Superabsorbent dressings for copiously exuding wounds.

Exudate control is important in the management of both acute and chronic wounds. A new category of absorbent dressings that contain superabsorbent particles promises high absorbency. The aim of this multicentre, prospective, non-comparative observational study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and absorbent capacity of a superabsorbent dressing.

Predictive factors for all-cause mortality in the hospitalized elderly subject: the importance of arrhythmia.

Background: In elderly patients traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors are poorly correlated with mortality and few data are available on determinants and consequences of supra-ventricular arrhythmia. In a cohort of 331 hospitalized elderly patients (mean age+/-SD=85+/-7 years), we assessed which CV characteristics were associated with all-cause mortality.

Aim Of The Study: We wished to determine whether the presence of arrhythmia was associated with an increase of overall mortality in the hospitalized elderly population, and to ascertain which factors were associated with arrhythmia, in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms of both arrhythmia and arrhythmia-related mortality in these patients.

Diastolic blood pressure and mortality in the elderly with cardiovascular disease.

Isolated systolic hypertension is predominantly observed in the elderly because of increased arterial stiffness. Aggressive treatment leads to excessive lowering of diastolic blood pressure and favors the presence of a J-shaped curve association with mortality. We investigated whether, in the elderly, this pattern of association is a simple epiphenomenon of increased arterial stiffness and impaired cardiac function.

[Metabolic syndrome, obesity and urolithiasis].

The current concept of metabolic syndrome comprises abdominal obesity and cardiovascular risk factors (HT and metabolic disorders). Compared to a control group, individuals with metabolic syndrome have a fourfold higher risk of cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of diabetes. Apart from cardiovascular morbidity, these patients also appear to have an increased incidence of urolithiasis.

Arterial stiffness, isolated systolic hypertension, and cardiovascular risk in the elderly.

Isolated systolic hypertension is an important cardiovascular risk factor in the elderly. In addition to systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, pulse wave velocity, and carotid wave reflections are also strong cardiovascular risk factors in the elderly, as a consequence of the two main determinants of systolic hypertension: increased arterial stiffness and early wave reflections. Taken together, all these findings should help to optimize drug treatment, which has been shown to produce important but thus far insufficient beneficial effects on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Carotid intima-media thickness and carotid and/or iliofemoral plaques: comparison of two markers of cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients.

Objective: In order to optimize cardiovascular risk assessment, we compared the association of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT) with carotid and/or iliofemoral (C/IF) plaques according to the presence or absence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and belonging to a high cardiovascular risk group.

Design: The study was conducted in 323 subjects presenting one or several cardiovascular risk factors in an internal medicine hospital department; 96 patients had one or more manifestations of cardiovascular disease.

Results: Compared with patients with no C/IF plaques, patients with plaques at 1-4 sites presented an adjusted odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval] of presenting CVD of respectively [1: OR = 1.