Ultrasound detection of non-atherosclerotic intima-medial abnormalities of lower limbs arteries in amateur endurance runners.

Background: Structural changes in the lower limb's arterial wall in amateur endurance runners are a rare incidental finding, represented just by several case reports.

Aim: Study the incidence of non-atherosclerotic lower limb artery wall changes in defined group of amateur endurance runners and identify relationship with the training parameters and the relevant biochemical markers.

Methods: Amateur male athletes engaged in endurance running for more than 5 years were enrolled.

Anti-Cancer Agents in Proliferation and Cell Death: The Calcium Connection.

Calcium (Ca) signaling and the modulation of intracellular calcium ([Ca]) levels play critical roles in several key processes that regulate cellular survival, growth, differentiation, metabolism, and death in normal cells. On the other hand, aberrant Ca-signaling and loss of [Ca] homeostasis contributes to tumor initiation proliferation, angiogenesis, and other key processes that support tumor progression in several different cancers. Currently, chemically and functionally distinct drugs are used as chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment and management of cancer among which certain anti-cancer drugs reportedly suppress pro-survival signals and activate pro-apoptotic signaling through modulation of Ca-signaling-dependent mechanisms.

Disorganization of retinal inner layers correlates with ellipsoid zone disruption and retinal nerve fiber layer thinning in diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To study the correlation between disorganization of inner retinal layer (DRIL) and macular thickness parameters, ellipsoid zone (EZ) disruption and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in diabetic retinopathy (DR), for the first time.

Methods: A tertiary care center-based cross-sectional study was undertaken. One hundred and four consecutive study subjects of type 2 diabetes mellitus were included: diabetes mellitus with no retinopathy (No DR) (n = 26); non-proliferative DR (NPDR) (n = 26); proliferative DR (PDR) (n = 26) and healthy controls (n = 26).

Functional polymorphisms of the receptor for the advanced glycation end product promoter gene in inflammatory bowel disease: a case-control study.

The receptor for the advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a multiligand transmembrane receptor involved in chronic inflammation whose specific polymorphisms of the promoter gene were found to increase its transcriptional activity. We investigated the association of both allelic and genotypic -374T/A and -429T/C polymorphisms with inflammatory bowel disease. The STREGA guidelines were applied for planning and reporting.

The role of dietary phytochemicals in the carcinogenesis via the modulation of miRNA expression.

Purpose: Phytochemicals are naturally occurring plant-derived compounds and some of them have the potential to serve as anticancer drugs. Based on recent evidence, aberrantly regulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is closely associated with malignancy. MicroRNAs are characterized as small non-coding RNAs functioning as posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression.

Transthoracic Coronary Flow Data at Rest Predict High-Risk Stress Tests.

Background Several recent studies have reported the opportunity to diagnose significant narrowing of the coronary arteries without stress testing using local flow acceleration. Purpose To define how often patients with increased coronary flow velocities at rest (≥ 0.70 m/s) have a positive exercise echocardiography test.

Speckle tracking can detect subclinical myocardial dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Introduction: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shorter life expectancy and their risk of cardiovascular death is more than 50 % higher than the rest of the population. Early myocardial dysfunction in RA patients may be detectable sooner using speckle‑tracking echocardiography.

Method: Cross-sectional study enrolled 55 patients with RA (mean age 44.

[Cardiac impairment detected by echocardiography in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].

The authors subjected to complete echocardiographic examination 40 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in order to assess pathological changes of the heart (changes of the structure and function of valves, myocardial function of the left ventricle and the pericardium) and compare their incidence with clinical characteristics of the patients (age, duration, stage, form and activity of the disease) as well as with the presence of ECG changes. Based on the results and their statistical analysis they revealed that structural changes of the aorta and its valves associated with dilatation of the root of the aorta, its mild insufficiency and the possible finding of a typical bump on its posterior wall is found in half the patients with AS, being more frequent when the disease develops early, when it persists for a long time or is in an advanced stage. A similar relationship is found also in the presence of mild diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle.

[How to avoid failure and complications in guided punctures].

The author discusses some actual procedures associated with diagnostic and therapeutic interventions using ultrasonography. Based on his own experience from practice, documented in tables with brief comments (attached to the paper) and with regard to data in the literature, he draws attention to some facts (technique of puncture, selection of instruments, local anaesthesia, method of drainage) which may to a varying extent influence the results of aimed puncture or cause possible complications.

[Pulmonary artery thrombus in the echocardiographic picture].

The author describes the echocardiographic finding of a thrombus in the pulmonary artery in a female patient with pulmonary embolism. Possibilities of detection of thrombi by ultrasound are discussed, as well as the relationship between the clinical status, treatment and prognosis.

[Solid masses in the pericardial cavity during the acute phase of myocardial infarct--an echocardiographic sign of hemopericardium].

The author describes a case of a patient with haemopericardium during the acute stage of myocardial infarction. In the echocardiographic tracing since the development of the tamponade a thrombus was seen in the pericardial cavity, its organization and gradual complete absorption in the course of a one-year follow up. The finding of echogenic masses in the pericardial cavity containing fluid is highly specific for hemopericardium.