Search results for "Severity of Illness Index"
showing 10 items of 1060 documents
Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Induces Inflammation and Predicts Spinal Progression in Ankylosing Spondylitis
2017
Objective: To investigate the role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: Patients who met the modified New York criteria for AS were recruited for the study. Healthy volunteers, rheumatoid arthritis patients, and osteoarthritis patients were included as controls. Based on the annual rate of increase in modified Stoke AS Spine Score (mSASSS), AS patients were classified as progressors or nonprogressors. MIF levels in serum and synovial fluid were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Predictors of AS progression were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis of ileal tissue was…
APOE epsilon variation in multiple sclerosis susceptibility and disease severity: some answers
2006
Background: Previous studies have examined the role of APOE variation in multiple sclerosis (MS), but have lacked the statistical power to detect modest genetic influences on risk and disease severity. The meta- and pooled analyses presented here utilize the largest collection, to date, of MS cases, controls, and families genotyped for the APOE epsilon polymorphism. Methods: Studies of MS and APOE were identified by searches of PubMed, Biosis, Web of Science, Cochrane Review, and Embase. When possible, authors were contacted for individual genotype data. Meta-analyses of MS case-control data and family-based analyses were performed to assess the association of APOE epsilon genotype with dis…
The size of juxtaluminal hypoechoic area in ultrasound images of asymptomatic carotid plaques predicts the occurrence of stroke
2013
Abstract OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the size of a juxtaluminal black (hypoechoic) area (JBA) in ultrasound images of asymptomatic carotid artery plaques predicts future ipsilateral ischemic stroke. METHODS: A JBA was defined as an area of pixels with a grayscale value 10 mm(2) (P 8 mm(2)) was still significant after adjusting for other plaque features known to be associated with increased risk, including stenosis, grayscale median, presence of discrete white areas without acoustic shadowing indicating neovascularization, plaque area, and history of contralateral TIA or stroke. Plaque area and grayscale median were not significant. Using the significant variables (stenosis, discr…
Safety and feasibility of atropine added in patients with sub-maximal heart rate during exercise myocardial perfusion SPECT.
2006
Failure to reach 80% of maximal predicted heart rate (HR) during exercise may render a myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) study non-diagnostic for ischemia detection. We sought to investigate the injection of atropine in patients who fail to achieve 80% of age-predicted HR during exercise performed for myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS), defining its safety and efficacy to raise HR to adequate levels as well as its effect on MPS interpretation.Between January 2002 and December 2004, we studied 3,150 consecutive patients (2,253 men and 897 women, mean age 55 +/- 6 years) who were referred to a single office-based nuclear cardiology laboratory for MPS using …
Persistence of C-reactive protein increased levels and high disease activity are predictors of cardiovascular disease in patients with axial spondylo…
2022
AbstractAn accurate prediction of cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a strong unmet need, as CV risk algorithms poorly perform in these subjects. The aim of this study was to establish whether the persistence of high C-reactive protein (CRP) and high disease activity may be considered predictive factors of CVD in axSpA. 295 patients without personal history of CVD, were consecutively enrolled in this study. To evaluate the relationship between CV events occurrence (fatal and non-fatal) and the persistence of increased CRP levels, ASDAS (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score) > 2.1, and BASDAI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity)…
Culture and Real-time Polymerase Chain reaction sensitivity in the diagnosis of invasive meningococcal disease: Does culture miss less severe cases?
2019
BackgroundInvasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a highly lethal disease. Diagnosis is commonly performed by culture or Realtime-PCR (qPCR).AimsOur aim was to evaluate, retrospectively, whether culture positivity correlates with higher bacterial load and fatal outcome. Our secondary aim was to compare culture and qPCR sensitivity.MethodsThe National Register for Molecular Surveillance was used as data source. Cycle threshold (CT), known to be inversely correlated with bacterial load, was used to compare bacterial load in different samples.ResultsThree-hundred-thirteen patients were found positive for Neisseria meningitidis by qPCR, or culture, or both; 41 died (case fatality rate 13.1%); 1…
Primary endpoint results of the OMEGA Study: One-year clinical outcomes after implantation of a novel platinum chromium bare metal stent.
2014
Bare metal stents (BMS) have similar rates of death and myocardial infarction (MI) compared to drug-eluting stents (DES). DES lower repeat revascularization rates compared to BMS, but may have higher rates of late stent thrombosis (ST) potentially due to impaired endothelialization requiring longer dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT). OMEGA evaluated a novel BMS designed to have improved deliverability and radiopacity, in comparison to currently available platforms.OMEGA was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study enrolling 328 patients at 37 sites (US and Europe). Patients received the OMEGA stent (bare platinum chromium element stent) for the treatment of de novo native coronary artery…
Anti-C1q Autoantibodies in Lupus Nephritis: Prevalence and Clinical Significance
2005
Recently, anti-C1q autoantibodies have been proposed as a useful marker in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) since their occurrence correlates with renal involvement and, possibly, with nephritic activity. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anti-C1q antibodies in patients with SLE, with and without renal involvement, and to correlate these markers' presence and levels with the activity of the disease and nephropathy. We studied 61 patients with SLE, 40 of whom had biopsy-proven lupus nephritis; 35 patients with other connective tissue diseases; and 54 healthy controls. In addition, 18 lupus nephritis patients were followed up during the disease time course. Anti-C1q antibodies were mea…
Severe hypoglycemia is associated with antidiabetic oral treatment compared with insulin analogs in nursing home patients with type 2 diabetes and de…
2015
Abstract Objectives Severe hypoglycemia is associated with cognitive decline and dementia in older persons with type 2 diabetes. The role of antidiabetic treatments on severe hypoglycemia is unknown in dementia. The aims were to determine the prevalence of severe hypoglycemic events and investigate associations among severe hypoglycemic and specific antidiabetic treatments (classes of oral agents and types of insulin analogs) in a large sample of nursing home patients with diabetes according to dementia status. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting A total of 150 nursing homes across Italy. Participants A total of 2258 patients with type 2 diabetes (dementia = 1138, no dementi…
Pancreatic function after severe acute biliary pancreatitis: the role of necrosectomy.
2004
OBJECTIVES To investigate the recovery of pancreatic function after severe acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP), especially the influence of necrosectomy on endocrine and exocrine functions. METHODS Prospective cohort study including 39 patients with severe ABP. According to need or no need for surgical necrosectomy, patients were further subdivided into 2 groups. Functional pancreatic evaluation was carried out 12 months after the ABP episode. Endocrine function was evaluated by an oral glucose tolerance test and exocrine function by fecal fat excretion, fecal chymotrypsin (FQ), and secretin-cerulein tests (SCT). RESULTS Most of the patients with necrosectomy had an abnormal exocrine pancreati…