Nutrigenomics-Associated Impacts of Nutrients on Genes and Enzymes With Special Consideration of Aromatase.

Interactions are occurring in the course of liberation, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of active ingredients, or at the target receptors. They are causing therapy failures and undesirable events. Forty-seven of fifty-seven human hepatic isoenzymes are specific and relevant in hormone and vitamin metabolism and biosynthesis.

Systemic Measures and Legislative and Organizational Frameworks Aimed at Preventing or Mitigating Drug Shortages in 28 European and Western Asian Countries.

Drug shortages have been identified as a public health problem in an increasing number of countries. This can negatively impact on the quality and efficiency of patient care, as well as contribute to increases in the cost of treatment and the workload of health care providers. Shortages also raise ethical and political issues.

Assessment of povidone-iodine disinfectant compatibility with antimicrobial incise drape and adhesion inhibition on the skin using a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry approach.

According to orthopedists' reports, substitution of the original for a generic povidone-iodine (PVP-I) disinfectant could have led to some adhesion problems of antimicrobial incise drapes on the field of operation with the consequence of increasing the infection risk. Three methods have been used to assess the case: (a) a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) approach quantifying methimazole formation from carbimazole, (b) in vitro adhesion experiments on a smooth glass plate surface and (c) the analysis of intrasurgical procedures. GC-MS results confirmed the higher potency of the original compared to the generic PVP-I.

Age-Dependent Prevalence of Cardioembolic Sources Detected by TEE: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications.

To define the prevalence of cardioembolic sources found by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in different age groups of patients with and without cryptogenic systemic embolism, TEE risk factors for cardiogenic embolism were identified from 341 consecutive patients referred for TEE. One hundred and thirty-five had cryptogenic cerebral or systemic peripheral embolic events (CEE) and 206 other indications for TEE (CTR). Cardioembolic sources were found in 40% of CEE and in 29% of CTR (P < 0.

The impact of automatic threshold tracking on pulse generator longevity in patients with different chronic stimulation thresholds.

Automatic adjustment of the stimulation output of pacemakers to changing stimulation thresholds using the Autocapture feature increases patient safety and decreases energy consumption. This study examined the impact of Autocapture on pulse generator longevity in patients with different chronic stimulation thresholds. Eighty patients (mean age 79 +/- 9 years; 37 men, 43 women) with Pacesetter Regency SR+ pacemakers were included in the study.

[Cocaine: its possible role in coronary arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarct. Case reports and review of the literature].

Cocaine is a frequently used drug with many known effects on the cardiovascular system. It leads also to structural changes of the coronary arteries that can result in severe chest pain or even acute myocardial infarction. We discuss two patients with infarction, differentiate between chest pain and infarction and suggest some important therapeutic measures.

Symmetric and asymmetric left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with end-stage renal failure on long-term hemodialysis.

Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease on regular hemodialysis have an increased prevalence of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy that is associated with morbidity and mortality. Asymmetric septal hypertrophy and impairment of LV outflow can occur in these patients and may contribute to adverse outcomes. More insight into the prevalence, extent, geometry, and promoting factors of LV hypertrophy is important.

Myocardial 18F-FDG-PET. Experiences with the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique.

Myocardial positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-Fluordeoxyglucose (FDG) is increasingly used for the detection of viable tissue in the infarcted myocardium. Previous studies show that the variable metabolic conditions determine the regional distribution of this tracer and that the inhomogeneities of uptake often observed even in the normal myocardium may relate to substrate availability. The authors tried to stimulate the myocardial FDG uptake by either the technically easier method of glucose loading or by the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC) technique.

[Balloon valvuloplasty of a discrete subvalvular aortic stenosis].

We describe the successful percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty of a discrete subaortic stenosis in an adult patient. The maximal gradient of 160 mm Hg (mean 100) was reduced to 45 and 33 mm Hg respectively. The procedure required only one overnight hospital stay.

[Transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of endocarditis].

