Risk Factors for Malignancy of Thyroid Nodules in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Resection.

An accurate diagnosis of thyroid nodules is crucial for avoiding unnecessary surgical procedures and making timely treatment possible. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) using histopathological findings as the reference standard. Patients with the diagnostic categories (DCs) III, IV, and V were subjected to special analysis.

Unfavorably Altered Fibrin Clot Phenotype in Women Following Postpartum Hemorrhage of Unknown Cause: Effect of Lower Coagulation Factors.

Background:  Increased clot permeability and susceptibility to lysis have been reported in women with heavy menstrual bleeding. We hypothesized that similar alterations in fibrin clot properties may also be present in women with postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) of unknown cause.

Objective:  To determine fibrin clot properties and their determinants in women after PPH of unknown cause.

Apixaban Versus Vitamin K Antagonists in Patients With Antiphospholipid Syndrome: A Cohort Study.

Current guidelines recommend that direct anticoagulants should not be used in prevention of recurrent thrombosis in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). However, except for triple-positive APS and rivaroxaban use, little evidence supports such recommendation. In a real-life cohort study, we evaluated the risk of thromboembolism and bleeding in patients with APS on apixaban versus vitamin K antagonists (VKA).

Effectiveness of a Smoking Cessation Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic has caused major obstacles for effective smoking cessation programs by significantly limiting access to healthcare. This cross-sectional analysis aimed to assess the effectiveness of a self-developed smoking cessation program during the pandemic. The program was based on remote lectures, educational interventions, and hybrid services provided by an outpatient clinic.

Molecular Proof of a Clinical Concept: Expression of Estrogen Alpha-, Beta-Receptors and G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor 1 (GPER) in Histologically Assessed Common Nevi, Dysplastic Nevi and Melanomas.

Epidemiologic data show significant differences in melanoma incidence and outcomes between sexes. The role of hormonal receptors in the pathogenesis of melanocytic lesions remains unclear, thus we performed this study aiming to assess estrogen receptors expression in different melanocytic lesions. We performed a cross-sectional study that included 73 consecutively excised melanocytic lesions.

Accelerated fibrin clot degradation is associated with arterial thromboembolism in patients following venous thrombosis: a cohort study.

Several lines of evidence have suggested that patients following venous thromboembolism (VTE) are at higher risk of arterial thromboembolism (ATE). Prothrombotic fibrin clot characteristics were reported in individuals with cardiovascular risk factors. We investigated whether specific fibrin clot properties measured after 3-4 months of anticoagulation characterize VTE patients with subsequent ATE.

Thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: the efficacy and safety of the approved hospital protocol.

Introduction: Prothrombotic coagulopathy in COVID-19 has led to a strong recommendation for thromboprophylaxis in all hospitalized patients, although there are large differences in the dosage regimens among hospitals and their outcomes remain uncertain. Objectives: We aimed to determine the incidence of thrombotic events and bleeding in patients with COVID-19 using the approved local thromboprophylaxis protocol. Patients and methods: We adapted a self-developed pharmacological thromboprophylaxis protocol based on clinical and laboratory risk assessment of thrombosis in 350 consecutive patients (median age, 67 years) with confirmed COVID-19, treated in designated wards at a single center in Kraków, Poland from October 10, 2020, to April 30, 2021.

Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulant in Patients With Venous Thromboembolism and Polycythemia Vera or Essential Thrombocythemia: A Cohort Study.

Thrombosis is the most common adverse event in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET). Little is known about the use of nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. We sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NOAC in a cohort of patients with PV and ET, who experienced venous thromboembolism (VTE).

The Skin as a Mirror of Internal Disease: Comorbidities and Epidemiology of Acne Vulgaris and Adult Female Acne - A Cross-sectional Study and Current State of Knowledge.

Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition affecting an increasing number of adults and might be a clue to identifying systemic disease. Objective of this study is assessment of the demographic and clinical characteristic, including comorbidities, of patients with acne with a special focus on adult female acne (AFA). This cross-sectional study analyzed the medical records of 354 patients with acne (323 outpatients and 31 hospitalized).

Exploring the motives of Israeli Jews who were living kidney donors to strangers.

Non-directed living donors are individuals who donate a kidney to a recipient with whom they have neither a genetic nor emotional relationship. Israel legalized this type of donation in 2008. After this law was implemented, living donations significantly expanded.

Sex-specific alteration to α2-antiplasmin incorporation in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with hypofibrinolysis and increased factor XIII-mediated α2-antiplasmin incorporation into the fibrin clot. It is unclear whether there are sex-related differences in α2-antiplasmin incorporation in relation to impaired clot lysis in T2DM.

