Search results for "fat"

The effect of the calibre and length of needle on the stability of sclerosing foam.

2020

Objectives Little is known how calibre and length of needles affect the stability of sclerosing foam. Methods Foams were made of 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3% polidocanol, and 0.2%, 0.5%, 1% and 3% sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS), which were mixed with air in the proportion of 4:1. These foams were ejected through needles with the length of: 4 mm, 6 mm and 13 mm, and diameter of: 0.26 mm, 0.3 mm and 0.4 mm. Results Foams made of more concentrated polidocanol were more stable. Regarding STS an opposite relationship was revealed. Foams made of polidocanol were more stable if ejected through a longer needle, while the length of needle did not significantly affect stability of STS foams. Foams ejected th…

Bowel ultrasonography in acute abdomen: beyond acute appendicitis.

2021

Acute abdomen is a common reason for consultation in the emergency department. A broad spectrum of entities, including diverse diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, can cause acute abdomen. Although computed tomography is the technique most widely used to evaluate acute abdomen in the emergency department, abdominal ultrasound is often performed first and allows bowel disease to be suspected. This article describes the ultrasound features of diverse bowel diseases that can cause acute abdomen, such as acute diverticulitis, bowel obstruction, gastrointestinal perforation, bowel ischemia, intraabdominal fat necrosis, and miscellaneous processes such as endometriosis, foreign bodies, or vasc…

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 …

Relative Prevalence of Different Androgen Excess Disorders in 950 Women Referred because of Clinical Hyperandrogenism

2006

Context: We undertook this study to estimate the prevalence of the various androgen excess disorders using the new criteria suggested for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Setting: The study was performed at two endocrine departments at the University of Palermo (Palermo, Italy). Patients: The records of all patients referred between 1980 and 2004 for evaluation of clinical hyperandrogenism were reevaluated. All past diagnoses were reviewed using the actual diagnostic criteria. To be included in this study, the records of the patients had to present the following available data: clinical evaluation of hyperandrogenism, body weight and height, testosterone (T), free T, dehyd…

Applying Modern Pain Neuroscience in Clinical Practice: Criteria for the Classification of Central Sensitization Pain

2014

Background: The awareness is growing that central sensitization is of prime importance for the assessment and management of chronic pain, but its classification is challenging clinically since no gold standard method of assessment exists. Objectives: Designing the first set of classification criteria for the classification of central sensitization pain. Methods: A body of evidence from original research papers was used by 18 pain experts from 7 different countries to design the first classification criteria for central sensitization pain. Results: It is proposed that the classification of central sensitization pain entails 2 major steps: the exclusion of neuropathic pain and the differentia…

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…

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…

Polymorphisms of the UCP2 gene are associated with body fat distribution and risk of abdominal obesity in Spanish population

2011

Eur J Clin Invest 2011 Abstract Background  Increased accumulation of fat results from an imbalance between energy expenditure and intake, being modulated by different environmental and genetic factors. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial carrier proteins able to spend energy generating heat. Therefore, variations in these genes are good candidates as potential modulators of body fat accumulation. Our aim was to investigate the possible association of genetic variations of the gene codifying the UCP2 protein with obesity and fat distribution. Design  We performed a cross-sectional study in 2367 individuals from two population-based studies from different regions of Spain. The Horte…

Evidence for central sensitization in patients with osteoarthritis pain: A systematic literature review

2014

Hyperexcitability of the central nervous system (CNS) has been suggested to play an important role in the chronic pain experienced by osteoarthritis (OA) patients. A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was performed to evaluate the existing evidence from the literature related to the presence of central sensitization (CS) in patients with OA.Electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched to identify relevant articles using pre-defined keywords regarding CS and OA. Full-text clinical reports addressing studies of CS in human adults with chronic complaints due to osteoarthritis were included and screened for methodological quality by two independent reviewers. From the…