Anticoagulation prescription in atrial fibrillation.

Aims: We seek to assess the factors associated with the anticoagulation prescription in a cohort of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) collected from out-patient clinics.

Methods: A total of 1524 patients with a history of AF were collected from out-patients clinics. CHADS(2), CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were calculated in every patient.

A facile nanoparticle immunoassay for cancer biomarker discovery.

Background: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) scatter light intensely at or near their surface plasmon wavelength region. Using AuNPs coupled with dynamic light scattering (DLS) detection, we developed a facile nanoparticle immunoassay for serum protein biomarker detection and analysis. A serum sample was first mixed with a citrate-protected AuNP solution.

Pathological ankle-brachial index is equivalent of advanced age in acute coronary syndromes.

Background: Age is one the factors associated with poor prognosis in acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and elderly patients are a high-risk collective with few parameters for mid-term cardiovascular stratification. We aimed to assess the predictive value of ankle-brachial index (ABI) in patients (> 75 years) for 1-year mortality after an ACS.

Materials And Methods: Prospective, observational and multicentre study of ACS patients in whom ABI was assessed during hospitalization.

[Cardiovascular risk factors and lifestyle associated with premature myocardial infarction diagnosis].

Young and old patients with acute myocardial infarction have different risk factor profiles, clinical presentation, angiographic findings and prognosis. In the present study we investigated the clinical profile of patients aged <46 years with acute myocardial infarction.

[Clinical features and hospital complications of patients with acute coronary syndromes according to smoking habits].

Background And Objective: Current smoking patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) seem to have better prognosis during hospital stay. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and complications of patients with ACS according to smoking habits.

Patients And Methods: Observational, multicentre and nationwide registry.

[Taeniosis prevalence and human cysticercosis seroprevalence in Pampa Cangallo, Ayacucho, Peru 2008].

To estimate the taeniosis prevalence and human cysticercosis seroprevalence in a rural town from the Peruvian central Andes (Pampa Cangallo, Ayacucho), we performed a cross sectional study in 2008, included 368 people between 5 and 70 years. Fast sedimentation technique and direct examination of stool samples were used to taeniosis diagnosis, and ELISA are used as screening test to cysticercosis, positives cases were confirmed with immunoblot. We found five positives cases to Taenia sp.

[Progress in hypertension and diabetes in 2010].

New developments in hypertension and diabetes mellitus in 2010 have been dominated by the search for a consensus on the aims of blood pressure control and on diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus, both of which have featured in the clinical studies and guidelines published throughout the year. These two risk factors continue to provoke debate about the seriousness of their implications for cardiovascular disease, and knowledge about them is increasing. The year 2010 was notable for the publication of new diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus by the American Diabetes Association, of revised guidelines on hypertension from the European Society of Hypertension, and of the results of a number of clinical trials and meta-analyses that have deepened our knowledge of the treatment of hypertension and diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome and coronary heart disease among Spanish male workers: a case-control study of MESYAS.

Background And Aims: In Spain, the incidence of coronary heart disease is below that expected based on the burden of classic cardiovascular risk factors present in the population. Whether the risk associated with metabolic syndrome is lower in Spain deserves to be investigated. This study evaluates the association of incident clinical coronary heart disease with metabolic syndrome and each of its individual defining components in a sample of Spanish working males.

Clustering of target organ damage increases mortality after acute coronary syndromes in patients with arterial hypertension.

The impact of target organ damage (TOD) clustering in hypertensive patients with established cardiovascular disease has not been clearly defined. Multicentre, observational and prospective study of 1054 consecutive patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). The objective was describing the impact of TOD on first-year mortality.

Erectile dysfunction may improve by blood pressure control in patients with high-risk hypertension.

Background: Blood pressure (BP) control induces reductions in target-organ damage and cardiovascular events. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a multifactorial disease related to cardiovascular disease, but its relationship with BP control has not been extensively studied.

Aims: We describe the effect of BP control on ED in patients with high-risk hypertension who were treated with beta-blockers.

Short-term metabolic changes achieved by weight loss in hypertensive patients.

Introduction: Glucose and lipid metabolism abnormalities of hypertensive patients are highly relevant due to its increase in cardiovascular risk; moreover, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) have a high risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus (DM) development. The objective of the study was to describe glucose metabolism abnormalities and the impact of mid-term weight loss.

Methods: A six-month prospective, observational and multicentre study of patients with hypertension was conducted.

Community study of fixed-combination adapalene 0.1% and benzoyl peroxide 2.5% in acne.

A new fixed-dose combination formulation of adapalene 0.1% and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) 2.5% has shown excellent efficacy and safety in registration studies; however, it can be difficult to judge the real-world performance of a product using only the results from controlled clinical trials.

