[Etiology of severe pulmonary hypertension--possible role of metabolic syndrome].

Background: In clinical practice the association between obesity and pulmonary hypertension (PH) is not rare.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in patients with severe PH, especially cases without significant cardiac, pulmonary or vascular causes.

Methods: We retrospectively anaLyzed the records of 91 patients with severe PH in order to establish its causes.

The influence of smoking cessation on hemodynamics and arterial compliance.

Cigarette smoking is associated with consistent changes in small arteries and arterioles. Recently, arterial compliance was determined in smokers; however, the effect of smoking cessation on arterial compliance has not yet been investigated. The objective of the study was to assess how smoking cessation, achieved with use of behavioral and pharmacologic therapy, influences vascular compliance and arterial stiffness in smokers.

Effect of weight loss on blood pressure, arterial compliance, and insulin resistance in normotensive obese subjects.

Background: Obesity is characterized by insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia that may elevate arterial pressure due to sympathetic overactivity and volume overload. The aim of the study is to measure hemodynamic parameters and metabolic variables in obese normotensive subjects.

Methods: Twenty-four normotensive, overweight subjects from our medical staff were enrolled.

Small artery compliance in cirrhotic patients during total paracentes.

Background: Hemodynamic changes, including systemic vascular resistance, in cirrhotic patients during massive paracentesis have been reported, but large and small artery compliance has not yet been investigated.

Objective: To investigate hemodynamic variables, including small and large artery compliance, in cirrhotic patients during total paracentesis.

Methods: The study included 15 cirrhotic patients admitted for an episode of tense diuretic-resistant ascites.

Hemodynamic effects of anemia correction by recombinant human erythropoietin in predialysis patients with renal failure.

Most patients with chronic renal failure have anemia, which can be corrected by recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) treatment. Increase in arterial pressure (AP) was reported in some studies and was related to higher systemic vascular resistance induced either by the rise of erythrocyte mass or the change in various endogenous vasopressors, including the direct action of rHuEpo itself. We investigated the effect of rHuEpo treatment on hemodynamic variables, including small and large arterial compliance in 20 patients with chronic renal failure who were not receiving dialysis (CCT 29 +/- 12 mL/min), with Hb levels of 40.

Malignant pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade as a late complication of endometrial carcinoma.

Malignant pericardial effusion, as a complication of gynecological cancer, is a rare occurrence. A review of the literature reveals only four cases of malignant pericardial effusion from endometrial carcinoma diagnosed during life. All of them were followed by cardiac tamponade a short time after being diagnosed and were associated with extensive myometrial invasion and multiple metastases.

Prognosis of symptomatic versus asymptomatic autoimmune hepatitis: a study of 68 patients.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver disorder of unknown etiology. Disease presentation ranges from asymptomatic to symptomatic onset, fulminant, acute, or chronic.

Goals: To evaluate the prognosis of patients with asymptomatic versus symptomatic AIH and to determine the role of early treatment and prognostic factors in this subgroup of patients.