Electrocardiographic abnormalities in centenarians: impact on survival.

Background: The centenarian population is gradually increasing, so it is becoming more common to see centenarians in clinical practice. Electrocardiogram abnormalities in the elderly have been reported, but several methodological biases have been detected that limit the validity of their results. The aim of this study is to analyse the ECG abnormalities in a prospective study of the centenarian population and to assess their impact on survival.

[Should we use oral replacement for vitamin B12 deficiency as the first option of treatment?].

Objective: Analyze whether the tablets available in Spain are useful for oral replacement in the treatment of vitamin B12 deficiency.

Methods: From June 2003 to December 2005, patients with vitamin B12 deficiency attended at the Internal Medicine Clinic, were offered the possibility of starting or switching to oral therapy. Clinical and biochemical responses were monitored at baseline and at 2, 4, 6, 12, 18 y 24 months of follow-up.

Influence of traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis in the development of severe ischemic complications in giant cell arteritis.

Because the prognosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) is related to the development of ischemic complications, we sought to assess the possible influence of traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis in the development of severe ischemic complications of GCA. We conducted a retrospective study of patients with biopsy-proven GCA diagnosed from 1981 to 2001 at the single hospital for a well-defined population of almost 250,000 people. Patients were considered to have severe ischemic manifestations if they suffered visual manifestations, cerebrovascular accidents, jaw claudication, or signs of occlusive changes in large arteries of the extremities.

E-selectin polymorphism in erythema nodosum secondary to sarcoidosis.

Objective: E-selectin is expressed on cytokine-stimulated endothelial cells and plays an important role in leukocyte-endothelium interactions and inflammatory cell recruitment. An A/C polymorphism at position +561 in the E-selectin gene, which yields an amino acid exchange from serine to arginine at position 128 in the epidermal growth factor-like domain, has been described. We have assessed whether this bi-allelic polymorphism may be implicated in the clinical expression of erythema nodosum (EN) secondary to sarcoidosis.