Prognostic value of multiple reverse transcription-PCR tyrosinase testing for circulating neoplastic cells in malignant melanoma.

Background: The reverse transcription-PCR tyrosinase assay (TYR test) cannot reliably detect malignant melanoma (MM) cells in blood as the cells often circulate at low concentrations. We evaluated the prognostic value of multiple TYR testing, the prognostic significance of individual positive TYR test results (TYR+) in asymptomatic melanoma patients, and whether statistical analysis could help in the interpretation of results of a test that measures phenomena that typically occur below its detection threshold.

Methods: MM patients in stages I-IV (n = 150) underwent multiple testing with the TYR test during the course of their disease.

[Evaluation of the precision of the Friedewald's formula for the calculation of low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration in serum].

The low density lipoproteins (LDL) is one of the important risk factor of coronary heart disease. Evaluation of LDL by direct method of ultracentrifugation (U-LDL), which is the most proper one, is not available in standard laboratories. Instead the Friedewald's formula is commonly used (F-LDL), which calculates level of LDL applying the values of fasting total cholesterol (CH), cholesterol of high density lipoproteins (HDL) and triglicerydes (TG).

[Snoring and excessive daytime somnolence and risk of cardiovascular diseases].

Snoring and excessive daytime somnolence (EDS) are very common in middle-age adults. The goal of the investigation was to assess links between those symptoms and risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The population studied included 1186 inhabitants of Warsaw (mean age 52 years), participants of the international multicentre study of cardiovascular disease MONICA II, who completed the sleep disordered breathing (SDB) questionnaire.

Snoring and excessive daytime somnolence among Polish middle-aged adults.

There is considerable interest in the association of snoring and health consequences that have been linked to more severe sleep-disordered breathing, including obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. The goal of this investigation was to assess the independent association of heavy, habitual snoring and daytime sleepiness. For this, a cross-sectional, population based study of snoring, sleepiness and other factors was conducted using the Warsaw sample of the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants of Cardiovascular Diseases (MONICA) study, a population-based multicentre study of cardiovascular disease.

[Excessive daytime somnolence in the adult population of Warsaw].

We studied prevalence of excessive daytime somnolence (EDS) in a representative cohort of people living in Warsaw, aged 38-67y. Forty eight items questionnaire concerning sleep habits and symptoms including Epworth Sleepiness Scale assessing EDS was mailed twice to 1503 subjects. The response rate was 79%.

[Lipid risk factors of coronary heart disease during longterm observation of a Warsaw Pol-Monica population-based cohort].

The aim of the study was searching for explanatory variables of high mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) observed in Poland, with special regards to lipid risk factors, which were determined in a population of Warsaw Pol-MONICA Project. From the randomly selected cohort of Warsaw population, consisted of 348 men and 351 women, aged 35-64 at baseline, the fasting lipid levels were determined three times in 270 men and 266 women. The first study was performed in 1984 year, second in 1988 and third in 1993.

Determinants of prognosis in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease of unknown cause, is characterized by high mortality and is a major cause of cardiac transplantation. It has become, therefore, increasingly important to identify patients at higher risk. The aim of this study was to assess which of the data obtained at the time of diagnosis are the best predictors of survival.

[Analysis of psychosocial factors in epidemiologic study of cardiologic examination--preliminary results of Warsaw POL-MONICA].

Several epidemiological studies have focused on influence of psychosocial factors on intensity of cardiovascular diseases in general population. In 1988 Warsaw POL-MONICA PROJECT was performed covering the population of 710 men and 723 women, aged 35-64. We found that 25.

Left ventricular enlargement is common in relatives of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy is characterized by dilation and impaired contractility of one or both ventricles. Long-term prognosis is poor. Early diagnosis has the potential for substantial reduction of morbidity and mortality.

Assessment of blood pressure measurement quality in the baseline surveys of the WHO MONICA project.

Because of the general inavailability of reference standards, there exist no common procedures to assess the quality of blood pressure measurements in epidemiological population surveys. To approach this problem within the collaborative international WHO MONICA Project, a standardized assessment of BP measurement quality was developed and applied to the forty-seven baseline surveys of that project. The entire assessments were carried out in retrospect, that is, only after each population survey had been completed.

[Factors influencing survival in patients with coronary heart disease. II. Multivariate logistic function analysis].

A group of 683 patients with the significant narrowing (> 70%) of at least one coronary vessel diagnosed by coronarography performed between 1976-1988 in the Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw was followed during one to seven years. Two hundred ninety of them were treated surgically, 393 non surgically. A multivariate logistic function (MLF) analysis of 10 variables is presented obtained from anamnesis and hemodynamic data and their significance upon survival after 2, 4 and 6 years.

[Factors influencing survival in patients with coronary disease. I. Characteristics of examined patients and survival curves].

The group of 683 patients with the significant narrowing (> 70%) of at least one coronary vessel diagnosed by coronarography performed between 1976-1988 in the Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw was followed during one to seven years. The number of patients with a poor left ventricular function was high in the group treated surgically and non surgically. Ejection fraction < 50% was found in 27% and 43% respectively, LVEDP > 12 mmHg (66% and 69%), EDVI > 100 ml/m2 (58% and 70%).

[Drug consumption by the patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) studied by the Pol-Monica Warsaw and the effect of selected factors on the treatment of IHD].

