Search results for "case-control study"

Fifteen-year mortality of patients with asthma-COPD overlap syndrome

2016

Abstract Background The coexistence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (asthma–COPD overlap syndrome: ACOS) is increasingly recognized but data about its prevalence and long-term mortality are needed. Methods Prevalence of ACOS and 15-year mortality rates were assessed in 1065 subjects aged > 65 years, enrolled in the SA.R.A. study, with complete clinical, lung functional and follow-up data. Physical performance, disease-related disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) were also evaluated. Results ACOS was found in 11.1% of subjects (29.4% of those previously diagnosed with COPD and 19.7% of those with asthma). ACOS was positively associated with impaired physi…

Helicobacter pylori and atrial fibrillation: absence of correlations

2009

Hepatitis C Virus Infection Is Associated With Increased Cardiovascular Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

2015

There have been many studies of the effects of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on cardiovascular risk, but these have produced ambiguous results. We performed a meta-analysis of these studies to systematically assess the risk of HCV infection on cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related morbidity and mortality.We searched PubMed Central, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library, as well as reference lists of articles, for studies published through July 2015 that compared the occurrence of CVD between HCV-infected and HCV-uninfected subjects, or assessed the prevalence of HCV infection among subjects with CVDs. In total, 22 studies were analyzed. Data on the patient populations and outcomes were e…

Altered ionized magnesium levels in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

2011

Abstract. Magnesium deficiency is present in several chronic, age-related diseases, including cardiovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. The aim of the present study was to study magnesium homeostasis in patients with mild to moderate AD. One hundred and one elderly (≥65 years) patients were consecutively recruited (mean age: 73.4±0.8 years; M/F: 42/59). In all patients, a comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed including cognitive and functional status. Admission criteria for the AD group (diagnosed according to the DSM-IV and the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria) included: mild to moderate cognitive impairment (MM…

Comparing 15D and SF-6D Performance in Fragility Wrist and Hip Fracture Patients in a Two-Year Follow-Up Case-Control Study

2012

Accepted version of an article in the journal:Value in Health. Published available from Elsevier on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2012.08.2200 Objectives To examine and compare the two utility and health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) measures 15D and (SF-6D) in fragility wrist and hip fracture patients and controls, study the responsiveness of 15D and SF-6D, and examine the impact of these fractures on changes in 15D and SF-6D scores over 2 years. Methods A total of 152 wrist fracture patients and 164 controls and 61 hip fracture patients and 61 controls with 15D and SF-6D scores were studied. Results The mean 15D score decreased significantly in wrist fracture patients…

Polymyalgia rheumatica and vertebral fractures: a 1-year pilot controlled study

2010

No data exist about the possibility that vertebral fracture in PMR patients could be independent of steroid therapy. For this reason, we aimed to investigate this topic by a case cohort study with a 1-year follow-up for each patient. We selected ten consecutive patients who experienced vertebral fractures (VF-group) during the first month of 1-year follow-up period and without any other significant associated condition. As a control group we studied ten control patients, without vertebral fractures and with a follow-up of 1 year, randomly selected among a larger group of patients affected by polymyalgia rheumatica. The following data were analysed: eritrosedimention rate (ESR), visual analo…

Association of cathepsin B gene polymorphisms with tropical calcific pancreatitis

2006

Background and aims: Tropical calcific pancreatitis (TCP) is a type of chronic pancreatitis unique to countries in the tropics. Mutations in pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (SPINK1) rather than cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) explain the disease in only 50% of TCP patients. As cathepsin B (CTSB) is known to activate cationic trypsinogen, we attempted to understand the role of CTSB mutations in TCP. Evidence of epistatic interaction was investigated with the previously associated N34S SPINK1 allele, a variant considered to be a modifier rather than a true susceptibility allele. Subjects and methods: We sequenced the coding region of CTSB gene in 51 TCP patients and 25 controls and furthe…

Precocity of the acquisition of language and type II spinal muscular atrophy in 3–4-year-old children: a study of 12 cases

2005

We studied the development of language in 3-4-year-old children with type II spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) (10 boys and two girls), aged 36-47 months (mean age 39.83+/-4.68 months) and compared our findings to a control group of 26 healthy children (mean age 40.00+/-4.43 months, 22 boys and four girls). We carried out a lexicogrammatical analysis of the data and we observed significant differences in the "vocabulary", "nouns", "verbs", "words" and "adverbs" variables between the children with SMA and the controls. Three- to four-year-old children suffering from type II spinal muscular atrophy, an autosomal genetic disease causing severe physical handicap (motor, functional, respiratory), pr…

Basal growth hormone concentrations in blood and the risk for prostate cancer: A case-control study

2005

OBJECTIVE To assess the relationship between basal serum growth hormone (GH) levels and prostate cancer risk. METHODS We conducted a population-based case-control study; cases included 68 men, aged 45–85 years, diagnosed with incident, primary, histologically confirmed, and clinically apparent (stage B and higher) prostate cancer. Controls included 240 men, frequency matched on age and residential area. Age, race, BMI, waist circumference, history of enlarged prostate, education, and current smoking status, were all considered as possible confounders. RESULTS We found a statistically significant trend of decreasing prostate cancer risk across increasing GH quintiles, in both crude (OR: 0.31…

Carbohydrate antigen 125: an emerging prognostic risk factor in acute heart failure?

2007

To assess whether circulating levels of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) predict subsequent 6-month all-cause mortality in patients after the index hospitalisation for acute heart failure (HF).Prospective cohort study at a single teaching centre in Spain.529 consecutive patients with acute HF admitted in a single university centre were analysed. In addition to the traditional clinical information, CA125 (U/ml) was measured during the early course of hospitalisation. The independent association between baseline CA125 and mortality was assessed with Cox regression analysis. The follow-up was limited to 6 months.349 (66%) patients showed serum levels of CA12535 U/ml (established cut-off point …