Plasma concentrations of tissue factor and its inhibitor in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: a step closer to explanation of the disease aetiology?

Background: The aetiology of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is not clearly understood. In some patients, the disease is preceded by acute pulmonary embolism (APE), and is characterised by intravascular thrombosis, vasoconstriction, inflammation and remodelling of pulmonary arteries. Ensuing pulmonary hypertension leads to potentially fatal chronic right ventricle failure.

Long-Term Outcome of Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Results From an International Prospective Registry.

Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, a rare complication of acute pulmonary embolism, is characterized by fibrothrombotic obstructions of large pulmonary arteries combined with small-vessel arteriopathy. It can be cured by pulmonary endarterectomy, and can be clinically improved by medical therapy in inoperable patients. A European registry was set up in 27 centers to evaluate long-term outcome and outcome correlates in 2 distinct populations of operated and not-operated patients who have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

[The role of spiral computer tomography in diagnostic algorithms in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism].

The recognizing of the EP is still not satisfied because specifity and sensitivity of clinical symptoms is relatively low. SCT is an important examination in the diagnostic of pulmonary embolism and is the alternative to often nonconclusive scintigraphy and conclusive but invasive pulmonary angiography. The authors describe the role of SCT in the diagnostic algorithm of the suspected pulmonary embolism of the high and not high risk, discuss the interpretation of result of SCT due to the sort of SCT (SDCT or MDCT) and to clinical probability of PE and they discuss the problem of subsegmental PE.

[C-reactive protein in circulatory diseases].

C-reactive protein is the widely used marker in a clinical practice but also a mediator of the inflammatory process. In the introduction the authors describe the structure and function of the C-reactive protein in relation with inflammatory response to different morbidity stimulations. After this, there have been seen the oscillations of C-reactive protein plasma level of healthy people and in inflammatory, neoplastic and immunological diseases with an explanation of the clinical utilities.