Body fat distribution and early arterial changes in healthy 5-year-old children.

Background: It is unknown at what age overweight starts to takes its toll on the vasculature. We studied the relation between body size measures and vascular characteristics in healthy 5-year-old children.

Methods: In 306 5-year-old children from an on-going birth cohort, body size characteristics were measured, including sonographic measurement of abdominal fat.

The association between breastfeeding and the cardiovascular system in early childhood.

Background: Breastfeeding is suggested to have beneficial effects on children's health and future health status. However, its cardiovascular effects in childhood and possibly later in life remain largely unclear.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the cardiovascular effects of exclusive breastfeeding in early childhood.

Change in abdominal obesity and risk of coronary calcification.

Background: A prospective follow-up study was conducted to examine the relationship between 9 year change in abdominal obesity and risk of coronary artery calcification (CAC).

Methods: Data on coronary risk factors for 573 postmenopausal women were collected at baseline (1993-1997) and follow-up (2002-2004). At follow-up, the women underwent a multidetector CT to assess coronary calcium using the Agatston score.

Coronary heart disease mortality trends in the Netherlands 1972-2007.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality has steadily declined since the early 1970s in the Netherlands. However, in some Western countries the rate of decline in younger groups may be starting to plateau or even rise.

Objective: To examine trends in age-specific CHD mortality rates among Dutch adults from 1972 to 2007, with a particular focus on recent trends for the younger age groups

Methods: Data for all CHD deaths (1972-2007) in the Netherlands were grouped by year, sex, age.

Cardiogenetic screening of first-degree relatives after sudden cardiac death in the young: a population-based approach.

Aims: To investigate the yield of cardiogenetic screening of relatives of young sudden cardiac death (SCD) and sudden unexplained death (SUD) victims in a population-based setting.

Methods And Results: A population-based study was carried out between 2000 and 2006. Records of the hospital, death declaration certificates, and resuscitation records were reviewed for SCD and SUD cases (1-40 years).

Protein-energy nutritional status and kidney disease-specific quality of life in hemodialysis patients.

Objective: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important outcome in dialysis care. Previous research has related protein-energy nutritional status to generic HRQOL domains, but it is still not clear as to how it relates to HRQOL domains that are unique to hemodialysis patients. Therefore, our aim was to study the relation between protein-energy nutritional status and kidney disease-specific HRQOL domains in hemodialysis patients.

Decreased kidney function: an unrecognized and often untreated risk factor for secondary cardiovascular events after carotid surgery.

Background And Purpose: Chronic kidney disease is an important risk factor for development and progression of atherosclerosis. The objective of the current study was to investigate the contribution of moderate kidney failure to cardiovascular (CV) mortality and morbidity after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). In addition, we investigated which proportion received optimal medical treatment or underwent diagnostic workup of the kidneys prior to CEA.

The dynamics of mortality in follow-up time after an acute myocardial infarction, lower extremity arterial disease and ischemic stroke.

Background: Most studies providing data on survival in patients with atherosclerosis only address a single disease site: heart, brain or legs. Therefore, our objective was to determine risk of death after first hospital admission for atherosclerotic disease located at different sites.

Methods: A nationwide cohort of patients hospitalized for the first time for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), peripheral arterial disease of the lower extremities (PAD) or ischemic stroke was identified through linkage of national registers.

Changes in quality of life over time--Dutch haemodialysis patients and general population compared.

Background: Improving the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for haemodialysis patients is a considerable challenge. The aim of the present study was to compare changes in HRQOL in haemodialysis patients with those observed in the general population over a 10-year period and explore factors that might explain possible differences.

Methods: We compared 126 haemodialysis patients assessed in 1995 in the Netherlands Cooperative Study on the Adequacy of Dialysis-1 (NECOSAD-I) with 515 patients enrolled in 2006 in the ongoing Convective Transport Study (CONTRAST).

Mortality after hospital admission for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Background: The purpose of this study is to quantify age- and gender-specific mortality risks for patients hospitalized for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA).

Methods: The mortality risks for 28-day, 1-year, and 5-year were derived from a retrospective nation-wide cohort study of patients who were first hospitalized for rAAA in 1997 or 2000, formed through linkage of the Hospital Discharge Register with the Dutch population register. The Hospital Discharge Register contains a record for each hospital admission, giving information about patient demographics and diagnosis.

Role of residual renal function in phosphate control and anemia management in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Background And Objectives: There is increasing awareness that residual renal function (RRF) has beneficial effects in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RRF, expressed as GFR, in phosphate and anemia management in chronic HD patients.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Baseline data of 552 consecutive patients from the Convective Transport Study (CONTRAST) were analyzed.

Age- and gender-specific risk of death after first hospitalization for heart failure.

Background: Hospitalization for heart failure (HF) is associated with high-in-hospital and short- and long-term post discharge mortality. Age and gender are important predictors of mortality in hospitalized HF patients. However, studies assessing short- and long-term risk of death stratified by age and gender are scarce.

A composite score of protein-energy nutritional status predicts mortality in haemodialysis patients no better than its individual components.

Background: Protein-energy wasting is tightly associated with mortality in haemodialysis patients. An expert panel of the International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (ISRNM) has published a consensus on the parameters that define protein-energy nutritional status and posed the question, 'which scoring system most effectively predicts outcome?' The aim of our study was therefore to develop a composite score of protein-energy nutritional status (cPENS) and to assess its prediction of all-cause mortality.

