Search results for "Sensitivity"

High-sensitivity Cardiac Troponin for the Evaluation of Patients With Suspected ACS: A True or a False Friend?

2019

Tumor Oxygenation Under Normobaric and Hyperbaric Hyperoxia

1997

Tumor hypoxia is an important factor limiting the efficiency of sparsely ionizing ra-diation and O2-dependent chemotherapy. Since the tumor pO2 is the result of a dynamic steady state between oxygen supply and O2 consumption of the tumor tissue, hypoxia could be reduced either by increasing the O2-supply or by reducing the O2 demand of the tumor cells. The O2 supply can be improved for instance by (i) increasing the arterial oxy-gen partial pressure, (ii) improving (and homogenizing) the tumor perfusion, or (iii) en-hancing the O2 release from blood into the tissue by right-shifting the HbO2 dissociation curve. Theoretically, it should also be possible to improve tumor oxygenation by a rela…

Glucose Metabolism in Children With Growth Hormone Deficiency

2018

Background: The growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis has a fundamental impact on glucose metabolism. Therefore, both untreated GH deficiency (GHD) and GH treatment (GHT) may be associated with some metabolic alterations, although the abnormalities of glucose metabolism have been investigated by relatively few studies as main outcomes. Aim: The present review summarizes the available data on glucose metabolism in children with GHD, providing an overview of the current state of the art in order better to clarify the real metabolic impact of GHD and GHT. Methods: Among all the existing studies, we evaluated all original studies that fulfilled our criteria for analysis …

Primary ciliary dyskinesia assessment by means of optical flow analysis of phase-contrast microscopy images

2014

Primary ciliary dyskinesia implies cilia with defective or total absence of motility, which may result in sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis and male infertility. Diagnosis can be difficult and is based on an abnormal ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and beat pattern. In this paper, we present a method to determine CBF of isolated cells through the analysis of phase-contrast microscopy images, estimating cilia motion by means of an optical flow algorithm. After having analyzed 28 image sequences (14 with a normal beat pattern and 14 with a dyskinetic pattern), the normal group presented a CBF of 5.2 +/- 1.6 Hz, while the dyskinetic patients presented a 1.9 +/- 0.9 Hz CBF. The cutoff …

GALAD Score Detects Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma in an International Cohort of Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

2020

Background & Aims The prevalence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing. However, strategies for detection of early-stage HCC in patients with NASH have limitations. We assessed the ability of the GALAD score, which determines risk of HCC based on patient sex; age; and serum levels of α-fetoprotein (AFP), AFP isoform L3 (AFP-L3), and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), to detect HCC in patients with NASH. Methods We performed a case-control study of 125 patients with HCC (20% within Milan Criteria) and 231 patients without HCC (NASH controls) from 8 centers in Germany. We compared the performance of serum AFP, AFP-L3, or DCP vs GALAD …

Cost Effectiveness of Peginterferon ??-2a Plus Ribavirin versus Interferon ??-2b Plus Ribavirin as Initial Therapy for Treatment-Naive Chronic Hepati…

2004

Introduction: In adults with previously untreated chronic hepatitis C (CHC), the combination of peginterferon α-2a plus ribavirin produces a higher rate of sustained virological response (SVR) than interferon α-2b plus ribavirin, but it is still unproven whether this increase is cost effective. The objective of this study was to determine if the gain in SVR with peginterferon α-2a plus ribavirin is worth the incremental cost. Methods: We constructed a Markov model of disease progression in which cohorts of patients received peginterferon α-2a plus ribavirin or interferon α-2b plus ribavirin for 48 weeks (hepatitis C virus [HCV] genotype 1 and non-1 patients with fibrosis) or 24 weeks (genot…

Cost-effectiveness of screening for colorectal cancer in France using a guaiac test versus an immunochemical test

2010

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the cost and the effectiveness of two biennial fecal occult blood screening tests for colorectal cancer: a guaiac nonrehydrated test (G-FOBT) and an immunochemical test (I-FOBT) with the absence of screening.Methods: A Markov model was developed to compare these strategies in a general population of subjects aged 50 to 74 over a 20-year period.Results: Compared with the absence of screening, G-FOBT and I-FOBT were associated with a decrease in colorectal cancer mortality of 17.4 percent and 25.2 percent, respectively. With regard to cost-effectiveness, expressed as cost per life-year gained, I-FOBT was the most effective and most costly alter…

Multidetector Computed Tomography Angiography (MD-CTA) of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafts – Update 2017

2017

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is still an important therapeutic approach in the treatment especially of advanced coronary artery disease. In this study, we elucidate the current role of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MD-CTA) in imaging patients after CABG surgery.This study is based on recent reports in the literature (2007 - 2016) on imaging of CABG using 64-slice MD-CT scanners and beyond. We included 13 reports that compared ECG-gated MD-CTA with conventional invasive coronary angiography (ICA) as the reference standard for the assessment of graft patency and for the detection of 50 % stenoses. These studies had to provide absolute values for true-positive, true-…

Relaxation by Calcium Antagonists of Potassium-contracted Trachea from Normal and Sensitized Guinea-pigs: Influence of Epithelium and the Surface of …

1993

Abstract A technique by which drug access was restricted to either the mucosal or the adventitial surface of tracheal rings, isolated from normal (unsensitized) or sensitized guinea-pigs, was used to study the role of the epithelium in the relaxation produced by calcium antagonists (verapamil, nifedipine, cinnarizine and flunarizine) of K+-induced contraction. In trachea from normal guinea-pigs, the relaxation to verapamil for unrestricted or mucosal drug entry was reduced in the absence of epithelium, whereas the relaxation produced by nifedipine, cinnarizine or flunarizine was unchanged. In sensitized trachea, the relaxation elicited by the calcium antagonists tested was similar in intact…

Alteration of Esophageal Peristalsis by Pentagastrin in Patients with Diffuse Esophageal Spasm

1975

Although it has been shown that gastrin and gastric alkalinization affect the lower esophageal sphincter, in vivo studies have not demonstrated a measurable effect of pentagastrin on esophageal peristalsis. In 9 patients with diffuse esophageal spam and in 10 control subjects esophageal peristalsis was recorded before and after pentagastrin infections. Subcutaneous pentagastrin increased peak amplitude significantly more in patients, 31.2 +/- 8.1 mm Hg (mean +/- S.E.M.), than in controls, 12.1 +/- 5.1 mm Hg (P less than 0.02). Max. duration of contraction waves in patients showed a rise of 11.3 +/- 2.7 sec as compared to controls, 1.9 +/- 0.9 sec (P less than 0.01). The effect of pentagastr…