As part of a multicentre WHO MONICA-Project the present drug consumption by Warsaw population was assessed (evaluated by DDD). In Warsaw population 2646 inhabitants aged 35-64 years were examined. Ischaemic heart disease was diagnosed in 30% screened persons.

[Utilization of risk factors in medical practice for ischemic heart disease evaluation].

The Multivariate risk of developing Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) during period of 6 years was estimated for men aged 40-59 years on the basis of 2 Polish populations. Coefficients of multivariate logistic function (MLF) were calculated using sample of 4831 men with 240 cases of IHD. The significant risk factors were: age, total serum cholesterol level, diastolic blood pressure, number of cigarettes smoked, familial history of IHD.

[Long-term Pol-MONICA-Warsaw project: pattern of blood pressure among the population and the effects of selected factors on the blood pressure level].

Out of 1800 men and 1800 women being the random sample of population of two Warsaw districts aged 35-64 years, 1309 men and 1337 women (response rate 72.7% and 74.3% were screened in 1984 within the framework of the Pol-MONICA Warsaw Project.

[Hypertension--diagnosis, treatment and the effectiveness of the treatment of Polish population participating in the POL-MONICA program].

According to the POL-MONICA program basing on screening studies of random population samples of two Warsaw districts and the Tarnobrzeg provinceip the detectability of arterial hypertension (AH), the AH treatment fact, the effectiveness+ of AH treatment and the populational control of AH has been evaluated. The AH control was better in Warsaw (men 55%, women 73%) than in the Tarnobrzeg province (men 44%, women 65%). In both populations the control was better among women than among men and increased with the age of subjects investigated.

[Regional conditions of the smoking habit-- the POL-MONICA 1984 studies].

The POL-MONICA Project screened in 1984 1309 men and 1337 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of Warsaw (the Warsaw centre) and 1250 men and 1472 women aged 35 to 64 years, inhabitants of the Tarnobrzeg province (the Cracow centre). In both environments the percentage of smoking men was similar (about 57%). Women from big city environment smoked three times more frequently (33.

[Characteristics of the main risk factors of coronary disease among the population of Warsaw and rural agricultural population of the Tarnobrzeg province].

Basing on results of first screening of the Pol-MONICA Project in 1984 in two centres that is the Tarnobrzeg province and two districts of Polish capital Warsaw (Praga South and Praga North) the level of 11 main coronary disease risk factors was compared in 2469 men and 2729 women. The following 5 risk factors were statistically significant for both men and women: the Durnin index of body fat content, the total cholesterol concentration in the plasma, triglyceride level, numbers of daily meals. The mean level of two factors that is the HDL-cholesterol concentration and the HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio was lower in the Warsaw sample what speaks in favor of concept that the ischemic heart disease threat is greater in that population.

[12-year trends in cardiovascular disease mortality].

The coefficients and trends of mortality in years 1976-1987, based on data of Central Statistical Office, has been estimated in population of men and women aged 25 to 64 years, inhabitants of the Warsaw city region or the county region of Tarnobrzeg province . The trend of decrease of general mortality due to diseases of circulatory system has been statistically significant one similarly as that of mortality due to other heart diseases or ischaemic heart disease in men (group aged 25-34 or 35-44 years) in the Tarnobrzeg province . The analogously significant trend of mortality due to diseases of circulatory system or ischemic heart diseases in men aged 35-44 years has been stated in the Warsaw inhabitants.

Quality assessment of blood pressure measurements in epidemiological surveys. The impact of last digit preference and the proportions of identical duplicate measurements. WHO Monica Project [corrected].

In the WHO MONICA Project, cardiovascular risk factor surveys including measurements of arterial blood pressure (BP) were conducted in more than 50 different populations. In the course of a retrospective BP measurement quality assessment effort, two indicators of "prejudiced" blood pressure reading, last digit preference and high proportions of identical results in duplicate measurements, are used in addition to other items to evaluate blood pressure measurement quality. We used fictitious blood pressure distributions and applied to them Last Digit Preference scores and Proportions of Identical Duplicate Measurements actually found in the MONICA surveys.

Comparison of official mortality statistics with data obtained from myocardial infarction and stroke registers.

Two sources of information about deaths caused by myocardial infarction and stroke were compared: official statistical data obtained from the Central Statistical office (CSO), and data from the registers of myocardial infarction and stroke conducted under the POL-MONICA Warsaw Project. The completeness of the MONICA registers with respect to the CSO data was 78%, and the completeness of the CSO data with respect to the MONICA registers was 88%. The main causes of the differences were: lack of information in the registers on deaths outside Warsaw; lack of unequivocal identification markers in patients' records from different sources; and other errors in data processing.

Poland and US collaborative study on cardiovascular epidemiology. III. Correlates of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in men and women aged 35-64 years from selected Polish rural, Polish urban, and US samples.

Three diverse samples of men and women aged 35-64 years living in urban Poland, rural Poland, and the United States are described and subsequently analyzed using systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure separately as dependent variables in multiple regression. Several demographic, behavioral, and biologic factors are included in the models as independent variables. Heart rate, Quetelet index, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the natural logarithm of triglycerides were statistically significant in accounting for variation in systolic pressure in men in all three samples, whereas only heart rate and Quetelet index were significant in women in all samples.