The role of Sudoscan feet asymmetry in the diabetic foot.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Sudoscan asymmetry parameters in the diabetic foot.

Patients And Methods: In this study we included 165 participants: 84 type 2 diabetes patients divided into three HbA1c matched groups - group 1: newly diagnosed diabetics (n = 31), group 2: people with longer diabetes duration and established neuropathy (n = 33), group 3: patients with diabetic foot ulcer (n = 20), and a control group of 81 people with prediabetes. All subjects underwent peripheral sudomotor evaluation using Sudoscan device (Impeto Medical, Paris).

Screening for mild cognitive impairment in patients with cardiovascular risk factors.

Aim: Cardiovascular risk factors are also risk factors for cognitive impairment. They have cumulative effect in target organ damage. The precise correlation between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive impairment, as well as assessing the extent to which they may affect cognitive functioning, is difficult to ascertain in everyday clinical practice.

Evaluation of Hepcidin and Atherosclerosis in Dialysis Patients.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition that involves 10% - 15% of population worldwide, which increases the risk of cardio-vascular diseases (CVD). Chronic kidney disease is one of the main reasons for illness and mortality in the world. Chronic kidney disease is a serious health problem caused by involvement of a large number of patients with kidney injury, especially in industrial countries.

Serum Hepcidin Levels in Multiple Myeloma.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease with a 10% frequency among all haematology neoplasms. It is characterized by clone proliferation of plasmatic cells in bone marrow, monoclonal gammopathy, and anemia, hypercalcemia, and kidney failure and bone lesions. IL-6 is an inflammatory cytokine, potential growth factor for myeloma cells, as elevated serum levels are connected with poor disease prognosis.

Plasma Selenium Levels in Chronic Cocaine Abuse.

Background: Cocaine abuse is a significant health problem worldwide. We aim to evaluate the role of selenium in oxidative stress in patients with cocaine related cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. Selenium is of fundamental importance to human health.

8-isoprostanes and resistin as markers of vascular damage in non-hypersomnolent obstructive sleep apnoea patients.

Background: Oxidative stress and inflammation are assumed as the main pathological triggers for vascular damage in hypersomnolent obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients, whereas their exact role in less symptomatic population is currently unknown.

Aim: To determine whether oxidative stress (urinary 8-isoprostane concentration) and inflammation (plasma resistin levels) are associated with vascular damage in non-hypersomnolent (Epworth Sleep Score <11) OSA patients.

Methods: A total of 325 consecutive patients have undergone standard polysomnography, and 256 of them were diagnosed with OSA.

Is There a Link Between Changes in Levels of Hepcidin and Stroke?

Background: Iron is an essential element for the living body. It is well known that iron homeostasis disorders are important in two ways--its deficiency and its overload lead to several pathologies.

Methods: We measured 17 patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA); 19 with anemia of chronic diseases (ACD); 15 with ischemic stroke (IS).

ADMA--a Possible Marker for Early Therapeutic Outcome in Acute Stroke.

Background: Ischemic acute stroke is a leading cause for mortality and invalidity in recent years. Clinical trials show the role of ADMA as endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase and its connection to acute stroke. An early decrease of serum ADMA levels might help in recovery of the blood stream in patients with acute stroke and non-affective changes in the brain.

Early clinical and electrophysiologic features of the two most common autosomal recessive forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in the Roma (Gypsies).

Our recent studies of the genetic epidemiology of neuromuscular disorders in Gypsies in Bulgaria have revealed that two private disorders, hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type Lom and hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type Russe, account for most cases of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in this population. In this study, we examined the clinical and electrophysiologic manifestations of the two disorders in childhood, aiming to identify the distinctive features that allow early differential diagnosis. The study included 13 patients, aged between 2 and 15 years.

Recurrent somatic mosaicism for D4Z4 contractions in a family with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Autosomal dominant facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is caused by contraction of the D4Z4 repeat on 4q35. We describe a FSHD family of unusual genetic complexity presenting with two independent mitotic contractions of D4Z4 in two successive generations. In addition, a non-pathogenic FSHD-sized allele of approximately the same size is interfering with the DNA diagnosis in this family.

Genetic confirmation of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in a case with complex D4Z4 rearrangments.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is caused by contraction of the D4Z4 repeat on chromosome 4q. Genetic confirmation of the clinical diagnosis of FSHD is complicated by the presence of a homologous repeat on chromosome 10q and the frequent repeat exchanges between both chromosomes. Here, we describe the genetic evaluation of an FSHD patient with a complex D4Z4 allele constitution in which the potentially pathogenic allele seemingly resides on chromosome 10, despite FSHD being exclusively linked to chromosome 4.