Molecular typing of adenovirus circulating in a Colombian paediatric population with acute respiratory infection.

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) cause a broad spectrum of diseases including acute respiratory infection (ARI), and are responsible for 5% of cases requiring hospitalization in children aged <5 years in Colombia; however, little is known about the circulating types, partly due to the lack of reliable typing tests. In order to evaluate a VA gene PCR-sequencing approach for identification of HAdV circulating types in a Colombian population, 52 nasopharyngeal aspirates/swabs from children with ARI were processed. After a BLAST analysis, matches with species B (41/48, 85·42%), C (6/48, 12·5%), and D (1/48, 2·08%) were found; and at the type level, type 3 (22/48, 45·83%) was the most frequent.

MMP-2/MMP-9 plasma level and brain expression in cerebral amyloid angiopathy-associated hemorrhagic stroke.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is one of the main causes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the elderly. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in blood-brain barrier disruption and ICH pathogenesis. In this study, we determined the levels MMP-2 and MMP-9 in plasma and their brain expression in CAA-associated hemorrhagic stroke.

The gender gap in stroke: a meta-analysis.

Unlabelled: Several studies have indicated that gender differences might exist in stroke.

Objectives And Methods: Our goal was to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis in order to evaluate and quantify stroke gender disparities through a systematic search of relevant articles published up to October 2009 and addressing gender related differences in ischemic stroke risk factors, stroke subtype and severity, diagnostic tests, and acute phase and secondary prevention treatments.

Results: Forty-five articles were included in the analysis, representing a total of 673,935 patients.

Renin-angiotensin system blockade and kidney transplantation: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: The beneficial effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) in kidney transplant recipients on modern immunosuppression is not yet well established. Our objective was to investigate the impact of the use of ACEI/ARB on patient and graft survival in a cohort of kidney transplant recipients.

Methods: A total of 990 patients, who received a single deceased donor kidney at our institution between 1996 and 2005, were included in this longitudinal cohort study.

[In-hospital ischemic strokes in patients admitted to Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery departments. Multi-centre registry].

Background And Objective: Patients admitted to Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Departments have an increased risk of ischemic stroke (IS). We analyzed clinical characteristics, quality of neurological care and mortality of in-hospital strokes (IHS) in these departments.

Patients And Method: Prospective registry of in-hospital ISs in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in 13 Spanish hospitals during 2008.

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 testing usefulness among patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease.

Background And Purpose: Circulating lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2) (Lp-PLA(2)) has emerged as a novel biomarker for cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to determine Lp-PLA(2) mass and activity in a selected cohort of first-ever transient ischemic attack (TIA) or ischemic stroke patients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) and to investigate its relationship with the presence of classical vascular risk factors, response to secondary prevention treatments and risk of recurrent vascular events.

Methods: Lp-PLA(2) mass and activity were measured 3 months after TIA or stroke by means of the PLAC test and CAM-assay (diaDexus, Inc.

[Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: group of study of cerebrovascular pathology of the Spanish society of neurosurgery management guideline].

An actualized revision of the most important aspects of aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage is presented from the guidelines previously published by the group of study of cerebrovascular pathology of the Spanish Society of Neurosurgery. The proposed recommendations should be considered as a general guide for the management of this pathological condition. However, they can be modified, even in a significant manner according to the circumstances relating each clinical case and the variations in the therapeutic and diagnostic procedures available in the center attending each patient.

No evidence of APP point mutation and locus duplication in individuals with cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a well-established cause of lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Familial forms of CAA are because of mutations in the gene encoding the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and duplications of this gene can cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease associated with CAA. However, the contribution of APP genetic variants in the development of sporadic CAA remains unknown.

Non-surgical therapies for peripheral nerve injury.

Background: Non-surgical approaches have been developed to enhance nerve recovery, which are complementary to surgery and are an adjunct to the reinnervation process.

Sources Of Data: A search of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, DH data and Embase databases was performed using the keywords 'peripheral nerve injury' and 'treatment'.

Areas Of Controversy: Most of the conservative therapies are focused to control neuropathic pain after nerve tissue damage.

Ischemic stroke outcome and early infection: its deleterious effect seems to operate also among tissue plasminogen activator-treated patients.

Background: Infection has been recognized as a significant predictor of outcome for ischemic stroke patients, although the mechanisms by which this association is operative have not been fully established, and their potential roles in a setting of close clinical monitoring, such as that of stroke units offering reperfusion therapies, have not been evaluated.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 139 consecutive tissue plasminogen activator-treated stroke patients admitted to our stroke unit to evaluate potential predictors of neurological outcome.

Results: 57 patients (41%) did not show neurological improvement by discharge, and 11.