Methods: We used the data of 560 haemodialysis patients participating in the CONvective TRAnsport STudy (CONTRAST).

A prediction model for left ventricular mass in patients at high cardiovascular risk.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) mass has a continuous relation with cardiovascular risk, and regression of LV mass induced by pharmacological treatment is associated with improved prognosis. Therefore, early identification of patients with a large LV mass is desired. We developed a model to predict LV mass in individual hypertensives at high cardiovascular risk.

Therapeutic options for carotid in-stent restenosis: review of the literature.

To critically evaluate published evidence on therapeutic options for in-stent restenosis (ISR) after carotid artery stent (CAS) placement, a systematic analysis of studies reporting interventions for ISR after CAS placement was conducted. In total 20 studies were found, describing 100 interventions after carotid ISR in 96 patients. The interventions most performed were repeat percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA; n = 54), repeat CAS placement (n = 31), and carotid endarterectomy with stent removal (n = 9).

Striking increases in carotid artery wall thickness in healthy subjects.

Background: Atherosclerosis has long been thought to develop over time in a linear manner from gradual wall thickening to advanced thick lesions. However, evidence has emerged indicating a phasic rather than linear progression with time. A major reason for this non-linear pattern appears to be the occurrence of hemorrhages in the arterial wall, although data on this issue are still scarce.

Antitumor activities and on-target toxicities mediated by a TRAIL receptor agonist following cotreatment with panobinostat.

The recent development of novel targeted anticancer therapeutics such as histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) and activators of the TRAIL pathway provide opportunities for the introduction of new treatment regimens in oncology. HDACi and recombinant TRAIL or agonistic anti-TRAIL receptor antibodies have been shown to induce synergistic tumor cell apoptosis and some therapeutic activity in vivo. Herein, we have used syngeneic preclinical models of human solid cancers to demonstrate that the HDACi panobinostat can sensitize tumor cells to apoptosis mediated by the anti-mouse TRAIL receptor antibody MD5-1.

High myeloid-related protein: 8/14 levels are related to an increased risk of cardiovascular events after carotid endarterectomy.

Background And Purpose: Myeloid-related protein (Mrp) 8/14 complex is the functional relevant form of Mrp-8 and Mrp-14. Mrp-8/14 complex is actively formed in the cytoplasm of circulating neutrophils and monocytes and then secreted. Plasma Mrp-8/14 complex is emerging as a new biomarker that may discriminate between patients with an acute coronary syndrome and those with stable coronary heart disease.

Rationale and design of the CAREFUL study : The yield of CARdiogenetic scrEening in First degree relatives of sudden cardiac and UnexpLained death victims <45 years.

Background. Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young (1-45 years) is a strong risk factor for the presence of inherited cardiac diseases in surviving first-degree relatives. Postmortem investigation of the victim and cardiogenetic evaluation of the first-degree relatives is indicated to detect inherited cardiac diseases and treat relatives at an early stage to prevent SCD.

Ultrasound protocols to measure carotid intima-media thickness in trials; comparison of reproducibility, rate of progression, and effect of intervention in subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia and subjects with mixed dyslipidemia.

Background: Current ultrasound protocols to measure carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in trials rather differ. The ideal protocol combines high reproducibility with a high precision in the measurement of the rate of change in CIMT over time and with a precise estimate of a treatment effect. To study these aspects, a post-hoc analysis was performed using data from two randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trials: one among 872 subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and the other among 752 subjects with mixed dyslipidemia (MD), respectively.

The potential yield of ECG screening of hypertensive patients: the Utrecht Health Project.

Objective: Several guidelines for hypertension and cardiovascular risk management recommend an ECG in hypertensive patients to improve risk prediction. We estimated the prevalence of clinically relevant ECG abnormalities and the number needed to screen (NNS) with a routine ECG to prevent the occurrence of one death in the next 10 years conditional on adequate treatment and follow-up.

Methods: The study population consisted of 866 hypertensive participants recruited from the Utrecht Health Project (UHP), a dynamic population study in Utrecht.

Regional differences in incidence of sudden cardiac death in the young.

Background: Observational data on sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young are scarce, but the SCD incidence of this study is to examine regional differences in SCD incidence within a population among young individuals (<40 years) and to assess whether regional incidences are associated with socio-economic status (SES ).

Methods: SCD cases aged <40 years were identified in 12 provinces of the Netherlands by using death certificates recorded by Statistics Netherlands during 1996-2006. Regional incidence estimates were standardised for age to the Dutch population and assessed for two age categories; 1-29 years and 30-39 years.

Imaging of atherosclerosis: carotid intima-media thickness.

Carotid ultrasound provides quantitative measurements of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) that can be used to assess cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in individuals and monitor ongoing disease progression and regression in clinical trials. It is non-invasive, rapid, reproducible, and carries no risk. Numerous epidemiological studies have established that CIMT is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis and is associated with established CVD risk factors and with both prevalent and incident CVD.

Asymmetric cell division of T cells upon antigen presentation uses multiple conserved mechanisms.

Asymmetric cell division is a potential means by which cell fate choices during an immune response are orchestrated. Defining the molecular mechanisms that underlie asymmetric division of T cells is paramount for determining the role of this process in the generation of effector and memory T cell subsets. In other cell types, asymmetric cell division is regulated by conserved polarity protein complexes that control the localization of cell fate determinants and spindle orientation during division.