Preventing Venous Thromboembolism in Ambulatory Cancer Patients: The ONKOTEV Study.

Background: The efficacy of risk model scores to predict venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ambulatory cancer patients is under investigation, aiming to stratify on an individual risk basis the subset of the cancer population that could mostly benefit from primary thromboprophylaxis.

Materials And Methods: We prospectively assessed 843 patients with active cancers, collecting clinical and laboratory data. We screened all the patients with a duplex ultrasound (B-mode imaging and Doppler waveform analysis) of the upper and lower limbs to evaluate the right incidence of VTE (both asymptomatic and symptomatic).

Causative mutations and premature cardiovascular disease in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Background Familial hypercholesterolemia is a common autosomal dominant disease, caused by mutations leading to elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and, if untreated, to premature cardiovascular disease. Methods Patients (young adults with a family history of hypercholesterolaemia or premature cardiovascular disease) with LDL cholesterol concentration ≥4.9 mmol/l, after excluding Familial Combined Hyperlipidaemia, were evaluated for causative mutations, Dutch Lipid Clinic Network score calculation and non-invasive ultrasound examination of carotid arteries.

Association between small dense LDL and sub-clinical atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory rheumatic disorder occurring in patients with psoriasis. Several studies have shown an association between Psa and traditional atherosclerotic risk factors. We evaluated the relationship between small dense low-density lipoproteins particles (sd-LDL) a risk marker for atherosclerosis, sub-clinical atherosclerosis and PsA in a group of 50 patients with PsA and in 100 controls.

Visceral fat is associated with cardiovascular risk in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Background: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have been reported to have subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) and increased abdominal fat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between visceral fat (VF) and early markers of CVD in PCOS women.

Methods: Two hundred overweight PCOS women [(mean +/- SD) age 24.

Improvement in endothelial structure and function after metformin treatment in young normal-weight women with polycystic ovary syndrome: results of a 6-month study.

Context: Recent data indicate that women affected by the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and that metformin may improve the metabolic alterations in these patients.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 6 months of metformin administration on endothelial structure and function in women with PCOS.

Design: This was a prospective, baseline-controlled, clinical study.

Early impairment of endothelial structure and function in young normal-weight women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of early vascular damage in young normal-weight women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Thirty young normal-weight women with PCOS, who had no additional metabolic or cardiovascular diseases, and 30 healthy women (controls) matched for age and body mass index were studied. A complete hormonal assay was performed in each subject.