Search results for "cause"

Infarct characterization using CT

2017

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. The incidence is not expected to diminish, despite better prevention, diagnosis and treatment, because of the ageing population in industrialized countries and unhealthy lifestyles in developing countries. Nowadays it is highly requested an imaging tool able to evaluate MI and viability. Technology improvements determined an expansion of clinical indications from coronary plaque evaluation to functional applications (perfusion, ischemia and viability after MI) integrating additional phases and information in the mainstream examination. Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and cardiac MR (CMR) employ different contra…

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): the portrait of a perfect storm

2020

The “novel” coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated “COVID-19”) is the third coronavirus outbreak emerging during the past two decades. This infectious disease, sustained by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Despite the concerning epidemiological burden, many people, including some policymakers, are underestimating this pandemic and are remaining enigmatically inactive against a human pathology which, for a combination of reasons, can be reasonably defined as a perfect storm (i.e., the “wrong virus” at the “wrong time”). These many paradigmatic aspects include SARS-CoV-2 structure and pe…

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Dental Students and Interns in Saudi Arabia

2018

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a worldwide healthcare problem. Dental health care professionals are at a high risk of infection by HBV. The present study investigated the knowledge, attitude and practice of HBV infection among Saudi dental students and Interns in Saudi Arabia. Material and methods This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of questions on students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HBV was used. Data of 420 participants were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Studies) version 22.0. Results The response rate was 84%. Overall, the participants showed fair level of knowledge about HBV, …

Biochemical biomarkers of NAFLD/NASH

2020

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world and the global epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes have led to a dramatic increase of its prevalence and incidence. Among NAFLD patients, those with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have a double risk of fibrosis progression, that is the main driver toward the evolution in cirrhosis and its complications, including hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic decompensation. Furthermore, patients with NAFLD are also at risk for cardiovascular diseases and extrahepatic malignancies, that represent the first and the second cause of death, respectively. The availability of non-invasi…

2019

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The current analysis expands the knowledge on atherogenic lipid profiles in NAFLD by modeling changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC) in a prospectively enrolling real-life study cohort to inform physicians on the cardiovascular (CV) event risk based on these changes. A total of 304 patients with histologically confirmed NAFLD were included (mean age, 52 years; equal sex distribution). Of these, 129 (42.4%) patients exhibited a NAFLD activity score ≥4 and 186 (61.2%) had at least intermediate fibrosis ≥F2. The median TC levels were 2…

Peginterferon alfa-2b plus weight-based ribavirin for 24 weeks in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 with low viral load who achieve …

2011

Summary.  In chronic hepatitis C (CHC), treatment duration may be individualized according to time to first undetectable hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, with patients who attain undetectable HCV RNA early in treatment being candidates for shorter regimens. The aim of this study was to determine the relapse rate in patients with CHC genotype (G) 1 infection and low baseline viral load who achieved undetectable HCV RNA by week 4 [rapid virologic response (RVR)] when treated for 24 weeks. This was an open-label, multicentre, noninterventional study. Adult patients with G1 CHC infection and baseline viral load <600,000 IU/mL who attained RVR were treated with peginterferon alfa-2b (1.5 μg/kg/week)…

280 Impact of ozone air pollution on ischemic cerebral and cardiac events in Dijon, France

2011

Background There is strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone (O3) is associated with respiratory disease and death, but the effects of short-term exposure to ozone on ischemic heart and cerebrovascular disease have not been clearly established. Methods Daily levels of urban O3 pollution, the incidence of first-ever, recurrent, fatal and non-fatal ischemic cerebro-vascular events (ICVE) and myocardial infarction (MI) were compared using a bi-directional case-crossover design analysis. We analysed 1 574 ICVE and 913 MI that occurred in Dijon, France from 2001 to 2007. Sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter with an aerodiameter of 10μg/…

Causes and place of death in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

2010

Objectives - To determine the causes and place of death in a cohort of Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A better understanding of the likely causes of death in ALS might improve the palliative care at the end-of-life, whereas knowing the place of death will help to verify the need for highly specialized care services, e.g. hospice and nursing home. Patients and methods - Between 2000 and 2008, 182 ALS patients (onset: spinal, 127; bulbar, 55; M/F: 1.6) were followed in a single ALS Tertiary Centre in Palermo, Sicily, Italy until death. Medical data for each individual patient were recorded in a large database throughout the disease course. Information concerning ca…

Mortality in multiple sclerosis: a review

2008

This work was undertaken to evaluate studies on mortality caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), to evaluate if useful inferences can be drawn from survival studies that can be applied to clinical practice. A literature search was carried out to find epidemiological studies on MS prognosis, survival, mortality and causes of death relevant to our aim. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports on worldwide cause-specific mortality were also considered. Studies were evaluated according to the duration of the follow-up study, the year of publication and the methodology used. We evaluated MS survival from a methodological point of view and considered if time trends could be drawn from study result…

Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure in the Elderly

1998

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syndrome which constitutes the epilogue of the natural history of virtually all heart diseases and in its advanced stages, has a poor prognosis. In the elderly, heart failure exhibits particular characteristics linked to the age-related alterations of cardiovascular system, to the association with other pathologies, to the atypical clinical presentation and to the increased iatrogenic risk. Heart failure now afflicts over 1% of the general population with nearly 1 in 10 elderly subjects affected, and the frequency of CHF is progressively increasing in most industrialized societies1,2. Further, CHF remains a significant cause of death and …