The diameter of coronary arteries can be assessed using invasive quantitative coronarograp…

Rare dyslipidaemias, from phenotype to genotype to management: a European Atherosclerosis Society task force consensus statement

2020

Genome sequencing and gene-based therapies appear poised to advance the management of rare lipoprotein disorders and associated dyslipidaemias. However, in practice, underdiagnosis and undertreatment of these disorders are common, in large part due to interindividual variability in the genetic causes and phenotypic presentation of these conditions. To address these challenges, the European Atherosclerosis Society formed a task force to provide practical clinical guidance focusing on patients with extreme concentrations (either low or high) of plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The task force also recognises the scarcity of qua…

Kinin receptors in human vascular tissue: their role in atheromatous disease

1997

Using samples of many human blood vessels, obtained at autopsy and specific antibodies directed to peptide sequences of the kinin B1 and B2 receptors, we demonstrate the localisation of these receptors within the human vascular system using standard immunolabelling techniques. In large elastic arteries and veins, kinin receptors are present only in the endothelial cells whereas in all muscular arteries and arterioles, these receptors are present in both the endothelial and smooth muscle cells. The identification of kinin receptors in human blood vessels confirms that kinins may modulate both vascular permeability and contractility. The incidental finding at histology, of patchy atheromatous…