Abdominal aortic diameter and cardiovascular status in patients with idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis.

Although much debated, an exaggerated inflammatory response to advanced atherosclerosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF). Clinical presentation, infrarenal abdominal aortic diameter and RPF mass thickness were retrospectively analyzed in 166 patients with idiopathic RPF seen at our referral center between April 1998 and December 2019. Patients were stratified to their infrarenal abdominal aortic diameter at presentation (i.

Magnetic resonance imaging in acute hamstring injury: can we provide a return to play prognosis?

Background: Sports physicians are increasingly requested to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of acute hamstring muscle injuries and to provide a prognosis of the time to return to play (RTP) on the basis of their findings.

Objectives: To systematically review the literature on the prognostic value of MRI findings for time to RTP in acute hamstring muscle injuries.

Data Sources: The databases of PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched in June 2013.

Psychosocial and vascular risk factors of depression in later life.

Background: Research on the aetiology of late-life depression has typically focused on either risk factors from the psychosocial stress-vulnerability domain or degenerative biological changes (for instance, vascular disease). We examined whether vascular risk factors could be interpreted within the stress-vulnerability model of depression.

Methods: The data came from a case-control design, nested in a community survey of elderly people.

Chronic disease in elderly couples: are women more responsive to their spouses' health condition than men?

Objective: The aim of the present study is to increase knowledge regarding associations between couples' health condition and psychological distress in both spouses considering gender as well as patient/spouse status.

Method: We examined a community-based sample of 995 elderly couples in which either both spouses were healthy, one of them suffered from chronic disease or both spouses were ill. Both spouses filled out the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.