Aim: We investigated α2-antiplasmin incorporation into fibrin clots as a determinant of clot lysability in patients of both sexes with T2DM.

Direct oral anticoagulants in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome: a cohort study.

Objectives: Despite controversies, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are increasingly used in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). We investigated the safety and efficacy of DOACs versus vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in real-life consecutive APS patients.

Patients And Methods: In a cohort study of 176 APS patients, which included 82 subjects who preferred DOACs or had unstable anticoagulation with VKAs, we recorded venous thromboembolism (VTE), cerebrovascular ischemic events or myocardial infarction, along with major bleeding or clinically relevant non-major bleeding (CRNMB).

Prothrombotic fibrin clot properties associated with increased endogenous thrombin potential and soluble P-selectin predict occult cancer after unprovoked venous thromboembolism.

Background: Compact fibrin clots relatively resistant to lysis are observed in patients at increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) including malignancy. The citrullinated histone H3 (H3Cit) predicts VTE in cancer patients.

Objectives: We performed a cohort study to investigate whether abnormal clot properties predict cancer diagnosis following unprovoked VTE.

Plasma Protein Oxidation as a Determinant of Impaired Fibrinolysis in Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective:  We investigated clinical and laboratory determinants of plasma protein oxidation and its associations with clot fibrinolysis in type 2 diabetes patients.

Materials And Methods:  Our cross-sectional study consisted of 246 type 2 diabetic patients, 143 (58%) with concomitant cardiovascular disease (CVD), including 41 (17%) with previous myocardial infarction (MI). We measured total protein carbonylation (PC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) along with clot lysis time (CLT) and clot permeation ( ), fibrinogen, plasminogen, α-2-antiplasmin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) and thrombomodulin.

Evaluation of quality of life predictors in adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic disease that has an impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL).

Objectives: To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with HRQoL in adolescents and young adults with CF.

Methods: The sample comprised adolescent and young adult patients with CF.

Unfavorably altered plasma clot properties in women with a HERDOO2 score equal to or greater than 2 and prediction of recurrent venous thromboembolism.

Introduction The HERDOO2 rule can help identify patients in whom anticoagulation can be safely discontinued. Unfavorably altered fibrin clot properties predict recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE). Objectives We aimed to assess a possible association between fibrin clot properties and the HERDOO2 score in women after unprovoked VTE.

Elevated leptin and decreased adiponectin independently predict the post-thrombotic syndrome in obese and non-obese patients.

Post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is a common complication of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Little is known about the involvement of adipokines in the pathogenesis of DVT. We evaluated whether adipokines can predict PTS.

Altered plasma clot properties increase the risk of recurrent deep vein thrombosis: a cohort study.

It has been demonstrated that fibrin clots generated from plasma samples obtained from patients with prior thromboembolic events are denser and less susceptible to lysis. Such a prothrombotic fibrin clot phenotype has been suggested as a new risk factor for venous thromboembolism, but its prognostic value is unclear. To assess whether abnormal clot properties can predict recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), we studied 320 consecutive patients aged 18 to 70 years following the first-ever DVT.

Activation of blood coagulation and thrombin generation in acute ischemic stroke treated with rtPA.

The impact of thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) on blood coagulation in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients is not completely understood. We studied the effect of thrombolysis on the thrombin generation (TG) profile as well as coagulant activity of activated factors IX (FIXa), XI (FXIa) and tissue factor (TF) in AIS patients. In a case-control study, TG parameters as well as FIXa, FXIa and TF levels were assessed in 95 AIS patients, including individuals receiving rtPA treatment within 4.

Effect of acid-base balance on postoperative course in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after the modified Norwood procedure.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a congenital heart defect that requires 3-stage cardiac surgical treatment and multidirectional specialist care. The condition of newborns in the first postoperative days following the modified Norwood procedure is characterized by considerable hemodynamic instability that may result in a sudden cardiac arrest. It is believed that the most important cause of hemodynamic instability is the fluctuations in redistribution between pulmonary and systemic blood flow.

Self-organization of non-amphiphilic molecules. Studies of thin films of long-chain homologous dialkylthioethers at the water/air interface.

In contrast to classical surfactants, the knowledge about the self-organization of alkanes and their hydrophobic derivatives is still limited. In this paper, we present the results of the studies of self-assembly of long-chain dialkylthioethers at the air/water interface. The substitution of one methylene group by the thioether divalent sulfur introduces significant dipole moment to the alkane chain without affecting the hydrophobicity, which profoundly influences the self-assembly of these molecules.