In vivo imaging and therapeutic treatments in an orthotopic mouse model of ovarian cancer.

Human cancer and response to therapy is better represented in orthotopic animal models. This paper describes the development of an orthotopic mouse model of ovarian cancer, treatment of cancer via oral delivery of drugs, and monitoring of tumor cell behavior in response to drug treatment in real time using in vivo imaging system. In this orthotopic model, ovarian tumor cells expressing luciferase are applied topically by injecting them directly into the mouse bursa where each ovary is enclosed.

Usefulness of the fractional flow reserve derived by intracoronary pressure wire for evaluating angiographically intermediate lesions in acute coronary syndrome.

Introduction And Objectives: In contrast to findings in stable ischemic heart disease, in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), measurement of the fractional flow reserve (FFR) using an intracoronary pressure wire has not been shown to be useful for evaluating angiographically equivocal coronary lesions. The aim of this study was to analyze outcomes at 1 year in ACS patients with lesions that were classed as intermediate on coronary angiography and which were not nonrevascularized because of the FFR value determined by intracoronary pressure wire.

Methods: The observational study involved a cohort of patients admitted for ACS who had intermediate lesions on coronary angiography that were not revascularized because the FFR was >0.

Combination of ankle brachial index and diabetes mellitus to predict cardiovascular events and mortality after an acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: Diabetes mellitus and low ankle brachial index (ABI) are both conditions associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. In the setting of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), diabetes is associated with increased mortality, but little is known regarding a low ABI. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of diabetes and low ABI in patients after an ACS and their prognostic value.

[Progress in hypertension and diabetes mellitus].

Progress in hypertension and diabetes mellitus in 2009 is clearly illustrated by the findings of, and discussions provoked by, the ONTARGET study, by publication of the first clinical trials of aliskiren, and by the results of studies investigating strict glycemic control in diabetic patients. The results of the ONTARGET, TRANSCEND and ACCOMPLISH studies have kept alive active discussions about the maximum desirable blood pressure reduction and the best combination therapy. Furthermore, publication of the AVOID and ALLAY studies has proved a real novelty in the treatment of hypertension; they provided evidence for the safety and efficacy of a new family of drugs: the direct renin inhibitors.

Usefulness of an abnormal ankle-brachial index for detecting multivessel coronary disease in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Introduction And Objectives: The presence of peripheral arterial disease in patients with coronary artery disease is associated with a poor cardiovascular outcome. However, the majority of affected patients are asymptomatic and the condition is underdiagnosed. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) provides a simple method of diagnosis.

Erectile dysfunction in high-risk hypertensive patients treated with beta-blockade agents.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a multifactorial disease related to age, vascular disease, psychological disorders, or medical treatments. Beta-blockade agents are the recommended treatment for hypertensive patients with some specific organ damage but have been outlined as one of leading causes of drug-related ED, although differences between beta-blockade agents have not been assessed.

Methods: Cross-sectional and observational study of hypertensive male subjects treated with any beta-blockade agent for at least 6 months.

The Axial Diagnostic Criteria for Depression. Development, construct and predictive validity and reliability.

Introduction: The authors have developed a new axial diagnostic criterion for depression (ADCD) made up of seven items: mood, motivation/interest, impulse/drive, liking/pleasure, daily job, energy and different quality. They have aimed to examine its predictive validity and reliability, psychometric properties and constructive validity. There are few studies that have examined the psychometric properties of other diagnostic criteria for depression currently in use.

Bacteriological characterization of wastewater samples obtained from a primary treatment system on a small scale swine farm.

This study was carried out in order to quantify enteric bacteria and identify the presence of Salmonella spp., Escherichiacoli, Clostridiumperfringens and Erysipelothixrhusiopathiae in the liquid fraction of excreta generated from a small scale swine farm by means of a primary treatment system, consisting of the separation of solids and the sedimentation of liquids. Samples were collected at the following stages of the treatment: collection basin (CB), liquid obtained from a solids separator (SLF) and liquid from the sedimentation basin (SB).

Relationship between metabolic syndrome and ischemic heart disease mortality in Spain.

Morbidity and mortality due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) is subject to wide geographic variation both between and within countries. The aim of this study was to determine whether geographic variations exist in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the Spanish working population or in its relationship with IHD mortality. We analyzed clinical and laboratory data obtained during health check-ups carried out in Spanish workers (n=17,837) during 2003.

Impact of clinical and subclinical peripheral arterial disease in mid-term prognosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Observational studies report poor prognosis of patients after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the presence of previous peripheral arterial disease (PAD), but data on subclinical PAD are scarce. This study was designed to assess the predictive value of clinical and subclinical PAD in the follow-up of patients after an ACS. We included 1,054 patients hospitalized for an ACS who survived the acute phase.