Publications by authors named "C Lauwers"
Background: Atrial arrhythmias (AA) and heart failure (HF) are major causes of hospitalisation in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). This study aimed to evaluate the temporal relationship between AA and HF onset, the association between HF and the success of radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and how HF influences outcomes in patients with AA.
Methods: In this single-centre retrospective cohort study, data from 3995 patients with ACHD were analysed.
Article Synopsis
- The study compares the effectiveness of targeted biopsy plus regional biopsy (TBx + RBx) against the standard approach of targeted biopsy plus systematic biopsy (TBx + SBx) in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer.
- A meta-analysis of 21 studies showed that TBx + RBx had a similar detection yield of significant prostate cancer compared to TBx + SBx, suggesting that RBx can replace some systematic biopsies.
- The study identifies limitations such as the retrospective nature of the included studies and variability in how regional biopsy was defined, but overall supports using TBx + RBx for prostate cancer detection.
Background: Transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is more prevalent than initially thought. As much as 13% of patients hospitalized with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction may have ATTR-cardiomyopathy (CM). Conversely, heart transplant patients may manifest left ventricular hypertrophy or diastolic dysfunction, especially late after transplantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCritical illness is characterized by a hypercatabolic response encompassing endocrine and metabolic alterations. Not only the uptake, synthesis and metabolism of glucose and amino acids is majorly affected, but also the homeostasis of lipids and cholesterol is altered during acute and prolonged critical illness. Patients who suffer from critically ill conditions such as sepsis, major trauma, surgery or burn wounds display an immediate and sustained reduction in low plasma LDL-, HDL- and total cholesterol concentrations, together with a, less pronounced, increase in plasma free fatty acids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The variability of NT-proBNP levels has been studied in heart failure, yet no data exist on these changes over time in hypertensive patients. Furthermore, studies on the relationship between natriuretic peptides and inflammatory status are limited.
Methodology/principal Findings: 220 clinically and functionally asymptomatic stable patients (age 59 ± 13, 120 male) out of 252 patients with essential hypertension were followed up, and NT-proBNP was measured at baseline, 12 and 24 months.