Search results for "Sclerosis"
showing 10 items of 1583 documents
FACTORS AFFECTING THE DIAGNOSTIC DELAY IN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS
2012
Abstract Background Although amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a relentlessly progressive disorder, early diagnosis allows a prompt start with the specific drug riluzole and an accurate palliative care planning. ALS at onset may however mimic several disorders, some of them treatable ( e.g. , multifocal motor neuropathy) or epidemiologically more frequent ( e.g. , cervical myelopathy). Objective To study the delay from onset to diagnosis in a cohort of ALS patients and to the variables that may affect it. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of the diagnostic delays in a cohort of 260 patients affected by ALS (M/F = 1.32) followed at our tertiary referral ALS Center between 20…
Cognitive correlates in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a population-based study in Italy.
2014
Background There is less data available regarding the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a population-based series. Methodology Patients with ALS incident in Piemonte, Italy, between 2009 and 2011 underwent an extensive neuropsychological battery. Cognitive status was classified as follows: normal cognition, frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD), executive cognitive impairment (ALS-ECI), non-executive cognitive impairment (ALS-NECI), behavioural impairment (ALS-Bi), non-classifiable cognitive impairment. We also assessed 127 age-matched and gender-matched controls identified through patients’ general practitioners. Results Out of the …
Comparison of prognostic usefulness (three years) of computed tomographic angiography versus 64-slice computed tomographic calcium scanner in subject…
2010
Coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA) has been used as a noninvasive method for ruling out high-grade stenoses. Even in the absence of such stenoses, analysis of coronary atherosclerosis may provide for important prognostic information, and this may be superior to exclusive coronary artery calcium scoring. We tested this hypothesis in patients undergoing CTA for clinical indications who had no stenoses requiring revascularization. From December 2004 to December 2006, 706 consecutive patients who underwent CTA but had no high-grade stenoses were included (58% men, mean age 59 ± 11 years). CTA and coronary artery calcium scoring (Agatston method) were performed using a 64-slice …
Cryoplasty versus angioplasty in the treatment of arterial restenosis in an experimental model of atherosclerosis in rabbits
2014
Abstract Cryoplasty may reduce the incidence of post-angioplasty restenosis in peripheral atherosclerotic arteries. Our study is looking to investigate the mid-term effects (4 weeks) of an FDA-approved cryoplasty catheter (PolarCath®, Boston Scientific) compared to a conventional angioplasty catheter using a hypercholesterolemic rabbit model of arterial restenosis based on diet plus vessel injury. Thirty-six normolipidemic, 3-month old male New Zealand White rabbits were used. Balloon angioplasty was performed on left external iliac arteries on day 1. Animals were fed with a hypercholesterolemic diet for 60 days. On day 120, three groups of animals were established: conventional PTA (percut…
Distigmine bromide induced acute psychotic disorder in a patient with multiple sclerosis.
2003
AbstractA female patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) suffered from an acute psychotic disorder after taking distigmine bromide for detrusor dysfunction. She showed a dramatic relief of her symptoms after the medication, distigmine bromide, was stopped. Distigmine is not supposed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, in MS patients a leakage of the BBB could be hypothesized.
Relationship Between Cognitive-Behavioral Impairment and Clinical and Functional Parameters in ALS and Reliability of the Edinburgh Cognitive and Beh…
2019
Background Although it is widely recognized that a high percentage of individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have cognitive and behavioral impairment, the associated clinical and functional parameters remain unknown. ALS is typically assessed via screening tests, such as the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Objective To investigate the relationship between cognitive-behavioral impairment and other clinical and functional parameters and to compare the assessment results from a set of standardized neuropsychological tests with those from the ECAS. Methods Forty individuals with ALS participated in the study. We assessed attention, memory and learning abilit…
Immune-inflammatory markers and arterial stiffness indexes in subjects with acute ischemic stroke.
2010
Abstract No study has yet evaluated the relationship between arterial stiffness indexes and immuno-inflammatory pathway in patients with an acute cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event. The aim of our study was to evaluate in patients with acute ischemic stroke the relationship between immune-inflammatory markers and arterial stiffness indexes. Methods 107 subjects with acute ischemic stroke and 107 controls without stroke. We evaluated plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), E-selectin, P-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1…
The predictive role of C-reactive protein in patients with hypertension and subclinical atherosclerosis.
2009
Recent guidelines published by the joint European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology have suggested the inclusion of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the standard assessment of cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients, but little data is available on the role of CRP in patients with carotid lesions. We studied in 472 subjects, 236 with and 236 without hypertension, gender- and age-matched, with and without early stages of atherosclerosis (e.g. those with asymptomatic intima-media thickness >0.9 mm), the influence of all the other traditional cardiovascular risk factors (e.g. older age, male gender, obesity, diabetes, smoking habit, family history of coronary artery diseas…
The relationships between lipid ratios and arterial stiffness
2017
Although dyslipidemia is associated with cardiovascular disease, there are conflicting data about the role of serum lipids and their ratios in promoting arterial stiffness. The authors aimed to compare serum lipid profiles to predict arterial stiffness, which was assessed by brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity in young Chinese men. A total of 1015 participants aged 18 to 44 years without serious comorbidities were recruited for conventional detection. Anthropometrics, brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity, serum lipids, and other laboratory data were measured. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed to examine the relationship between serum lipid profiles and bra…
Decreased plasma soluble RAGE in patients with hypercholesterolemia: Effects of statins
2007
The receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) is overexpressed at sites of vascular pathology. A soluble RAGE isoform (sRAGE) neutralizes the ligand-mediated damage by acting as a decoy. We hypothesized that in hypercholesterolemia up-regulation of the ligand-RAGE axis may bridge impairment of nitric oxide biosynthesis with oxidative stress. We measured in 60 hypercholesterolemic patients and 20 controls plasma total sRAGE levels, urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin (PG) F(2alpha) excretion, and plasma levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA). The effects of two structurally different statins (pravastatin and atorvastatin) on these parameters were analyzed in 20 hypercholesterolemic su…