Ischemic heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis: Do inflammatory cytokines have a role?

Background: The increase in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) associated mortality is predominantly due to accelerated coronary artery and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis with increased risk of ischemic heart disease about 50% in RA patients compared to controls.

Objective: To study the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease in RA, role of inflammatory cytokine interplay, disease activity and rheumatoid factor positivity.

Methods: Eighty RA patients and 44 healthy controls were included.

Fibrin sealant and lipoabdominoplasty in obese grade 1 and 2 patients.

Background: Ever since lipoabdominoplasty was first developed to achieve better aesthetic outcomes and less morbidity, the rate of seroma formation, especially in obese patients, has disturbed plastic surgeons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of fibrin sealant in the prevention of seroma formation after lipoabdominoplasty in obese patients.

Methods: Sixty patients with a body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 39.