Search results for "Stratification"

Optimal carbohydrate antigen 125 cutpoint for identifying low-risk patients after admission for acute heart failure

2022

Introduction and objectives: Carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) has been shown to be useful for risk stratification in patients admitted with acute heart failure (AHF). We sought to determine a CA125 cutpoint for identifying patients at low risk of 1-month death or the composite of death/HF readmission following admission for AHF.Methods: The derivation cohort included 3231 consecutive patients with AHF. CA125 cutoff values with 90% negative predictive value (NPV) and sensitivity up to 85% were identified. The adequacy of these cutpoints and the risk of 1-month death/HF readmission was then tested using the Royston-Parmar method. The best cutpoint was selected and externally validated in a co…

Primary Biliary Cholangitis management: controversies, perspectives, and daily practice implications from an expert panel

2020

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a rare progressive immune-mediated liver disease that, if not adequately treated, may culminate in end-stage disease and need for transplantation. According to current guidelines, PBC is diagnosed in the presence of antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA) or specific antinuclear antibodies, and of a cholestatic biochemical profile, while biopsy is recommended only in selected cases. All patients receive ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in first line; the only registered second-line therapy is obeticholic acid (OCA) for UDCA-inadequate responders. Despite the recent advances in understanding PBC pathogenesis and developing new treatments, many grey areas remain. Si…

Prognostic value of cardiac CT

2020

In the past decades, coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has become a powerful tool in the management of coronary artery disease. The diagnostic and prognostic value of CCTA has been extensively demonstrated in both large observational studies and clinical trials among stable chest pain patients. The quantification of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is a well-established predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in asymptomatic subjects. Besides CACS, the main strength of CCTA is the accurate assessment of the individual total atherosclerotic plaque burden, which holds important prognostic information. In addition, CCTA, by providing detailed information on corona…

New advances in radiomics of gastrointestinal stromal tumors

2020

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract with peculiar clinical, genetic, and imaging characteristics. Preoperative knowledge of risk stratification and mutational status is crucial to guide the appropriate patients' treatment. Predicting the clinical behavior and biological aggressiveness of GISTs based on conventional computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation is challenging, unless the lesions have already metastasized at the time of diagnosis. Radiomics is emerging as a promising tool for the quantification of lesion heterogeneity on radiological images, extracting additional data that cannot be assessed b…

Risk Stratification by nrTMS Language Mapping

2017

Resecting language-eloquent brain lesions is a major challenge in neurosurgery since we need to weight the risks of worsening the patients’ functional integrity and achieving a maximum safe resection. Although relevant functional brain structures can be identified intraoperatively by direct cortical mapping during awake surgery, a preoperative identification of functional anatomy is recommended in order to gauge surgical risks, evaluate resectability, plan the surgical approach, and identify potential starting points for intraoperative stimulation mapping.

Risk stratification of normotensive pulmonary embolism based on the sPESI — Does it work for all patients?

2015

P6456Neopterin for risk stratification of patients with acute chest pain

2018

Response to Letter Regarding Article, “The Inflammatory Hypothesis: Any Progress in Risk Stratification and Therapeutic Targets?”

2007

We thank Drs Ridker and Everett for their interest in our work,1 and we commend Ridker’s pioneering work describing an association between C-reactive protein (CRP) and the risk of myocardial infarction or stroke. Subsequent studies have both confirmed and refuted these original observations. The former studies “controlled” or “adjusted” for fewer other risk factors; when they did so, they dichotomized variables (a weaker approach) rather than using them as continuous variables. By contrast, the latter studies have incorporated adjustments for other markers (especially of abdominal obesity, because visceral fat …

Treatment of patients with essential hypertension and microalbuminuria.

1998

There has been increasing interest in the question of whether microalbuminuria can be used in the risk stratification of patients with essential hypertension. A cluster of cardiovascular and/or renal risk factors may be associated with microalbuminuria in hypertension. Despite this, prospective data about the potential role of microalbuminuria as a prognostic marker of cardiovascular and/or renal risk have been sparse and inconclusive until now. Blood pressure values have been considered the most important determinant of microalbuminuria in essential hypertension; however, hyperinsulinaemia--a metabolic component-was noted to be present in conjunction with high blood pressure. Furthermore, …

Advances in detection and characterization of atherosclerosis using contrast agents targeting the macrophage

2006

With advances in imaging technology and our understanding of the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis, the macrophage appears to be an excellent target for imaging the progression of disease. In addition to imaging the macrophage with only 1 modality, contrast agents can be created that can be imaged with multiple modalities. This seems extremely attractive, as lesion morphology and characteristics can be determined with modalities that provide high picture resolution, such as CT or MRI, whereas macrophage quantity can be accurately determined through the creation of a radiolabeled contrast agent such as FDG via PET. Although this combination of imaging technologies may yield clinically …