Long-term clinical outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft surgery compared to those of percutaneous coronary intervention with second generation drug eluting stents in patients with stable angina and an isolated lesion in the proximal left anterior descending artery.

Objectives: We compared the long-term outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with second-generation drug-eluting stents (PCI-DES) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) with the left internal mammary artery in stable angina patients with isolated single-vessel proximal left anterior descending artery (pLAD) disease.

Background: Long-term outcomes of second-generation PCI-DES and CABG in isolated pLAD lesions have not been extensively studied.

Methods: We included 631 PCI-DES patients and 379 CABG patients.

Late differences in outcomes of patients with stable angina and an isolated lesion in the proximal left anterior descending artery treated with new-generation drug-eluting stents.

Background: New-generation drug-eluting stents have demonstrated the mid-term efficacy and safety, but possible differences between stents may emerge in a long-term period. We compared long-term outcomes of patients with chronic stable angina and an isolated de-novo lesion in the proximal left anterior descending artery that underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with Endeavor-zotarolimus eluting stents (E-ZES) and everolimus eluting stents (EES).

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 600 patients.

Clustering of excess health concerns for electromagnetic fields among health personnel: A quantitative and qualitative approach.

Clustering patterns, among health-care personnel, of excessive concerns pertaining to perceived electromagnetic field-related health impacts, as contrasted to those from other environmental factors, were explored. Knowledge/excessive concerns of 722 health-care personnel were assessed using a 22-item structured questionnaire along with a double-phase qualitative study comprising semistructured interviews and focus groups. Over 75 percent of the participants had high perceived knowledge, whereas accuracy was limited to <20 percent and correctness to 8 percent.

Skills of primary healthcare physicians in paediatric cardiac auscultation.

Aim: To evaluate the performance of primary healthcare physicians in paediatric cardiac auscultation and the impact of a multimedia-based teaching intervention.

Methods: A total of 106 primary healthcare physicians (77 paediatricians, 14 general practitioners and 15 medical graduates) attended four paediatric cardiac auscultation teaching courses based on virtual patients' presentation (digital phonocardiography). Their auscultatory performance was documented at the beginning of each course and at the end of two of the courses.

Validity of intraoperative gross examination of myometrial invasion in patients with endometrial cancer: a meta-analysis.

Objective: The current recommended endometrial cancer surgical treatment is abdominal extrafascial total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy followed by pelvic lymphadenectomy if >50% myometrial invasion is estimated by intraoperative gross examination (IGE). This meta-analysis aims to quantify evidence regarding the validity/predictive value of IGE staging compared with final histology.

Design: Meta-analysis of studies published until October 2011.

The association between preeclampsia and arterial stiffness.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to investigate the association between preeclampsia and arterial stiffness. Twenty-three relevant studies were included. A significant increase in all arterial stiffness indices combined was observed in women with preeclampsia vs.

Serum adiponectin levels and tissue expression of adiponectin receptors are associated with risk, stage, and grade of colorectal cancer.

Adiponectin has been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. This study aims to investigate the association of both adiponectin and tissue expression of its receptors with CRC risk as well as clinicopathological characteristics, notably stage and grade. Determination of serum adiponectin and immunohistochemical expression of adiponectin receptors in adenocarcinoma/normal colorectal tissue was performed in samples from 104 newly diagnosed CRC patients and 208 age- and sex-matched controls.

In vitro fertilization and risk of childhood leukemia in Greece and Sweden.

Background: Cancer risk in children born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) remains largely unknown. We aimed to investigate risk of leukemia and lymphoma following IVF using two nationwide datasets.

Methods: The hospital-based case-control study in Greece derived from the National Registry for Childhood Hematological Malignancies (1996-2008, 814 leukemia and 277 lymphoma incident cases with their 1:1 matched controls).

Insulin resistance: an independent risk factor for lung cancer?

Insulin resistance is closely associated with numerous metabolic disorders. Although studies have supported the importance of insulin resistance in carcinogenesis, the existing data have not established its relevance in the context of lung cancer. The aim of the present case-control study was to evaluate the association between insulin resistance and lung cancer after adjusting for possible confounders.