Transesophageal echocardiography is a new diagnostic method for visualization of retrocardial structures and heart valves with high resolution. This retrospective analysis describes the use of and the findings by transesophageal echocardiography in patients suspected to suffer from endocarditis studied in three hospitals. 50 patients were studied; the diagnosis was confirmed in 64%, whereas 36% (controls) had other findings.

[Transesophageal echocardiography: indications and findings. Experiences from 3 centers].

The introduction of transoesophageal echocardiography has greatly enhanced the noninvasive diagnostic possibilities in cardiology. This multicentre report analyses the findings in different indications as well as the rate of complications in 335 consecutive patients on whom transoesophageal echocardiography was performed. The most frequent indication was the search for a cardiac source of embolism (36%).

High incidence of infections after 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CDA) therapy in patients with malignant lymphomas and chronic and acute leukaemias.

Background: 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CDA) is a new purine analogue which has been shown to be highly active in lymphoproliferative disorders. In this clinical trial we assessed 2-CDA toxicity and response rate in patients with various haematological malignancies who were heavily pre-treated and mostly refractory to standard treatment regimens.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-two refractory patients, 51 relapsing after standard chemotherapy and seven non-pre-treated patients were treated in a non-randomized prospective phase II multicentric study.

The Omnicarbon tilting-disc heart valve prosthesis. A clinical and Doppler echocardiographic follow-up.

From 1986 to 1990, 172 patients with a median age of 60.5 years (range 20 to 79 years) received 187 Omnicarbon valves (109 aortic valve replacements, 48 mitral valve replacements, and 15 double valve replacements). Patients were followed-up for a median observation period of 2.

Recurrent bleeding after variceal hemorrhage: predictive value of portal venous duplex sonography.

Objective: Risk assessment of recurrent variceal bleeding is essential for therapeutic decisions and is usually performed by endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract. We studied the value of portal venous duplex sonography in predicting subsequent variceal bleeding in patients with cirrhosis.

Subjects And Methods: Thirty patients with cirrhosis who received sclerotherapy because of acute variceal hemorrhage for the first time (hemorrhage group), 30 patients with cirrhosis who had no previous hemorrhage (nonhemorrhage group), and 30 control subjects were examined prospectively.

Aortic and mitral valve disease in patients with end stage renal failure on long-term haemodialysis.

Objective: To identify valvar heart disease in patients with chronic uraemia by conventional and colour coded Doppler echocardiography.

Design: Case series of an unselected group of 62 patients with end stage renal failure.

Setting: Centre for haemodialysis in a referral hospital in Switzerland.

[Ambulatory transesophageal echocardiography. Diagnostic possibilities of a novel study method].

Transesophageal echocardiography has become now a routine outpatient method to augment the diagnostic power of transthoracic echocardiography in 10-15 minutes. Indications are native and prosthetic valvular heart disease and congenital heart disease, the evaluation of embolic events and suspicion of aortic dissection.

Influence of long-term amelioration of anemia and blood pressure control on left ventricular hypertrophy in hemodialyzed patients.

The course of left ventricular hypertrophy was investigated in anemic hemodialysis patients treated with recombinant human erythropoietin (r-huEPO). 12 patients, aged 60.8 +/- 9.

[Acute myocardial infarct following chemotherapy for testicular carcinoma: on the coronary toxicity of cytostatic agents].

Two young patients who had been treated with cisplatin and bleomycin for testicular cancer developed acute myocardial infarction. 8 additional cases of premature myocardial infarction following chemotherapy for testicular cancer have been reported in the literature. The infarctions occurred several months or years after chemotherapy while most patients were in complete remission and had no significant risk factors for coronary artery disease.

[Echocardiography in emergency medicine: tool or toy?].

In cardiovascular emergency medicine echocardiography allows in many patients a quick and gentle bedside examination. In particular in patients with acute arterial hypotension, suspected or known acute coronary heart disease and its complications and in patients with acute heart failure due to valvular heart disease a valuable narrowing down of the differential diagnosis can be achieved by the use of echocardiography. However, the use of echocardiography in acutely ill patients demands highly skilled investigators to avoid potentially dangerous errors.