Brain perihematoma genomic profile following spontaneous human intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) represents about 15% of all strokes and is associated with high mortality rates. Our aim was to identify the gene expression changes and biological pathways altered in the brain following ICH.

Methodology/principal Findings: Twelve brain samples were obtained from four deceased patients who suffered an ICH including perihematomal tissue (PH) and the corresponding contralateral white (CW) and grey (CG) matter.

A panel of biomarkers including caspase-3 and D-dimer may differentiate acute stroke from stroke-mimicking conditions in the emergency department.

Background And Aims: At present, a rapid and widely available diagnostic test for stroke remains elusive. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive value of a panel of blood-borne biochemical markers for stroke diagnosis.

Design: Consecutive patients with strokes or stroke-mimicking conditions (mimics) were evaluated within 24 h from symptom onset (915 strokes and 90 mimics).

Idiopathic subarachnoid hemorrhage: a multicentre series of 220 patients.

BACKGROUND. The Spanish neurosurgical society created a multicentre data base on spontaneous SAH to analyze the real problematic of this disease in our country. This paper focuses on the group of patients with idiopathic SAH (ISAH).

Leukoaraiosis is associated with genes regulating blood-brain barrier homeostasis in ischaemic stroke patients.

Background: The biologic agents causing leukoaraiosis are unknown. Our aim was to study the genetic basis of leukoaraiosis.

Methods: We analyzed 212 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 142 patients with ischaemic stroke, generating a total of 30,104 genotypes.

Metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and chronic allograft dysfunction.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and glucose homeostasis alterations), and insulin resistance (IR) is suggested to be a common pathogenic background. In the general population, MS and IR have been proven to be risk factors for diabetes, CV disease, and chronic kidney disease. In the renal transplant setting, few studies have analyzed the relevance of MS and IR.

Osteopontin predicts long-term functional outcome among ischemic stroke patients.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein which has shown neuroprotective properties in animal models of cerebral ischemia. Nevertheless, its role in acute human stroke has not yet been established. Therefore, we aimed to determine human serum OPN level during acute ischemic stroke and its relationship with patient outcome.

Helicobacter pylori CagA protein polymorphisms and their lack of association with pathogenesis.

Aim: To investigate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) CagA diversity and to evaluate the association between protein polymorphisms and the occurrence of gastric pathologies.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-two clinical isolates of H.

Systemic chemotherapy-induced microsatellite instability in the mononuclear cell fraction of women with breast cancer can be reproduced in vitro and abrogated by amifostine.

Objectives: Microsatellite instability (MSI) induction by alkylating agent-based chemotherapy (ACHT) may underlie both tumor resistance to chemotherapy and secondary leukaemias in cancer patients. We investigated if ACHT could induce MSI in tumor-derived plasma-circulating DNA (pfDNA) and in normal peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMN) cells. We also evaluated if amifostine could interfere with this process in an in-vitro model.

[Goodpasture's syndrome with neurologic involvement and negative ANCA].

Goodpasture's syndrome is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) and alveolar hemorrhage in the presence of antiglomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibodies. Central nervous system involvement is highly unusual in the absence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies. We report the case of a 20-year-old man with RPGN accompanied by bloody sputum, tonic-clonic seizure and high titers of anti-GBM antibody.

[Molecular and histological detection of Helicobacter pylori and genotyping based on babA2 and iceA in patients with benign gastric pathologies].

Objective: To investigate the presence of Helicobacter pylori in a Colombian population.

Material And Methods: Gastric biopsies from 60 patients with benign gastric pathologies were submitted to histopathological examination and genotyped by PCR through amplification of babA2 and iceA genes.

Results: The presence of H.

In-hospital stroke: a multi-centre prospective registry.

Background: in-hospital strokes (IHS) are relatively frequent. Avoidable delays in neurological assessment have been demonstrated. We study the clinical characteristics, neurological care and mortality of IHS.

Determinants of white matter hyperintensity volume in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Background: White matter hyperintensity (WMH) is a common radiographic finding in the aging population and a potent risk factor for symptomatic cerebrovascular disease. It is unclear whether WMH represents a single or multiple biological processes. We sought to investigate the extent and determinants of WMH in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

ACE variants and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage recurrence in amyloid angiopathy.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a well-established cause of lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The aim of the authors was to investigate the influence of clinical characteristics and genetic variants in the ACE, LRP, MMP9, Tafi, VEGFA, CYP11B2, A2M and APOE on ICH recurrence in a cohort of CAA-related ICH patients. Sixty patients were enrolled and new symptomatic ICHs in the 36 mo following the index event were recorded.