Somatosensory profiling of patients undergoing alcohol withdrawal: Do neuropathic pain and sensory loss represent a problem?

Introduction: Chronic heavy alcohol use is known to cause neurological complications such as peripheral neuropathy. Concerning the pathophysiology, few sural nerve and skin biopsy studies showed that small fibers might be selectively vulnerable to degeneration in alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy. Pain has rarely been properly evaluated in this pathology.

[Mitral valve prolapse: beyond mitral regurgitation, the arrhythmic risk].

Mitral prolapse is a common condition, defined by the systolic bulging of at least one mitral leaflet into the left atrium, which is often accompanied by various degree of mitral insufficiency. While for most of the patients the prognosis is linked to the severity of the valve regurgitation and its repercussions on the left ventricle (dilation and/or dysfunction), a minority of patients present with severe ventricular arrhythmia and an increased risk of sudden cardiac death, irrespective of the severity of the mitral regurgitation. To describe this particular condition, the terms arrhythmic or malignant mitral valve prolapse have been coined.

The short-term prognosis of cardiogenic shock can be determined using hemodynamic variables: a retrospective cohort study*.

Objectives: Few reports address the relationship between hemodynamic variables and the cardiogenic shock outcome in critically ill patients. The present study aimed to investigate the association between hemodynamic variables and early cardiogenic shock mortality in critically ill patients.

Design: Retrospective, single-center cohort study.