Search results for "cardiology and cardiovascular medicine"

Heart and Skeletal Muscles: Linked by Autonomic Nervous System.

2019

Background Resting sympathetic hyperactivity and impaired parasympathetic reactivation after exercise have been described in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the association of these autonomic changes in patients with HF and sarcopenia is unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of autonomic modulation on sarcopenia in male patients with HF. Methods We enrolled 116 male patients with HF and left ventricular ejection fraction < 40%. All patients underwent a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Maximal heart rate was recorded and delta heart rate recovery (∆HRR) was assessed at 1st and 2nd minutes after exercise. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSN…

Measurement of end-tidal carbon dioxide in spontaneously breathing patients in the pre-hospital setting. A prospective evaluation of 350 patients

2002

Monitoring of end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO(2)) is good clinical practice in the patient who is intubated and ventilated. This study investigated the EtCO(2) values in spontaneously breathing patients treated in a physician-staffed mobile intensive care unit (MICU). This article also discusses whether EtCO(2) monitoring may have an influence on therapeutic decisions by emergency physicians by providing additional information.Over a period of 6 months, 350 spontaneously breathing patients (162 males, 137 females) were treated and transported in our MICU and monitored using a LifePak 12 monitor (EtCO(2), respiratory rate, pO(2), blood pressure, heart rate). Only 299 were enrolled in the stud…

Reliability of measuring the fat content of the lumbar vertebral marrow and paraspinal muscles using MRI mDIXON-quant sequence

2018

PURPOSE We aimed to assess the reliability of measuring the fat content of the lumbar vertebral marrow and the paraspinal muscles using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mDIXON-Quant sequence. METHODS Thirty-one healthy volunteers were included. All participants underwent liver mDIXON-Quant imaging on a 3.0 T Philips MRI scanner by observer A. Within two weeks, observer B repeated the scan. After the examination, each observer independently measured the fat content of the third lumbar vertebra (L3), and the psoas (PS), erector spinae (ES), and multifidus (MF) muscles on central L3 axial images. After two weeks, each observer repeated the same measurements. They were blinded to their previous…

Acute performance evaluation of a new ventricular automatic capture algorithm

2006

Aims This study evaluated the acute clinical performance of a new ventricular automatic capture algorithm developed to work with all lead types and pacing vectors. Methods and results During regular pacemaker implant or replacement, AutoThreshold and manual threshold tests were performed in ventricular unipolar (UP) and bipolar (BP, if applicable) pacing using a customized external prototype INSIGNIA™ pacemaker. The success rate and accuracy of two different modes (commanded and ambulatory) of the automatic capture algorithm were used to evaluate the performance. Loss-of-capture events (two consecutive non-captured beats without backup pacing) were used to assess safety. Data of 53 patients…

Magnetic resonance imaging in primary cerebral neuroblastoma

1989

Basilar Artery Diameter Is a Potential Screening Tool for Fabry Disease in Young Stroke Patients

2010

&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt; Fabry disease (FD) is a rare hereditary lysosomal storage disease that has been highlighted as a possible etiology of stroke at a young age. Enlarged basilar artery diameters (BADs) have been demonstrated in FD, and we hypothesize that they might be useful for the screening of FD in young stroke patients. The aim of this study was to compare BADs of young stroke patients without FD to those of FD patients and of healthy age-matched controls. &lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt; BADs were measured using MR angiography in 3 age- and gender-matched groups: 25 FD patients (aged 36.5 ± 11.0 years), 26 non-FD stroke patients and 20 healthy controls. &lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&g…

Latvian registry of familial hypercholesterolemia: The first report of three-year results.

2018

Abstract Background and aims Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) was rarely diagnosed in Latvia before 2015, when the Latvian Registry of FH (LRFH) was established. Here, we report the first experience of the LRFH over three years (2015–2017). Methods The LRFH is an ongoing nationwide, dynamic, long-term prospective cohort. The diagnosis of FH was assessed using the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) criteria. Cascade screening of first-degree relatives using age- and sex-specific percentiles of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was performed in relatives of patients with definite and probable FH. Results Among the 416 individuals included in the LRFH, 181 patients were diagnosed wi…

Clinical inertia in diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in primary care: Quantification and associated factors

2009

The objective of the present study was to quantify both diagnostic and therapeutic inertia in hypertension and to identify patient-associated variables.Cross-sectional, multicenter study of 35 424 subjects carried out in 428 health centers and/or primary care clinics in the Valencian Community, Spain, in a preventive activity conducted during 2003 and 2004. Diagnostic inertia was identified when a patient without known hypertension had high blood pressure (BP) but was labeled "normal" by the medical staff, and therapeutic inertia when treatment was not modified for a hypertensive patient on the presence of high BP values. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to ide…

Autonomic cardiac regulation in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: evidence from spontaneous baroreflex analysis during sleep

1997

Objective. To assess spontaneous baroreceptor-heart rate reflex sensitivity during sleep in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, a condition associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and characterized by marked sympathetic activation, which is believed to originate from hypoxic chemoreceptor stimulation, although little is known of other possible mechanisms such as baroreflex impairment. Design and methods. In 11 patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (mean ± SD age 46.8 ± 8.1 years, apnea/hypopnea index 67.9 ± 19.1 h), who were normotensive or borderline hypertensive during wakefulness by clinic blood pressure measurements, finger blood pres…

Autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia in a Sicilian kindred harboring the 432insA mutation of the ARH gene

2003

Abstract We describe a Sicilian family presenting a recessive form of hypercholesterolemia harboring a mutation of the autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH) gene. In two of the three sibs, a 26-year-old male and a 22-year-old female, a severe hypercholesterolemia was diagnosed with very high levels of plasma cholesterol (15.9 and 12.2 mmol/l, respectively); tendon xanthomatas and xanthelasms were present and in the male proband was documented a diffuse coronary atherosclerotic disease with a rapid and fatal progression. Both the parents had normal or slightly increased levels of plasma cholesterol. All causes of secondary hypercholesterolemia were ruled out as well as an involvemen…